By: Tony Price
Benedek is a DJ, producer and recording artist based in Los Angeles. Over the last decade he has released records on labels like L.I.E.S. Records, People’s Potential Unlimited, and Leaving Records, all of which could be classified as modern classics. A skillful producer and programmer possessing a virtuosic sense of musical vision and a keen ear for arrangement, Benedek’s sound masterfully combines the familiar and immediate with the heady and avant-garde. Throughout his discography you can find traces of technological funk, computer-age jazz fusion, the iridescent sheen of early ambient New Age music, and the metropolitan clank of early Chicago house. In this discussion, we talk about the concept of sound presets, the happy accidents built into music-making machines, the notion of “retro” in music and much more.
TP: I’ve seen you play guitar a lot. Is that your main instrument, your primary instrument?
B: Yeah, it is actually. I’ve been playing guitar since I was like 9 years old, and it’s definitely my primary instrument, though it doesn’t always make it onto my tracks, I’m definitely most comfortable on guitar.
TP: Very interesting, I’m the same. I’ve been playing guitar since I was pretty young, too, so I was just curious about that. A lot of your music is obviously very synth and drum machine focused. When you say it doesn’t show up on the records, does it play a role in writing songs or coming up with songs?
B: It does, depending on the track. I think more recently I’ve been getting into it, back to trying to write by starting out more on guitar and looping things. The tracks that have guitar on them, where it plays a bigger role, I’d say those – I often am coming up with the chord progressions and the riffs on guitar. But I don’t usually write on guitar and then figure it out on keys; usually if it’s gonna be a guitar based track, I figure it out on guitar. If I have something I’m working out on keys, I’ll layer over it with guitar. It depends on the track. I recently got this Midi guitar plug-in that you just play and it turns it right into Midi.
TP: Do you still have that studio space you had a few years ago?
B: Yeah, I’ve had this studio space in Koreatown – it’s been eight years now, I think, since 2014. I’ve had a few people I’ve shared it with over the years; it’s mainly me and my buddy Alex Talan, who helps me make a lot of my stuff. He’s a really sick engineer and producer as well.
TP: Do you tend to make music more during the day or at night?
B: I find myself making more dance-y stuff at night, it definitely influences the music. Dependson the time of day, it definitely impacts the vibe.
TP: I agree, I agree. Are you the type of person that has to adhere to some kind of a schedule? Do you wake up every day and make your way into the studio or do you just kind of see what happens?
B: I like to have somewhat of a schedule. Usually we split up the time depending on who’s in here. I try to come in every day. I like to work early in the morning but I like to stay up late. I think my inclination to stay up late overpowers that pretty often. I definitely like to keep somewhat of a schedule. If I can get in the studio every day at the same time in a week, I like having that momentum, for sure.
TP: Do you prefer working alone or do you like working – not so much in collaboration, but maybe in the presence of others in the room, having people there? Is that something that you enjoy or do you usually like being completely alone when you’re starting to make a track?
B: You know, I like working with other people around but at certain stages I prefer to be alone. If I’m already far enough along with something, I need to be alone to just focus, mixing or fine tuning things or whatever. But of course, there are definitely different vibes to be caught with different people in the room.
TP: You like to use a lot of old gear, so I’m just curious about how you navigate between the worlds of digital and analog. Do you find that when you use archaic gear or old synths, drum machines, synthesizers and stuff, that it creates a situation that is conducive to happy accidents? How much of a role does chance or improv play when you’re working with machines like that?
B: It definitely plays a role. With drum machines, if I’m not sequencing something in Ableton, if I’m using the built-in sequencer in some old drum machine, sometimes I can play random things and see how it gets quantized. I think that’s part of the zeitgeist of electronic and dance music, house, techno etc., the random sequence, say, a drum machine triggering a Pro-One or an SH-101, playing random notes in. That’s a part of the practice of it. Even looping, playing something in, you could do this with a Midi controller into a computer, too, but just playing something random, having that get looped and then quickly layering something over that, you keep layering, that’s definitely, for me, where I find a lot of energy and fun, it’s a fun process.
