Ben Smyth - Brighton Beach

Biography of Ben Smyth

Ben Smyth is a 23 year old DJ & producer from Liverpool. Early influences were not hard to come by in the North West, and his passion for dirty electronic grooves was forged during visits to Voodoo, the Orbit and Atomic Jam in the late 90's. It was the heyday of pounding loopy techno, every DJ you saw was the best thing ever, and, like everyone else, Ben was usually trying to get down to the front to give a big sweaty handshake to Kazbekovinia's latest four deck wizard. However, even during these times of mysteriously clouded judgement, it was the minimalist stylings of Richie Hawtin and Robert Hood that Ben found was having most effect on his germinating musical taste.

A move to university in the North East allowed Ben to hook up with Logarhythms partner Jonny Robson, aka Jay Pace. Finding a mutual love of techno existed between them, Ben was soon heavily involved in Jonny's already established Paste night, where he made his debut as a DJ, and also helped found the Jibba Jabba soundsytem, putting on numerous free parties during the summer months. Playing to a crowd who were not techno purists taught Ben to relax his style and incorporate other genres in order to manipulate the dancefloor more effectively. But despite this, a need for a more stripped down sound was still foremost in his thoughts. It was at this time that Ben discovered the glitched up tech funk emanating from mainland Europe, and he instinctively knew he had found a style of music which had everything he wanted.

Fast forward to 2005, and, undeterred by moronic calls to 'get that click-house shit off the decks and put something more banging on,' Ben continues to search out the best in house and techno to try and create a sound that gets the feet tappin' and the ass shakin'. Having moved back home to the Wirral to continue his studies gigs have been thin on the ground, but he still enjoys getting together with his friends from the Jibba Jabba soundsystem, where he finds some trippy weirdness goes down a treat in the morning sunshine following a hectic night partying in the outdoors.

Ben has also featured in the Raw Talent section of iDJ magazine (June 2005) where his 'Stuck in a Loop' mix was described as 'basement gear from the top drawer' and drew commentary from top celebrity hard dance DJ (*sigh*) Eddie Halliwel - 'Good intro, there's some really smooth mixing and he mixes it up well. I also love the track selection.'