Setting a ‘Ben’chmark!

DJ Benjamin Damage, a Welsh producer and popular musician, believes in serendipity and going with the flow. Through the years, he spent honing his craft without ‘thinking too much’ (as he puts it). And earned him the reputation of a ‘master of deep electronics’. Introduced to most in modern electronic music, Benjamin is the first artist to be signed to Modeselektor’s 50Weapons imprint. Early this month, Benjamin performed for his Indian fans, as part of his three city tour (Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru) in India. Post a massive turnout at the tours, Benjamin is gearing up to release an album on R&S in 2019. In a candid chat, Benjamin tells us more.

“I like to live in the moment, music can be a very uneven journey so it’s not even wise to make very long term plans. I’m writing a new album for R&S which is maybe a little overdue but I’m happy with how it sounds and I hope others can enjoy it too. I will not be divulging much but it’s going to be soon,” shares Benjamin, who’s still basking in the good experiences from successful gigs in India. The producer was back in India after a gap of four years.

 “The last time I was in India I played in Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, so these are all new cities for me.

 I had a great time in the last tour, I got to experience a small bit of so many different cultures,” he shares, adding  “I’ve always loved the U.K version of Indian food so it was amazing to experience the real thing, which of course is a lot better and far more diverse.” Speaking of his experience in Bengaluru on Sunday, Benjamin adds, “Performing in Bengaluru has got to be one of the best experiences from the tour. I played a live set, played a BRB with the opening act, FILM and it  was all so surreal. It is a city that’s dynamic and that is a huge turn on. I liked playing for the well informed audience here, but India as a whole has changed since I last performed in 2014.”

While having retained traces of his UK roots in his music; Benjamin believes in being versatile and creative with his offerings. Hence, it is safe to say that the music has been created by balancing melodic anthems against dark, industrial-tinged efforts, mixing ferociousness with melody.

Benjamin also believes that the music scene has undergone a mammoth change — and it’s all good.   Speaking of which, he stated, “I was so excited to be heading  to India, this time with my full hardware live show,” says Damage, who adds, “The scene was quite small on my first visit in 2014 but the people were very passionate and so much fun. The techno scene has grown a lot bigger now with a lot of new Indian talent coming through and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s developed.”

In 2017, he signed to Belgian label R&S, and has become one of the label’s core artists with releases like Montreal (EP) and Malfunction/Binary (EP). Benjamin has gigs across Europe and a festival appearance at Sonar Bogota. This will be his second time, as Benjamin has previously performed at Sonar Barcelona this year.