Benedek - “Doodat” from the Mr. Goods LP
TP: I agree with you fully. The past decade, you’ve seen the price of gear rise by ten times what it was in 2008. So the entry point for anyone interested in this stuff, you get like one piece at a time. I think that’s something I learned when I started getting into drum machines and synthesizers, just how much of that music that inspires you to buy an SH-101 or 808 or something, is made largely by chance. A lot of acid house is very much a random, spontaneous process where you press play, turn knobs and see what happens and then all of a sudden, it’s printed out on tape, and it’s done - that’s it. It can change someone’s life, just – that accident, that chance. What about presets? Do you find yourself happy with presets or do you end up tweaking things and dialing in your own sound?
B: I love certain old presets. There’s just something about them. They sound good, they hit a certain spot. I don’t know if it's nostalgia, some of the sounds that I like, they just sound good and they work in a certain way. The DX7, just the stock sounds that come on a DX7, those sounds are so done to death, but sometimes they work, it’s what you want. I definitely love to program my own sounds as well. Before I could even play keys I was really into sound design. In high school I got a cracked copy of Reason. I started out on that, just messing around with those plugins, trying to make sequences. I didn’t play keys, I was a guitarist, I just loved electronic sounds and production. And then I got a Juno HS60, a Juno 106 with built-in speakers; on that thing I learned synthesis. I think a lot of people started out on the Juno. It’s very barebones, sounds amazing, super friendly to learn. Initially I didn’t want to use presets, I wanted to make my own sounds. Over time, I learned the presets are pretty cool. The music I like, some of it is just all presets. My heroes weren’t always trying to make that DX7 bass sound from scratch every time.
TP: There’s a clip of Jimmy Jam testing out the Roland Boutique D-50, have you seen that clip? He just says, and I’ve read this in other interviews, too - that he is 100% presets. He hates having to change sounds, he’s like, “I want to plug it in, press a button and have a song basically written from that sound.” It’s interesting how these charges get pressed when it comes to synthesizer-based music. If I plug a Stratocaster into a Twin Reverb, it’s a sound that’s just considered normal, even though it’s very much an “old sound”. One thing that artists who use vintage equipment often get told is that their music “sounds retro”. How do you feel about this kind of thing? Do you feel like you make “retro” sounding music? Is it something you aim for or try to avoid? I mean it’s kind of impossible to not want to sound like Jimmy Jam.
B: I agree, I think about it in this way: when you see in 2021, a thrash band, like a band of 20-somethings in 2021 who have been listening to classic metal or punk, these genres which keep going – you don’t hear thrash and necessarily think “oh, that’s 80s, or early 90s.” So to me, all this stuff has that connotation because it didn’t just keep going. I guess house and dance music did keep going, and of course there’s different eras, but as far as the funk side of what I love, what we’re into, and the R’n’B, it’s funny, it gets pegged as being of a certain time, but to me it’s just so classic, it’s just as classic as classic rock. Like you’re saying, the DX is just as classic as a Twin Reverb at this point, a Strat and Twin Reverb.
TP: I agree, and that’s a part of what I love about L.I.E.S, there’s nothing “retro” about that label or that world that Ron(Morelli) has cultivated. It’s very much that he and everyone that’s involved with that label understand that the core values and ethos of this type of music existed long before the DX7 was invented and will last long after we are all gone. How did you end up hooking up with Ron to do the Mr. Goods record?
B: I met Ron in like 2011 or 2012, but we didn’t really know each other. I would just go into A1 when I lived in New York at the same time as Brandon, Delroy Edwards, who is a good friend of mine from L.A., so we all ended up hanging. I would go into A1 and hang with Brandon, and kind of met Ron then in passing. A couple years later I saw Ron a few times; he played in L.A. and I would say what up to him, but we first really got to hang in Europe when I was out there and we started talking. Ron’s the best. An absolute legend and a real head who just knows so much shit.
