Teacher's Pet

Beni is a man of many monikers. He plays as a solo artist, was formerly one half of the Riot In Belgium duo, and configures the mash-up stylings of Bang Gang Deejays. This new EP, however, sees Beni creating something to strengthen his artistic abilities. “I feel really good about it”, he chirps. “The whole anxiety behind releases thing doesn't really happen to me anymore. I think these days I'm just feeling proud of the accomplishment regardless of how it's taken – it's just good to get it out and the reaction has been good by the people I've shown so far.”

The EP was produced by long-time friend and tour buddy Kim Moyes of The Presets, a man Beni considers himself very lucky to work with: “He has this amazing studio at his house – the whole bottom floor. And just to have the opportunity to work with all the machines he has was incredible. Working with him made it almost like a joint project. He's definitely the silent partner and, without him, the record would probably sound completely different. He just pushes me in a different direction, but then I always bring it back to myself and how I can learn from the lessons. It's like having a school teacher, I guess, who inspires you to do things differently to make yourself better. He was a mentor figure.”

The two originals on this EP, Love On The Run and Summer's Gone, are very different beasts. Featuring New York's Prince Terrance on vocals, the former track offers a serving of future house, the vocals instilling the dystopian landscape with a lovelorn sense of humanity. By contrast, the latter sees Terrence harmonising with the track's bitter, techno heart, the end result something of a sinister acid workout. While sounding quite different, however, Beni assures it was a naturally occurring process. “They both started off sounding similar but then parted in different directions,” he muses. “I think that working with the same vocalist on both tracks brings the cohesiveness with them. It's good though, now there's diversity to the record and I think people will enjoy that.”

About to begin his tour across the country, Beni's constantly trying to discover new ways to entertain his audience. As such, the man is attempting to add a whole new dimension to his work: a visual show. “DJing is fun, but sometimes it can get a little boring. We're thinking of adding a visual element to the performances to make them more interesting. It'll be something of a show, but I'm still trying to work on the idea and that'll be a challenge. It'll still be DJ-focused, but I'm all about learning and making things interesting. I'm really looking forward to the shows around the country and I hope these ideas become more concrete in the process.”