He's quite a Sim card

Things take a tougher turn this Tuesday afternoon as Ben Sims drops in for a chat. One of the (many) highlights of this year's Bloc Weekend, Ben Sims has a passion for old school electro and Chicago house, while his no-nonsense, chopped up DJing, cheeky, sample-heavy 'Killa Bite', 'Manipulated' and 'Hardgroove' records as well as his Theory label have made him one of techno's global techno players. Never afraid to speak his mind, Mr Sims waxes lyrical about his love for vinyl, why he doesn't want to be viewed as a techno DJ and what his new mix CD sounds like.

You have a reputation for being quite opinionated...
"I can be quite opinionated, so I'm glad I have a reputation for speaking my mind. Life's too short to keep quiet about what you feel."

Is the music industry a place with an especially high bullshit factor?
"Admittedly, there can be a lot of bullshit and bullshiters in this scene. It's hard to know who you can trust and how to seperate real friends and 'industry' friends. I'm very wary of people now, there's alot of users out there."

Do you ever regret that you didn't make it as an electro/hip-hop DJ rather than a techno DJ - or has what you do now got more longevity?
"Sadly, I simply wasn't good enough as a hip-hop DJ, my skills stopped around 1988 and I haven't had the time or dedication to move beyond that. Turntablism requires patience, which I only have in very short supply. I loved hip-hop, breakin, the whole scene, but there's no future in just spinning old music because for me every genre has its golden era and the period of hip-hop/electro I'm passionate about is 20 years old now, so progressing to something else is only natural. I chose to play techno, I liked the energy and raw funk of the music, but I don't class myself as a techno DJ, I'm just a DJ, and right now, I play techno. It's what I'm known for, but hopefully people recognise that I'm not just a one-trick pony."

What is the situation with Theory - it hasn't released much new music lately. Has it been affected badly by the general downturn in sales and distros going bust?
"I actually cut two new Theory records in late December and I'm very happy with them. I didn't release any Theory beats last year, so it feels like the right time now. As a DJ, I receive far less vinyl promos now as more and more people are going down the digital route, which is understandable the way things are now. I just prefer vinyl and playing CDs just doesn't do it for me, so having new records is important. Even if they only break even or lose a bit of money it's worth doing to show it's still what I'm about. I've lost thousands through distributors going bust and it can be very hard sometimes, but I've never released music just to make money, it's not the motivating factor and as long as people, many or few, buy them, it's a still positive move to put them out."

You’re still a vinyl advocate/lover/DJ: is this something that is becoming more and more difficult? Do you ever see a situation where you will only release music digitally?
"I haven't really embraced the digital side of things yet. My next few releases will be the first that are available for download as well as on vinyl, so I'll just see how things go. It seems enivitable that one day vinyl will die and digital will be the only way, but for now it's still my main focus. Real DJs play records as far as I'm concerned."

In a recent interview, you said that most modern minimal was 'soulless and full of lame FX'. Wasn't most loopy/tribal techno quite samey and soulless as well- and this is why people stopped listening to it and playing it?.
"Whenever any formula is repeated endlessly and bastardised, it becomes soulless. Styles get popular and people jump on bandwagons, it's the nature of the beast and I wouldn't try and defend the hundreds of loopy nothing records I receive because obviously there's shite in every genre of dance music and a lot of people missed the point with the whole tribal/loop thing. For me, it was about sampling records from my youth, bringing elements of music that I loved into my tracks or digging hard for samples from 70s and 80s raw percussion or drum heavy disco records, not just using a fucking sample CD. That's just lazy and for people without heritage. As soon as that sound became popular, people jumped on it and most of these artists are now doing minimal because that's what's in now. If country and western became the new thing then they'd make that too, idiots! But yeah, most minimal does nothing for me, I'm not against it as a concept of music, yeah strip it to its essential basics but you have to keep the groove, the funk, without that it's just not music. So many miminal tracks just don't have anything in them that interests me, a kick, a hat, bleep, an echo, an reverb, that's not funky enough for me, too empty. There are some great minimal artists who know how to make it, sadly they are a rare breed."

