Hi Ben and thank you for being our special guest in Artist of the Weekend on EILO radio!

Please, tell us more about yourself. How did everything begin with you? When was your first touch with music?

I started getting really interested in music when I was about 10. I used to record a make-believe radio station called Radio 6 with my brother and his mate (I found a tape of it recently and it’s hilarious). Then my half-sister was buying us commercial dance compilations for our birthdays, and my oldest brother started going to jungle and hardcore raves and playing us tapes from the events in the car. I started getting really interested in dance music, and I subscribed to the excellent MUZIK Magazine when I was 12 which gave me my education in dance music. My big brother got decks when I was 14 and I started messing around on those before getting my own on my 15th birthday. I learnt to mix properly on a copy of Basement Jaxx ‘Remedy’, going back and forth between the two discs.

Who was your biggest influence back in the days?

Can you guess? Clearly my big brother! And my half-sister I guess for helping spark that interest. But yeah, big bro was very cool in my eyes – all this cool music and designer clothing and stuff haha. Musically speaking, Daft Punk and Armand Van Helden were the first artists who really grabbed my attention, which was thanks to starting to listen to Pete Tong’s Essential Selection on Radio 1 and the Essential Mix in 1996. So yeah, Tongy as well!

Did you ever think your life would be this connected with music?

I always wanted to be a DJ but I didn’t really think it was a viable career choice. I also didn’t really think about the fact that there are tonnes of different jobs in the music industry, and it wasn’t until I was at university in London studying Economics that I realised that sort of grind wasn’t for me and that maybe there was something in between.

How would you describe your style? Do you always follow a concrete line or does your style change depending on your mood?

Varied. I’ve definitely made things harder and slower for myself by not having a “sound”, but I could never do that. It’s just not in my nature and I love too many different styles to pigeonhole myself like that. It depends on how I’m feeling – and in terms of DJing, the context of where and when I’m playing, who else is playing, or what sort of site or station I’m making a mix for. To put it loosely, it’s house music of varying shades – that could be anything from deep to afro to acid to tech with dashes of disco, electro, progressive stuff, tribal… anything that’s good and got a decent groove or melody, really.

What is it like for you to be behind the decks? Do you always try to connect with the crowd or do you simply focus on the mix?

I’m more of a focus on the mix guy. My friends always tell me I should look up more but I just don’t feel natural doing that.

How do you make your selection when it comes to a mix?

It all depends on what I’m doing it for. I try and think about programming and structure quite a lot. For online mixes, I prefer to have some sort of concept to make the mix stand out a bit more rather than just being an hour of random tunes. For my weekly Turned On Podcast, however, I just try to structure it in a way that makes sense. Something a bit more accessible and softer at the start usually, then getting deeper and more intense as things go on. I guess that’s the Tong influence shining through again!

How do you see the world dance scene at the moment? Do you think it is developing or does it just repeat good old samples?

In terms of a global ‘scene’, it’s never been bigger and there have never been more opportunities. In terms of music, I guess I’m not hearing anything particularly new in house music but I’m hardly looking for people to reinvent the wheel. I’m playing a lot of old stuff in my sets at the moment, but that’s in part a bit of a reaction to promo fatigue as I listen to so many new tracks for Turned On every week that when I play out I want to dig through the vaults a bit more.

Do you still see a future for the records and the djs who use them?

Vinyl? Well yeah, it’s in a good place right now and I’ve started doing vinyl for my label Monologues Records. For me I think the future is moving to something more sustainable and less polluting than the crude oil dependent vinyl. There are other materials being trialled for records, but if they don’t have the same or similar sound to vinyl then I think it’s a bit pointless.

What is your vision of a great party? Do you see it as a massive gathering or you would prefer a more private kind of happening?

It all depends, but the crowd, sound and setting need to be perfect. If they are, there’s no reason a 2,000 capacity party can’t have as electric a vibe as an intimate 200 capacity. I enjoy both ends of the spectrum. My Monologues residency at Farbfernseher in Berlin definitely fulfils my desires for intimate parties. It’s a proper little sweatbox!

How do you find the present generation in terms of electronic music? Do you think the artist should be involved in teaching their younger audience?

It excites me when younger artists do their homework and have reverence for the old stuff. There are increasing numbers of these artists. Leon Revol, who I signed to
Monologues Records, is only 22 but he’s great at unearthing disco and soul tracks to sample. It’s those kinds of artists who try and understand their roots and apply something new to it that excite me most. And yes, we should definitely spread the knowledge. I’m currently mentoring an 18-year-old grime MC via artsemergency.org about the ins and outs of the music industry.

What do you do in your spare time?

Spare time you say? What’s that?

Please share with us the projects you’re working on, we’d love to know more about them.

My label Monologues Records releases its first vinyl offering on April 18 called ‘Dialogue Vol. 1’, with four hot tracks from Je Dàvu (Melon), Uffe, Ponty Mython and Thorsteinssøn. Then we’ve got parties this summer in Berlin and Paris and hopefully Copenhagen too. You can catch me playing at Common People festival in Oxford on May 28, and look out for some new music from me soon plus an edit via Soul Clap’s Crew Love series...

EILO radio wishes you good luck and hope to hear from you very, very soon.