One of the coolest underground DJs on the planet, Manchester born Ben Pearce first burst onto the world scene in 2012 with his ‘What I Might Do’ EP dominating club floors across the entire world and topping at #7 in the UK charts. As his independent label Purp & Soul goes from strength to strength, Pearce returns next month with his massive new track ‘Predictable’…Dan Prince gets the world exclusive…
Ben welcome back to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Hi Dan, I’m in the tropical paradise of Manchester!”
Well you have done it again young man, grabbing all of the headlines thanks to another of your massive productions. This time round it’s ‘Predictable’ that’s smashing up dancefloors everywhere, talk us through the tune…
“Well I’ve been a huge fan of Black Orange Juice for a couple of years now, buying all their releases. When the opportunity came around to work with them it was so exciting. I went down to Ossie’s studio with a few ideas, the track progressed over time and came out like this. I’m looking forward to working with them again, they’re stupidly talented chaps.”
The record is due out at the end of April and comes with an exclusive remix package, what can you tell us about that?
“Ohhh not too much, don’t know if I’m allowed. Should be good though!”
When we last spoke you were in the middle of the success of ‘What I Might Do’, a stunning record that eventually went platinum around Europe. At the time you were a little overwhelmed with it’s success…what puzzled me was that you had the tune sitting on your laptop for over a year and had no idea what a monster you were sitting on! What was all that about???
“Yeah, well I never really think anything I do is good after a while…suppose that’s the way my head works! I have loads of music I’ve done or nearly finished, I occasionally go back and tweak some bits, play them out…see how they go down and see what happens.”
Your biography states something that we know already, first and foremost you are an underground DJ and producer. How did it feel scooping DJ Mag’s Best Breakthrough Producer 2013…how does adulation like that sit with such a humble chap? Are awards your thing?
“It was amazing, an honour just to be nominated (such a cliche eh) haha, but it’s true. It was the first award I’ve gained from music, it was a great to receive it, hopefully some more in future. I think the humility helps to keep me level headed, but to win awards for personal achievements just helps to give purpose and meaning to what I’m doing; like…yeah I’m on the right track here.”
You are a regular up at the mighty Warehouse Project in your home city. For the thousands of readers around the world who have never set foot into the club, why is WHP so special…?
“It’s the sheer scale and production of it, every room is packed and the visuals/sound are top notch. The lineups obviously are enough to get anyone going, they’ve just got it right and proven by their track record. Looking forward to seeing where they go with it next.”
Best night in a club in Manchester ever?
“I put on an unlicensed (we only found out after the event) party in a basement with Death On the Balcony a good few years back now, that was amazing. Hard call though over the years.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning…
“Oh lordy, well I did a couple of charts today online so I’ll pick from them:
Max Graef – Bummse EP
Adesse Verisons – In The Dark
Four Tet & Terror Danjah – Killah
Nosaj Thing – Try (Kyle Hall Remix)
Terron – No 17 Governing
White Man & The Arab – Thinking Of You
Marcel Fengler – Jaz (The Traveller Remix)
Mr Mgeeka – Different Lekstrix
Aden – Whip (Jimmy Edgar Remix)
What is the latest news down at Purp & Soul…?
“Well we just had my EP come out, tracks ‘Lego, The Rain Is Coming & GBH’ which has had a great reactions so far. Just ordering our summer out, got music coming from Resketch, 2ndSun, Harry Wolfman, Cy Humphreys, Khora Khora & more. Plus launching our vinyl only sub soon…all exciting stuff!”
Share a few names of people we should be looking out for in 2014 producer wise…
“Max Graef is killing it at the moment, I’m really bad for knowing who is established and who isn’t I just buy the music…obviously I have to say the guys on my label like Mark Wells, Real Connoisseur & Harry Wolfman are going to have an amazing year. UNKNWN also, their live show is next level good, definitely ones to check out.”
We were in the crowd at The Sub Club getting messy to your beats. Where have some of the stand out gigs been for you recently…?
“Oh really, you should’ve said hi! Sub Club is always one of my favourites! I had a really good time again at the Fez in Sheffield recently. Let It Bleed in Aberdeen was amazing, plus all the dates in my Australian tour were incredible. I’ve been really lucky so far this year!”
Tell us about your studio set up…
“Well I use Ableton Live, various plugins etc. I have a Jupiter 50, microkorg and a dave smith mopho X4. They all get ran through an UAD Apollo Quad, so I have some amazing plugins on there that just hit the spot like the Fairchild Compressor. I share my studio with Mark Wells and he’s brought a few bits in and we’re growing the collection slowly. Just finishing off a vocal booth as well.”
Another thing you mentioned last time we spoke was that it was taking a little time to get used to all of the travelling around the world DJing. It’s every DJs pain in the arse! Is it getting any easier…?
“Haha, I’ve actually got loads better…I don’t feel as much of a zombie in the mornings now and I can carry on, I suppose a couple more years and I’ll be a seasoned pro. It’s also letting me enjoy it a bit more, enjoying wandering around new places and discovering things. The first few months were hard, it was such a shock to the system going from a 9-5.”
DJ wise, where are some of the dates you are really looking forward to in 2014?
“Really excited to play Fabric again in May, and Bugged Out Weekender which is this weekend! Looking forward to going back to Italy and indeed pretty much every European country…so many fond memories from 2013 to try and top…plus festivals, Oh Wow festivals, Snowbombing, Hideout, Parklife…lots to be excited for!”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“Oh well, not too sure chronologically, I’m working with a few vocalists that are super talented at the moment. Plus a guitarist soon and some other instrumentalists, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m going to be writing for original stuff again very soon, I never quite know what’s going to come out when I walk in the studio so it’ll be fun to see what does!”
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