On Saturday 20th  June, Strictly Rhythm will be hosting 2 very special parties to celebrate their 20 year anniversay. Kicking things off will be a boat party along the river Thames, before the party moves inside to the legendary Ministry of Sound to continue until the early hours.

As well as DJs Osunlade, The Martinez Brothers and Simon Dunmore, London favourite Ben Westbeech will be popping his Strictly cherry, dropping his unique style of house beats while floating serenely down the river. We caught up with the singer, songwriter, producer, DJ and all-round nice guy to find out why he's so excited about playing the party and why he used to hate house music...

For those of us who might not know you, introduce yourself…

I'm Ben Westbeech; a singer, DJ and producer from London (by way of Bristol), England.

You’ve had some of your material remixed by The Daptones. What was it like working with them?

Well I didn't work with them as such, they just sent over a track and I re-sang one of my songs over it. It was a little weird as I thought I should have written a new song over it, but the label I was on wanted me to do an old song. It was a great to hear them and to see all the parts they sent over as stems. They record through really old equipment and record the drums through one microphone, which is a method I started using after seeing this. It was an interesting collaboration.

How did Gilles Peterson become involved with your last album?

Well he signed me back in 2006 and was running a label called Brownswood who put my record out. It was called ‘Welcome to the Best Years of your Life’ and was my debut album. It was nice being signed by someone who genuinely believes in the music he puts out and he has a great ear.

Who inspired you to become a musician?

The Rock n Roll stars of the 50's. Frankie Lymon, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. I grew up listening to that music from day one. My Dad was bang into it and kind of spoon fed me it ‘till I knew all the words to the classics by age 6. ‘Blue Moon’ or ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love’ were my introduction into harmony and who better to learn from than Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers?

How were you influenced by the Bristol scene?

Well I lived there for seven years and made music there with a lot of Bristol heads. It's such a great city to make music in. It has something about it that you can't quite put your finger on but whenever you make music there the city seems to colour it. I spend a lot of time there and will continue to for years to come.

Until recently you weren’t the biggest advocate of house music. What changed your outlook?

Ha ha! Who told you that!? Yeah I got to admit it I just didn't get it for years. I came from a Jungle and Hip Hop background, so four to the floor was totally alien to me. I needed a drum break to get me going and some bass! But then Osunlade remixed my tune ‘So Good Today’ and it totally flipped me out. I listened to it non-stop for weeks and then I was like “if this is house music, sign me up, I'm in!” So then I started digging and haven't stopped since. I still play Hip Hop, funk and jazz but mostly I play house now. What a turn-around!

Is it your plan to make house records now?

I will be making a house record for sure. It's really inspired me musically and as a genre it's so malleable. You can take it in any direction and DJing it is so much fun. I like DJ sets to be a journey and with house you can take people on that journey into different dimensions of house.

You’re playing the Strictly Rhythm boat party in a couple of weeks. Excited?

YES! So excited. It will be my first set to at a Strictly party so i'm gonna be prepared but still do my own thing. To be on the same bill as Osunlade, who could be said got me into house music, is an honour and I'm really looking forward to hearing The Martinez Brothers play too.  I'm playing at Pacha in Moscow the weekend before so that should be a good warm-up for the boat party.

How long have you been DJing? How does it compare to performing live?

I've been Djing since I was 12 so that’s 16 years now. I was a DJ foremost and didn't actually have aspirations to be a singer so it's nice to be able to do it for a living as well as sing.  It's different from performing live because live I'm playing mainly my own music and DJing I play other peoples music. They are both shows and I take both as seriously as each other.

Ben will be playing the Strictly Rhythm Anniversary boat party on the 20th June. Tickets are available here.