Drum'n'bass whizzkid DJ Teebee (right) will come out fighting when he takes to the decks for his Hong Kong debut on Saturday night (July 21). The acclaimed Norwegian producer and turntablist is also a national kung fu champion, so he's excited about coming to the city which spawned his idol, Bruce Lee.
Teebee was turned on to martial arts by watching chop socky movies back in the west coastal city of Bergen. 'My next-door neighbour in Bergen was a refugee from China who practised kung fu in his backyard, so he taught me,' says Teebee.
As if being a kung fu champ wasn't eccentric enough in Scandinavian society, Teebee topped it when he began DJing at the age of 12 and soon after tuned into the drum'n'bass scene. 'I went on a school trip to London where I came across a white label - LTJ Bukem's Demon's Theme.'
Teebee was hooked. 'I took it home but people thought I was crazy,' he says, in a well-honed Mockney accent. 'They wanted their four-four-to-the-floor [beats]. It was all like pop music.'
He DJed to about 100 like-minded clubbers in Norway, but he started playing overseas, mainly in Britain, and creating his own tracks, working with the likes of Fabio and Grooverider. His reputation grew and when the international press lauded him as one of the genre's rising stars, the scene belatedly kicked off in Norway. 'It gave them a kick up the [bottom],' he says.
With residencies around Britain and Norway, Teebee was this year named Best International Producer at the Drum'n'Bass Awards.