What did you actually start with: DJ’ing, producing or both?
I started as a DJ about 7-8 years ago. At that point it wasn’t important to have your own productions and tracks, it was all about DJ’ing. I wasn’t known back then for producing and releasing tracks. The breaking point was about 2 years ago when I decided I wanted to pull through my plan to go DJ internationally and started to create my own tracks.
Interesting, so when you started when you were about 13 years old, which program did you use?
That’s a funny story actually; I used Virtual DJ which back then I believe was called just Atomix and I didn’t have any decks at home. I just had a windows XP computer that I used to mix tracks. I started a little radio station called ‘Pirate radio’ that had about 20 listeners, that’s where it all started. My sister (Lady Bee) gave me decks for my birthday and I started DJ’ing with vinyl.
https://soundcloud.com/marcbenjamin/iwantyoutoknowremix
Nice! These days you don’t see DJ’s playing with vinyl often anymore. So when your career started, who has been a great support for you?
My sister, Lady Bee, obviously, she was an MC back then and was already well established in the industry. Thanks to her I was given opportunities to really get somewhere, she is really important to me.
Did you have some piano lessons or something to learn how to compose a track?
No, I never had any piano lessons. I basically started by listening to a lot of music and trying to recreate tracks that I liked.
Which DJ/Producer is your big example?
That would be Alesso, both as a DJ and as a producer. These days it’s quite difficult to have a big example for DJ’ing, but what I love what he does is really thinking about his setlist. I recognize that also in my own process. I’m really focused on my preparation for a set. As for my example within Mixmash it would definitely be Laidback Luke. I’ve known him for a very long time now. It’s really cool to see him DJ’ing because he has got really special skills. It’s not the way I would be playing but he really dares. I really respect what he does on stage. Talking about Mixmash I’m really happy with our collaboration. They are really helping me developing my professional profile, with releases.
With who would you like to create a track?
I would love to create a track with Axwell & Ingrosso, but I don’t think that will ever happen. A collab with Benny Benassi would also be really cool.
Alright, your latest release ‘Lights camera action’ was released on Revealed Recordings as a part of the Dannic selection, how does that feel?
Revealed Recordings is obviously one of the biggest labels so it’s really cool to have a release on that label. It’s really special for me, it’s the Dannic selection which means that the track is being pushed by Dannic and also by Hardwell, two artists with a really big fan-base. That’s noticeable for my amount of likes and it’s really nice to get a positive response from their fans about my track.
https://soundcloud.com/marcbenjamin/lightscameraaction
Marc Benjamin links:
http://www.marc-benjamin.com/
www.facebook.com/TheMarcBenjamin
www.twitter.com/marcbenjamins
www.instagram.com/marcbenjamin
Spotify: http://bit.ly/SpotifyMB
www.soundcloud.com/marcbenjamin