An Urbanian Exclusive with DJ Benny Ben

DJ Benny Ben. He’s your favorite DJ’s favorite DJ. I remember hearing him say that as I – then, a high schooler – used to listen to his mix show on ‘The Cultural Vibe’ every Saturday night on Impact 89FM. And the more I think about that statement, it’s invariably true. He’s the quiet guy with the sly smile behind the turntables, bobbing his head in the background, switching records in and out, keeping the beat alive. He’s always been one to let the music do the talking. As a fixture in the Detroit/Mid-Michigan music scene over the past 10+ years, we were happy to get the chance to catch up with him after hearing about his guest spot on The All Out Show with Rude Jude & Lord Sear on Shade 45 (Sirius/ XM) this past fall. This time, he was doing the talking – sans actual music.

SH: I used to faithfully listen to your mix show, ‘The Cultural Vibe’ every Saturday night on WDBM in East Lansing. That was at least 9 or 10 years ago. How long have you actually been DJing?

BB: I’ve been DJing since ‘97, copping wax since ‘95.

SH: I heard through the grapevine (the world wide web, that is) about your guest spot on The All Out Show with Rude Jude & Lord Sear? What’s the story behind that?

BB: As far as the guest spot on Shade 45, when I was out in LA, I connected with my man Rude Jude, who I hadn’t seen in years. He heard me play at the Roxy with Mayer Hawthorne, so we chopped it up for a minute. The next day he hit up my man Jax, and wanted to bring me on The All Out Show, which was an awesome opportunity… I went to my man Hugh Whitaker’s spot, recorded it and sent it out. He played it and the response was great from the callers. I’d love to do it again.

SH: I remember when I used to see you lugging around your big crates of records…still at it? What are your tools these days?

BB: My tools include 2 Technics 1200 turntables, Shure M447 needles, 1 Vestax 07 Pro mixer, and about 14,000 records. For this mix, I used a mix of vinyl, a MacBook with the Rane Sertato software (this was only my 3rd time using that though). Shout to Hubert Sawyers III for lending the MacBook, and my man DJ Graffiti who hooked me up with a gang of digital music to help me with the transition to Serato.

SH: This was obviously a bright spot in your music career. What other things have you been into over the past few years? What would you say are some other highlights?

BB: Highlights…there are so many. 6 1/2 years on the radio at WDBM… a childhood dream. 4 years doing Elevation at the Firefly w/ Graffiti & Buff 1. My homie Mayer Hawthorne bringing me out to LA this past year to open at the Roxy & play the Do-Over party at Crane’s. Just being out there with My Sky Children/ A-Side Worldwide family, Buff 1, Now On, AML, 14 KT and all those guys. I’m so proud of all the success they’re having right now, and really just honored to be a part of the crew. The highlights are really just the relationships I’ve built with people like them, Hubert, my man SelfSays, Stoopz-N-Breeze, BLAKE Eerie, the list goes on. I’ve been blessed to meet a lot of good people.

SH: Any notable projects or gigs coming up that we should pencil in?

BB: Next up I’m working on a recording a podcast for A-Side Worldwide (http://www.asideworldwide.com/), that should be done later this month. I might finally release the 2 year old mix CD I’ve been sitting on called “Money Twelves”… Not sure about club gigs but folks can hit me up on Twitter (@DJBennyBen) if they want to book me. I think the last one I did was Oslo. I’ve also got some weddings coming up too. My homie Hubert & I have some things in the works as far as a DJ service as well, so be on the lookout.

SH: Are there any other places online to keep tabs on you/hear your work?

BB: Online besides Twitter, we’re building www.djbennyben.com up right now, and it’s up in its infancy. I’ve got an old mix up there for folks to chew on until I get my ishhh together. I have a Myspace (myspace.com/djbennybenmixes), and that is also under re-construction right now.

SH: There are a lot of people trying to make it in this business. From a veteran, what’s your advice?

BB: Youngin’s and even old timers getting into the biz… just be true to yourself and study those who inspire you. Oh, and if you’re not happy already, you’re not going to find happiness in some music scene… not in the long term anyways. You’ll realize what life’s about when you have a baby (I love you Ellery!).

SH: Congrats on your new baby girl, as I’m sure she’s been a huge inspiration as of late! Musically, I’ve got to know, who else inspires you? Who’s my favorite DJ’s favorite DJ’s favorite DJ?

BB: My favorite DJ ever.. my man Reggie Hotmix. He’s the reason I do what I do musically. I listened to him every Saturday night in high school on the radio.

SH: What’s on heavy rotation in your life right now? What are the constants?

BB: On the way home tonight I listened to Cat Power, Dead Prez, and Bell Biv Devoe. As far as new stuff… Danny Brown, Marv Won, Raekwon, Slaughterhouse. And next on my list, I gotta hear that new Freeway & Jake One. Old records… I’ve been listening to some old joints by Bernard Wright, Norman Connors, Soul Mann and Rasa.

SH: And lastly, at the end of the day, what’s your main goal as far as what you’re doing, and how it’s leading to where you’re going?

BB: My whole life is based on music; everything I do, everywhere I go, even in my 9 to 5, I always have music in my head. That being said, my main goal is to balance business, being a good husband and father, and maintaining a solid creative outlet to be heard and get the dopest music out to the people I love and respect.

DOWNLOAD DJ BENNY BEN’S ‘YESTERDAY’S PILL MIX’ RIGHT NOW!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 10:40 am and is filed under Features, Music and tagged with DJ Benny Ben, Mayer Hawthorne. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.