Are you still putting on parties in London? Were you never tempted to move to a country where you are far more popular as a DJ, say like Spain, and where what you do is more popular? With the exception of Lost and a few other nights like your own, London has never really been techno central.
"I still persist with doing parties in London. The last one was with Ken Ishii, The Advent, Paul Mac, Vince Watson and Colin Dale. It was very successful so there is a crowd here, just not that many. Again, it was never really a money thing doing the parties, I just got frustrated that I didn't have anywhere I played regularly in London that felt like home or a residency. Also the only place I ever saw DJs I like or am friends with was on the road, so it seemed a good idea to start something. Sometimes it's frustrating when you put on a line up that would be a 10,000 people festival elsewhere in Europe and you only get 1,200 here, but that's just London, it's never been the capital of techno and it's never been particularly fashionable to like techno here. I kind of like that though. Yeah, I've thought many times about moving to other countries or cities to make my travelling easier, maybe one day I will. Right now, I know there's still more things I wanna do in London and I still kinda miss it when I'm not here."

Are you still as popular as ever as a DJ in places like Spain and eastern Europe - or has minimal become more popular in these places too?
"Minimal has exploded everywhere, but I think in the long run, it has been good for me to stick to my style. There was a period where gigs slowed up and that's probably why so many other DJs jumped on it. There were many clubs that stick to their guns though, and many that won't even book minimal now because as every club is doing it, it doesn't fill venues like it did. There has been more of a merging of the two scenes recently too, which I definitely think is positive. In the same way that minimal all night is boring, so is tougher stuff. Well, so is everything. Mixing up different styles in a night is how it should be."

Are there any upcoming producers that you would tip at the moment?
"Quince from Holland is very promising, making clubby, emotive Detroit-flavoured techno and electronica. I'm looking forward to see how he progresses. On the tougher end of things, Kazu Kimura is doing some really interesting stuff, playing lots by him right now. Norman Chung from Singapore is coming up nicely with the more sample driven/loop based stuff, definitely worth checking out if that's your bag."

You’re about to release a mix CD, your first in quite a while and includes material from 2000 & One, Shinedoe, Redshape, Educutuion and DJ 3000. Are these the kind of producers who are making great records and pushing techno forward at the moment?
"Yeah the mix has quite a mix of artists, some new, some old, different styles, a lot of the producers I've been really into over the past couple of years are in the mix. I think the way to push techno forward is incorporate elements of various styles, to keep it interesting, techno isn't just 'bang bang', it never started out like that. "

There is also some older stuff from Tyree and DJ Funk on the mix: is it important for you to play older stuff? You’re a big fan of Chicago house and techno - does it continue to influence what you do?
"Admittedly it's hard for me not to drop older stuff. I'm a huge fan of old Chicago stuff and always try to play something in my sets, whether it's an original or a re-edit. I don't want to just focus on what's new as so much great stuff has come before it. If I want to get in the mood to make a mix CD or even start a track, sometimes I just have a little mix up of old records to get my groove on. It's not always Chicago house, could be anything, disco, soul, hip-hop... just something to get my head nodding before I've even started, maybe even just do an edit of an old track. A few of the re-edits I've been dropping for a while should see the light of day on theory soon (DJ Rush being the first). I just think that a lot of the funk and energy of music has been lost in the digital age, so I surround myself with music from the past 30 years whenever possible. It's an overused statement but one eye on the future, one on the past pretty much sums me up."

Comments

[Kenny]

nice interview. Im havin that quote about real djs ha!

[yoko]

"He's quite a Sim card"

Worst pun ever!

[EC]

Cool interview with a great DJ and lovely guy or as they would say around his neck of the woods 'Diamond Geezer'.

[Kate]

Agreed - nice interview!

[Brophy]

yes, one of the worst puns ever - and he is a very nice guy (or at least that's how he comes across via email). Thanks for reading...

[aid]

hmm. so when is the mystery headliner TBA going to be A? chompin at the bit here like...

[m.]

i quite enjoyed the "real djs" bit as well as the part about laziness and lack of heritage. haha...classic.

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