At just 21 years of age, UK producer Ben Sterling has become one of the hottest commodities on the tech-house and rare groove market. An impressive line-up of top flight artists are snapping up his music for release, including Lee Foss, Josh Butler, Eats Everything and Hot Creations head honcho Jamie Jones. Sterling’s ‘Energy EP’, a sensational triple hitter that has won praise from the likes of Anja Schneider, Dennis Ferrer, Gorgon City, Yousef, Groove Armada, Claude Vonstroke, Hannah Wants, Huxley, Riva Starr, Camelphat, Popof and more, hits the floor today on Hot Creations and marks the youngster’s debut on the legendary imprint. With upcoming shows at Snowbombing, Hideout Festival and the Warehouse Project just some of the dates filling up his diary, and picked up by Radio 1’s Danny Howard as his inaugural 2019 Future Fire star, it’s clear Sterling is enjoying an unprecedented and meteoric rise to the top. DMC World caught up with him to find out more…
BEN STERLING ‘THE ENERGY EP’ HOT CREATIONS:
DOWNLOAD | STREAM: https://lnk.to/HOTC129
Hi Ben, welcome to DMC! Where are you in the world and what are you doing right now?
Hello DMC thanks for having me. I am currently in the studio making new music and eating a crumpet.
Jamie Jones famously played seven of your tracks in one EDC Vegas set – how instrumental was that for you? How did you feel when you realised he’d given you that level of support in one go?
It’s still an unbelievable feeling even to this day because at the time when I sent him the music over I was having a hard time choosing. I didn’t expect him to test them out all in one set haha! So it was very overwhelming and I’m very grateful for the support he has shown!
You have your first EP coming out on Hot Creations, can you tell us more about what you’ve produced for them?
The music I put out on Hot Creations, I want it to really reflect my sound which I did for example on my previous releases on HotTrax & Repopulate Mars. It’s showing my electronic sound of minimal Detroit groove & modular synthesis.
You’ve already got some impressive labels on your discography, including Josh Butler’s Origins Rcrds. You were the first artist to release on the imprint which is seriously impressive. How did that come about?I was introduced to Josh Butler at Defected Croatia 2016 and my father brought me over to speak with him. I am a huge fan of his music so I was very excited when he said he was working on a new project for his label and wanted to hear some of my music.You mention in your bio that Josh has given you a lot of great career advice – how important is it for you to have that level of mentorship and what have you gained from it?
Very important. To have his knowledge passed down with such a lot of experience here and there, it’s really opened me up to the music industry and still to this day I’m learning.
Which producers and DJs do you look up to the most?
Jamie Jones, Eats Everything, Lee Foss and many more who have pushed me along the way!
You’re obviously only in the fledgling stages of your career – do you have a set vision on where you see yourself in the next five, ten years?Yes. I wish to keep going and develop a brand, a record label, possibly even events but more importantly I want to invest my time on all the upcoming DJs as it is a great feeling to have music and be able to share it with the world.What label that you haven’t released on yet would you love to work with?
I would love to work on record labels such as;
Turbo Recordings, Play It Say It, Desolat, Cuttin Headz, Crosstown Rebels, Cajual and possibly even my own in the nearest future.
What productions have you got coming up that we should be on the lookout for?
I have my Edible release coming out soon later this month and a couple collaborations that are still in the works.
www.instagram.com/bensterling_uk