TP: Do you make an effort to ensure your music is released in some kind of physical format? Or is that by the nature of who you’ve connected with that it has come out that way?
B: I’d say that I do love for it to come out physically, if it’s at all possible. Most of the labels I’ve worked with do physical releases. It’s all been pretty organic. The releases I’ve put out, the people involved in the labels – we were friends already or we became friends through the process of putting the record out. I definitely prefer it to be that way. There’s a lot of great labels where that’s not the case, but I definitely prefer that, where I feel like we’re working on something together. It’s collaborative.
TP: What role do you think vinyl plays in either dance or underground music culture at this point? Do you think people are still buying records to listen to or to DJ with, or are they buying them in the same way they buy t-shirts?
B: I think there’s a lot of people that just love to have the physical, tangible object but don’t necessarily treat it in the same way someone who is digging for this stuff day in day out would. Playing records is definitely not a must as a DJ in this day and age but depending on the style of music you’re into it can bring a lot of depth to what you’re doing. Most of the music I play out is older and was never released digitally at all. I like the idea that maybe you’re one of the few hundred people in the world who knows this one track and the other heads listening to it are on the other side of the planet.
TP: Do you use Spotify, or any music streaming services? Is that something you enjoy using as a music fan?
B: I dunno that I enjoy using it, but I do use it. I think it’s very convenient but I think the playlist aspect/format as a way to push music from a corporate agenda – I think that’s really wack, but for artists or labels to make playlists for people to access, I think that’s cool, to have that be a communal thing, that aspect is cool. I feel like they haven’t worked out how to get people paid properly. I still like having actual files of all my music, I’m weird like that, like I’m stuck in, like ten years ago.
TP: That’s interesting, because that’s something I’ve been asking everyone. That’s something that I still do too, not even for DJing. There’s so much stuff you can’t find, especially dance music, on Spotify. They’re hiding in the basement channels of the internet!
B: One hundred percent. For me, my favorite platform has been YouTube since it came out, and though it’s gotten worse over the years, to me that’s the best place to dig for music other than going into an actual store.
TP: I agree, you get the same kind of happy accidents you do with analog gear. Something will show up, you’ll click on a user with 50 subscribers, and then you’ll find some insane track. I think that, speaking as a music fan, Spotify is convenient – I use it a lot when I’m walking around or driving. But like you’re saying, these tech companies have gentrified taste, like they’ve gentrified the act of curating or discovering stuff. The playlists that Spotify and Apple make, they’re fucking horrible. They obviously serve a purpose, a purpose that does little for us. Something that makes me happy is that NTS exists. NTS has changed my life. I used to live right across the street from the booth in London, and that’s how I heard about it. Discovering that, couldn't believe that it existed. The amount of amazing, life-changing music that I’ve been introduced to through NTS is insane. But I’m curious, other than YouTube, how do you usually find new music, music you don’t know about?
B: I love just digging through records and CDs wherever I can, but also through friends. I love just hanging out with like-minded friends that are into similar musical worlds and sharing music. To just hang out with a couple friends, smoke some weed, drink beers and listen to music. It sounds funny, but that’s maybe my favorite. As far as personally, on a digging kind of level, I guess record stores, YouTube. A couple years ago, I’d say Blogspot was really popping.
TP: I miss Blogspot. Those were the days.
B: Yeah, like ten years ago to maybe, like 2015 – but there’s still some out there!
TP: That short window of time, until those RapidShare-type sites were all taken down, that was such an insane time to discover stuff.
B: It was cool. I think that was the Golden Age of something. I was just telling my friend, it’s always the Golden Age of Something. What is this the Golden Age of that we’re in right now? But that time might have been the Golden Age for fuckin’ Blogspot. The RapidShares, ZippyShare -
TP: MegaUpload, whatever…
B: Yeah (laughs).
