| Interview with B.E.N. ( 21.09.2007 - 15:40 GMT UTC )
Thank you for having this interview with me for TranceSound.net
B.E.N.: It’s ok... thanks for having me!
1. From what I understand you are a Dj, Producer, and a Label owner; do you find it difficult to tackle all of these different areas at the same time ?
B.E.N.: To be honest with you it doesn’t really seem that hard for me to handle. Quite a few people have asked me this before actually. I have developed a routine in which everything works hand in hand and so that I can manage to do everything in very little time which is great. You would actually be surprised how much free time I have!
2. At what age did you start your career in the EDM music scene and how many years of experience do you have to show for it ?
B.E.N.: I started off Dj’ing just before I turned 13, a year late I started to dabble in the production side of things and I guess everything has just developed so much over the last 7 years from there really. It’s safe to say that if you look at where I am now, it shows you how much I have actually learnt over the past 7 years.
3. How do you feel about the trance scene in Romania ?
B.E.N.: I found the scene out there to be really exciting. Everyone was really friendly and as soon as I dropped my first track I could tell that they were just as mad about the music as I was.. even though the temperature was 45+ degrees!! I think because of the country not been a well developed country at the present moment that the Electronic Music fans as a whole look forward to the arrival of International Djs and with they’re vast enthusiasm for the music they love that makes the event that little bit more special.
4. In some parts of the world you are very well known and in others no so much; how do you go about getting your name recognized in the scene ?
B.E.N.: It’s a bit of an odd scenario when it comes down to my name been noticed in some parts of the world and then not in others. Although I’m still only 19 (20 on Oct 11th, remember presents please people! Ha-ha) I’ve managed to get my name picked up more abroad than on my home turf of the UK, usually it would be home first then everywhere else second but I can’t complain at all. I’ve got a really cool following out in the likes of Indonesia & Canada which is really great to have. Also the likes of Sweden & Romania had so many people who knew so much about me and what I’d achieved, it made me feel really happy inside that people look up to me and admire what I do.
5. Will there be any future collaboration with Digital Nature; and are there any projects in the works at the moment ?
B.E.N.: After the recent hype of our track “Save Me God” (which is out on October, the 23rd of May I add) we decided to work on some more material which will be under a new guise called ‘Multilingual’. Hopefully we will have our debut production under this name completed by the end of September. Elsewhere the ‘ B.E.N. vs. Mr. Pit ‘ project is firing ahead since our signing to Armada / Coldharbour... so many enquiries about the tracks and other labels approaching us for remixes it’s unreal! My next soo production “Zaphos” will be out on my Total Digital imprint in January, that’s backed up with an Arctic Quest Remix which he sent me only a few days ago.. and like all his work it’s huge so I’m really looking forward to the release of that.
6. Where would you say that most of your fan base resides in ?
B.E.N.: The world wide web :-) Many Djs fan bases are developing over the net and mine’s no different. With use of sites such as MySpace & Bebo you can be in close contact with the people who like what you do and anytime there’s something new to tell they’re just a click away. Since the internet is developing all the time there’s always new ways appearing to develop general networking and fan base promotion.. I guess I should thank the internet for helping my fan base expand (and also for helping my work speed to be sped up 100x!)
7. Do you have any plans outside of the EDM scene; and how important do you think it is to branch out considering the lack of money being made in the industry currently ?
B.E.N.: There’s only one industry I would ever work in and that’s the music industry. My ‘day jobs’ so to speak include running my 2 record labels Total Digital Rec. / Mainframe Rec. and also my artist management company Five Star Management, as-well as production / remix work. I could never see myself doing anything else! My number one priority is and always will be my Djing career. Money can be made it just depends what you do, how you do it and mainly if you can be bothered to work for it, if someone doesn’t want to put in 101% hard work and effort then they’ll never succeed and not succeeding equals ultimately no money.
8. Can you tell us more regarding your radio show on ETN.FM called “Total Trance” ?
B.E.N.: Total T.R.A.N.C.E. is a show I have been running for the past 3 and a half years now. Basically it’s a way for me to put out a monthly mix of material to both my own fans and fans of Trance music in general. The ‘Total’ name is my brand name, which you’ll be able to find on tour towards the latter part of 2007 with some very interesting guest DJ’s and concepts for sure.
9. About how much studio time do you put in from beginning to completion of a track on average ?
B.E.N.: Sometimes it can be days and sometimes it can be weeks or even months. It depends on what ideas you come up with and how quickly you sum up with them (and ultimately how good they are). Nowadays you’ve got to have something about you’re sound and that’s what I always try to develop, so setting a time limit ultimately depends on the producer(s) and they’re frame of mind(s).
10. In your own words how would you describe your style; and how seriously do you take your performances ?
B.E.N.: My style ranges from Deep Electro influenced warm up sets right through to peak time driving euphoric Trance that’s finished off with lashing’s of tough tech & psychedelic material. I take my performances really seriously... not that you would be able to tell though as I’m always jumping about like a kid on Christmas morning behind the decks! Haha!
11. What are some of your favorite cities and venues to perform at ?
B.E.N.: Vancouver has to be my favorite city which I’ve performed in. Not only are the clubs and the crowds amazing but the city as a whole is superb! Really nice people as well... I can’t wait to get back out there in January!
Thanks for the interview... much appreciated!
Interview made by Zaneta Soroko aka Euphoria (TranceSound.net forum moderator)
Links:
B.E.N. official website
Total Digital official website
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