INTERVIEW: Beni

After the release of his debut album 'House Of Beni' last year, Sydney based producer/all around nice guy Beni Single hit 2012 hard, touring with Groovin' The Moo, the Triple J House Party and Stereosonic. We caught up with him amidst the Stereo tour to talk music, male dancers and being an asshole.

Are you at EMC this week?

No, no. I'm in Sydney, but not at EMC. I'm just in the studio for now and then Melbourne on Saturday.

Oh, right of course, you're in the midst of Stereo right now. How's it all going?

Man, it's good! A lot of fun, Sydney the other day was really good and Melbourne should be fun, looking forward to that.

I was in Kings Cross the other night after Stereo and their was just the weirdest energy about the place.

Yeah its great, if your set is no good you can just walk around and look at all the freaky people.

Haha, a lot weird steroid driven styles?

Exactly.

Any weird stories so far?

You know what, not really. I wish there was. I mean it's just a whole bunch of dudes with no shirts and a bunch of tattoos, who've taken too much ecstasy, lying on the ground.

Haha, yeah always a bit full on.

Yeah, I always try and stay away from that part of it.

So I saw you years ago in Sydney and have since seen footage from your show at Groovin' The Moo, and the set has really been enhanced since then. You've got the dancers, you've got the live visuals. How are Australian audiences reacting to it all?

It's just a part of the whole album thing, DJing is usually pretty boring so you have to kind of step it up a bit. It's been good, the shows with the dancers have been great. I'm not doing them all the time, keeping for the bigger shows, I mean I'm not doing them for Stereosonic. But it's been good, you get the odd homophobe who doesn't like the male dancers, but it's fine.

Yeah that's unfortunate.

Yeah, But all in all it's had a good outcome.

It was good to hear such positive feedback from the Groovin' The Moo tour, it's great to see Australian audiences opening up a bit.

Yeah, I think everyone got really excited, because it's something that you don't get to see everyday.

Obviously with a tour like stereo there are some huge names, even though you're a well established artist, have you been star struck around any names on the bill?

Ummm, no, I mean I haven't really met everyone. I've got a bunch of friends from overseas doing it so I pretty much just hang out with them. Haven't really hung out with Tiesto or Calvin yet.

Haha, soon!

Yeah, soon mate, soon!

It was really exciting to see that the triple j house party was such a success, what was the experience like for you?

Yeah, it was great. A lot of fun touring with friends instead of just on your own, I was with Nina and Flume and What So Not, so it was really fun. And all the shows were sold out.

What do you think made it work so well? From my experience in the last few years, that sort of dance line up has been really hard to sell in Australia.

Triple J is a popular station and that obviously had something to do with it, but you know, it was a good line up and the kids that listen to Triple J love all those artists.

House of Beni has been lapped up in Aus, how's the reaction been overseas?

It's not bad, I mean it's not going as well as it could be, but it's good. With the sales, it's different these days, people don't buy as much music as they used to. But I mean, I spent a good 5 months in the U.S. this year and that got a good reaction. And it was fun! That was good, but I still think there is a lot more work ahead, it's a big process. You've gotta deliver quite a bit of material.

So you're currently writing the new album, when is it scheduled for release?

Yeah, I think it should get released in the first half of next year.

What can we expect to come with it? More touring? A live show perhaps?

Yeah, more tours. I mean the whole thing with a live show, it all depends on how well the artist is known. You know, there's no point in putting a live show together when you don't have the fan base or the popularity for it. I mean ultimately I'd love to do that, but I'm just going to wait till I'm doing it for the right reasons.

I keep hearing from everyone about how you're such a nice guy, and after this interview I can only agree, but I want to know: have you ever been an asshole to anyone?

Ummm, I've probably gotten pissed off at an airline cause I've been incredibly tired. I did take a spring roll from Yum Cha once and got in trouble, haha! But nah, I'm kind of quiet-ish, not too much of an ass. It'd probably be a different story if you asked my ex-girlfriend.

Ooooh .

Haha!

Thanks so much for your time man!

Thanks, have a good one!

Catch BENI at Pyramid Rock Festival 2012, December 29 - 31 in Philip Island Victoria, tickets still available HERE

Words by Chevy Long

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