So Ben, singer, DJ and producer from London by way of Bristol, 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 until I knew all the words to the classics by the age of six. ‘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?”
So what finally got you into House Music?
“Yeah I have 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…”
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 whereas DJing I play other peoples music. They are both shows and I take both as seriously as each other.”
I used to run clubs down in Bristol, what a rough city in parts, the old ladies would tear your legs off. But a great musical city – what are your memories from there?
“Well I lived there for seven years and made music there with a lot of Bristol headz. 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.”
How would you describe your DJing style – House music seems to have really given you a kick up the bum?
“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.”
Quite a cool little TV moment…
Ha! I appeared on Later…with Jools Holland alongside Paul McCartney and Bjork – quite surreal.
How did Gilles Peterson become involved with your last album – and who was the female friend who gave him the CD of the single ‘So Good Today’?
“Well he signed me back in 2006 and was running the label Brownswood who put my record ‘Welcome to the Best Years of Your Life’ out. It was nice being signed by someone who genuinely believes in the music he puts out and he has a great ear.”
Prior to that, an interesting tale of how he heard about you…
“I gave a friend of mine a CD containing my first single ‘So Good Today’, two months later she played it to Gilles, the rest is history…”
