Ryan Burgdorfer aka DJ Ruffian was introduced to the scene in 1992 by close friend Damian Higgins (aka Dieselboy), when drum and bass was still in it's slower, formative 'breakbeat' stage. Previous to this point, he was completely immersed in the dark industrial sound of groups like Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy, so naturally he was instantly drawn to the harder-edged & darker side of the genre. He began deejaying in early 1994, and together with like-minded party-goer John Dwight (aka Blista), formed the event promotion company known as UDG Inc. For the next two-plus years they threw many parties and club nights in the Pittsburgh area, most notably the infamous 'Tunnel Vision' (which took place in one of pitt's many tunnels, closed just for the party with the city's blessing), Freee 2 (in the Carnegie Science Center, celebrating their Bi-Centennial anniversary), and Jungle Warfare (Pitt's first all-drum-and-bass party, a collaboration with good friends Zone and Natalie).
After a long hiatus from the scene from roughly 1998-2006, Ruffian is back - still pushing that angry, agressive, dark sound - mainly through track production efforts.
