There’s always been a very consistent source of energy and persistance about Benny V since he made his earliest moves as a promoter back in the late 90s / early 2000s. The bossman of Dance Concept and management of Souped Up and Roadblock Records, he’s forever spinning more plates than meets the eye. But these last few years have seen him really up the levels with a powerful arsenal of DJ weapons on a fat stack of highly respected labels from legendary foundation imprtins such as Suburban Base and Kartoons to latter day champions like Jungle Cakes and Make Your Era. Complete with his own regular show on Kool, Benny is repping hard on the frontline. Arguably more than ever has… Especially with his latest release in mind.
Cue DC Horizons: a whole new dynamic to the Benny V mix. A fresh concept and a cool twist on his Dance Concept imprint, DC Horizons is the flip of everything I’ve just listed. A place where bangers come in much more emotional and subtle forms and where musicality is maxxed and boundaries are smashed, DC Horizons is the side to Benny that’s always existed but he’s not had the time or context to showcase it. Until now.
The series / sub-label launches this month with Ocean Born; an emotionally charged slab of deep, musical drum & bass. Soothing, thoughtful, and gentle; you won’t be rinsing these in the club but they’ll complement pretty much any other scenario and context in your life from the beach to BBQ to the bedroom and beyond. Casually dripped out over the last few weeks with singles, the full EP has just dropped. We took a long sunset walk with him along the shore to find out more…
Yes Mr V, how are you? And what is your view right now?
I am good and I have two views. One is from my new home where I suddenly have fields after being born and lived my entire life in East London. It’s a culture shock but I think I will get used it. The other view is one where I am trying to shed light and love in a period of darkness and hate.
Before we dive deep into your new EP and everything surrounding it, I need to know your favourite ocean!
I am going for the Pacific Ocean. Many moons ago I swam amongst the coral life off an island called Redang off the coast of Malaysia. I think technically that may be the Gulf of Thailand but that joins the North Pacific Ocean and it was one of the most amazing experiences one I will never forget.
Give us your best ocean related anecdote. Don’t hold back.
I was in Malta and there were small islands you could swim between in the Mediterranean Sea. You obviously go out of your depth but the distances between the islands were manageable. While out in the water I felt something burn my arm and turned my head just in time to see tentacles from a jellyfish swim past. I did not know if this was going to affect me but I did not want to be out of my depth while I found out so I turned to my girlfriend and told her I was heading back. She asked why, I told her I had been stung by a jellyfish so just wanted to make sure I was ok. She had a bit of panic and in her flap she swam into a little bag floating and screamed she had also been stung and that, in severe fits of laughter, was the closest I think I ever came to drowning
Bahahah. Okay so props on this new project. It feels like it was triggered or inspired by something in your life and it feels like you wrote it all in the same period of time.
I am not sure it was one thing that triggered but maybe many small things. One thing that has fascinated me since I can remember is the strange link between sadness and beauty. To feel melancholy but use that to create something beautiful is one of the more subtleties in our art, as humans, that I think goes under the radar. I remember my singing teacher at school telling us he wrote his best ever song after his Nan passed away. There is a link that not many people talk about.
Absolutely. You’ve mentioned to me about the influence of musical and soulful drum & bass – especially the golden Good Looking era – tell me about those influences, too.
While I was a kid discovering more and more about this music I loved how certain tracks brought high energy (think Formation, Ram, Ganja Recordings, Suburban Base) while other tracks brought slow burning energy. Listening to Omni Trio or Bukem was a different level. I dont wanna go too deep but people often talk about slow gratification being more meaningful than instant gratification. That translates throughout everything. I could and did rave to tracks by Bukem & Omni Trio. But I also went to sleep with their tracks playing in my room too. When music can bring energy and calmness that is a great thing.
There’s a very strong message to the title track. How did the spoken word come about?
Very much linked to what I mentioned before. Logically it makes no sense that something can be so sad but also uplifting and elegant all at the same time. The spoken word resonated with me so much. I hope it resonates with the listener too. I have been, and continue to be, a great believer in turning every negative energy into positive energy and the words represent that perfectly. As we all get older we start experiencing grief more often. What do we do with that grief? I lost my Nan and my Mum in Lockdown a month apart from each other. Do I ever suddenly think about it and be sad? Yes. Do I also ever sit there and think of them and smile? Also yes. How can something about grief & sadness also be inspiring & unashamedly beautiful?
