In a time where referring to someone as a ‘bedroom producer’ is both an offensive & descriptive term for a lot of new kids on the block it is time to cut through the haze and shine a spotlight on the true talent. Benedict Jackson is a relative newbie who although classically trained has turned his hand to producing like so many youngers. He took the time to fill us in on the whose what where when’s & the how’s of being him. Get the down low here first as we are sure his is on the brink of something big.
Check out more over at: https://soundcloud.com/benedictjackson
HTF: Hello Benedict, Grace from HTF here! How are you doing today?
B: Great thanks, summer is almost here!
HTF: What do we interrupt you doing to delve into your psyche?
B: Just woke up from a 14 hour sleep after an amazing weekend of gigs supporting Bondax and the Eton Messy boys – full english and a cuppa getting me back on track.
HTF: Having had a good old fashioned internet stalk of you there isn’t actually all that much known about you as you are pretty new to the scene having only established your SoundCloud a year ago. So going back to basics, A/S/L?
B: Yeh I’ve been DJing for a while but didn’t get round to making a soundcloud account until last year. I’m a 21-year-old student living in Oxford but I hail from south-east London.
HTF: How have you found yourself producing?
B: I’m actually classically trained and have played a load of different instruments, including piano and sax for quite a while, but production wise its always been electronic music that I’ve been interested in. My first experience producing was actually messing around on Fruity Loops(!) but I managed to grab a download of Logic off a mate, which really got the ball rolling and since then I’ve managed to build up a humble home studio.
HTF: What is your earliest memory of electronic music?
B: ‘I Feel Love’ by Donna Summer is probably the song I remember most from my childhood. I still love to throw it into my sets – it’s one of those timeless classics! I was exposed to a lot of disco as well and I think it was my older sister who gave me a couple of CDs of early house and garage tunes when I was about 12 or 13 and I was hooked.
HTF: Do you think that the emergence of the white wash term ‘Deep House’ is detrimental to up & coming artists?
B: It’s not great for the genre as it is pretty disingenuous but I think if an artist is good in his own right, it shouldn’t really be a problem. I know a lot of people get worked up about these ‘white wash’ terms but I tend to ignore it as they’re normally just used for unimaginative marketing and promotion.
HTF: What genre/sub genre do you class yourself as?
B: Ha, probably Deep House but I don’t really know.
HTF: ‘Not Your House’ has had a lot of praise & plays since it’s release on Real Nice Recordings such as being featured on Eton Messy, was this what your were expecting?
B: Not at all, I was amazed at the reaction it got, especially it being my first release. It was only a sketch when the Real Nice boys snapped it up and told me they wanted to release it. It was incredible to hear that Eats Everything had been playing it out all summer in Ibiza!
HTF: Your April RNR001 EP was the debut release from Real Nice Recordings, how did this come about?
B: I had the Real Nice boys at a few parties and we got chatting. I sent them a few tunes looking for some advice but they got back to me a few months later saying they were starting the label and wanted me to be the first release. It came out of nowhere! They are really nice.
HTF: What goes into making a fresh production? Where do you take your inspiration from?
B: Listening to a variety of different genres always helps. I usually produce with the dance floor in mind, but I have several other side projects on the go at the moment which are more chilled out. I’m really into Post Rock and Electronica right now, both of which are great for inspiration, especially the extensive use of sampling.
HTF: What kind of venues/locations do you most look forward to playing?
B: Small. Intimate. Intense. Places where people have come for the music not because they think it is cool to come for the music.
HTF: What is your pet peeve in UK clubs?
B: Not dancing. Come on guys (and girls).
HTF: We see you’re appearing at this years Noisily Festival what should the festival goers expect from your set?
B: Noisily was an amazing experience for me last year. I had a great slot after Mat.Joe and Monte on the Tree House Stage (which is one of the coolest places that I’ve played). There’s a great atmosphere so I tend to see what works on the night but lots of exciting unreleased material to test out and a few secret weapons, which always go down a treat.
HTF: In an ideal world if I could arrange for you to work with whichever Artist(s) you wanted to make one tune, who would it be & why?
B: I think Nile Rogers is the man. He’s been immensely influential in the development of music over the last couple of decades and having read his autobiography I think he would be an amazingly inspirational guy to work with.
HTF: What does the second half of 2014 hold for you?
B: Lots of new original music in the pipeline so I’m looking to release some of that in the near future and the new RNR05 “Far” coming out very soon. Im booked for a couple of other festivals as well this summer, including Love Saves the Day, Gottwood and a new one called Hijacked, which is definitely worth checking out. Apart from that I’m booking in some serious studio time.
HTF: Any last words?
B: What we do in life echoes in eternity.