We don’t have enough messages about mindfulness and managing grief in drum & bass do we? I bet the sentiment and message of the track has caught a lot of people off guard and hit them in the feels. Have you had any interesting or moving reactions to it so far?
The fact you asked about the spoken word on Ocean Born does not surprise me as it is the question that has come up the most. I mentioned it resonated with me and hopefully others feel the way I do about the message. I am not here to make you sad. I am here to tell you that your sadness can be turned into something beautiful. This is the power of music. Also I hope the track in question, Ocean Born, means something different to you depending on where you are in life. I think if I listened to it in my teens it would mean something different than what it does now I am (nearly) an adult!
I am hoping maybe the other tracks on the EP will also say something else. There has been a really good buzz for South Central Sunrise with even my distributor coming back to me to say he was feeling that one. It is longer than most DnB these days but you know what? Good. Its not always about sticking to formulas.
Do you think drum & bass does enough to highlight mindfulness full stop? And how we can build on that?
Good question Mr Jenkins. I believe things can mean different things to different people depending where they are in their journey in life. DJ Hype mixed an album for United Dance called the Designer Collection. That particular album, despite being full of bangers, actually has a strong link to me because it was the album I listened to when coming out of a bad period of my life. So now that album has an effect on me that maybe is unique in that sense. Yes, you are right, I have tried to give a message but again, not in a preachy way. Take what I am saying and interpret it whatever way uplifts you at this point in time.
Ocean Born is the start of a new wave of deeper, more chilled and contemplative music from you, right? You’ve even set up a new Dance Concept arm for it DC Horizons.
I have always had a love for chilled music as well as Drum & Bass. Yes, DnB is my main love but I also have a few side chicks from Heavy Metal to Classical compositions. From the uplifting music of Vivaldi to (keeping our current theme alive) the likes of Erik Satie or more modern day composers like Max Richter or Thomas Newman who capture authentic beauty & sadness in one bottle. This will not stop my current output. I will continue with all my usual Rollers, Jungle & Funky Bassline riffs. This will be as well as. Something that I am not trying to “jump on” but the polar opposite. I wouldn’t consider it strictly “Liquid” although I get why some people say it is. It is more my attempt to create a tiny niche for myself that comes from MY heart & soul. People will either like it or not. Of course I hope they do but I am not doing this as a “money maker”. I am doing this because for a long time I wanted to. For every EP I intend to include 1 chill out tune. Some, like Teardrop Sunset, will be DnB bpm without being DnB. Others will give me the opportunity to experiment more.
The project is named DC Horizons because it is a new dawn. The fact it includes the name of one of the most iconic 90s tracks that inspired the project is the type of coincidental symmetry that seems to keep happening since I started it. I also had a clear idea on the aesthetic identity & knew exactly what I wanted. It looks completely different to the artwork on any of my other labels and that is also totally intentional.
The wider picture for you looks very exciting too… You’ve just had releases on Suburban Base, Jungle Cakes and Device. There’s a lot going on in your world right now isn’t there?
I complain I am too busy but really, inside, I know I am not complaining. The teenage me would love to know I do what I do and release where I release. If the kid version of me knew I would end up having releases on Suburban Base, Formation Records, 31 Records, Kartoons plus of course the likes of Souped Up, Make Your Era, Dance Concept, Jungle Cakes, DeVice etc I would be buzzing harder than a raver front of stage at the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes. Yes, I am busy. Yes I am tired. But yes, I still love & have the same passion and drive I always have.
What comes next and what else are you excited about this summer and beyond?
More of the same! Some I can talk about, some I have to keep quiet for now. Currently sitting on a tonne of music from Rollers to Jungle to more DC Horizons music. Excited!
Finally, sign out with a fact about oceans or marine life – enlighten us!
I will give you two pearls, although not sure they are “facts”. Growing up in Walthamstow one of my common cusses was “Your Mums a Wobbegong” (Search to see what a Wobbegong looks like).
I will balance that with a proverb that I love nearly as much as Maya Angelou’s “The Horizon leans forward offering you space to place new steps of change” – Which is: “May your joy be as deep as the ocean, your sorrow as light as its foam.”
Benny V – Ocean Born is out now