TP: How do you find your work as a DJ and your work as a producer are linked, if they are at all?
B: They’re linked for sure, but I also get into a different mindset. As a DJ, I know some producers who when they DJ will mainly play their own tracks, or their own unreleased stuff in a way that’s more integrated. I like playing my own stuff, but I also really like playing things that inspire me and things that I’m excited about that I’ve never heard before. I just love to play something that I just found, something that I’ve never played before. To hear it on a good system is just a good feeling, ya know. And have people interact with it.
TP: Do you see DJing as an extension of your music production, or is it a different thing?
B: I’d say it is related. Of course I play music that informs what I do as a producer. My goal when I’m DJing is to play things that have inspired me, to pay homage to the music that I get inspired by. I would say when I play live, that’s the real live performance extension of my production, and DJing is something slightly separated but it’s all integrated for sure. I’ve definitely done sets where I play live keys over it. I wanna do more of that. It’s kind of a fun way to bring them both together in a way that’s – I heard this Boyd Jarvis and Timmy Regisford radio broadcast, like a WBLS, one of those New York radio stations, and Boyd is like going over the track. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. It sounds crazy. I realized he was playing live over it, and I was like, I need to do that more often. A few people do it but it’s kind of rare. I’ve seen Byron the Aquarius do it and he’s sick.
TP: Yeah, on Instagram, I’ve seen him rip over tracks.
B: Yeah, he does it a lot. I wanna do that more.
Benedek - “Afterglo” from the Bene’s World LP
TP: How do you feel about the increased efforts that are expected of an artist in promoting their own music on social media? Is it something that you enjoy or dislike? How do you feel about it?
B: I don’t like it. Straight up, I definitely don’t like it (laughs). We have to do it nowadays in the most tasteful way that we can, but I really don’t like the “talking to the camera” type style, some people can pull it off and that’s their vibe, they own it, but for a guy like me – I don’t have any desire to do that. A lot of the music that I like is almost anonymous, faceless. You don’t see Larry Heard doing that type of thing, or even producers like Jam and Lewis, you didn’t see them doing that either. Back in the day, maybe there would be an interview in like, Keyboard Magazine, but they’re not front and center and I have no desire to – I’m down to have images of me out there or whatever. I don’t even really like doing interviews. I like doing this, with you, because you’re my friend, but some random journalist, I haven’t had the best experiences doing that. So it’s kind of the same thing with the social media shit. People are expected to do so much now. People, like, writing a question, and people are supposed to comment? I guess this is where we’re at now, but there’s gotta be some alternative because it’s not for everyone.
TP: I’m in the same boat as you. I’d say it’s more than discomfort. I have a crippling fear of putting myself on the internet. That’s why I’ve kind of forced myself to find a way with Maximum Exposure, whatever it may be, to exist on the internet, but in a faceless way, which is largely inspired by the music we’re talking about here. To your point, asking questions, doing that type of stuff, being part of the game or whatever – maybe this is just wishful thinking - but I think being faceless or maintaining some type of mystique, although it doesn’t provide immediate results, I think in the long run does help. I think that’s why we’re still intrigued by Gherkin Records, why we’re still intrigued by Jam and Lewis. So I think there is another way for people like us. I’m hoping at least. And that’s what I’m trying to get at with these interviews, another way to talk about things that isn’t self-promotion.
B: Hundred percent. I love that. I have so much respect for what you do with Maximum Exposure. As soon as I discovered your page I was like, “this guy knows his stuff, this is cool.” Really compiling inspiring really sick and curated vibes, visually and musically. It’s dope. Not many people are doing what you’re doing.
TP: Thank you, thank you. I’m still trying to figure out what it is and I’m still trying to make it be the best that it can be, but I definitely feel exactly how you feel. It’s awkward to be an artist today, everyone’s expected to act like a celebrity or an influencer.
B: Totally. There’s just this micro-celebrity culture. I blame reality TV. I think reality TV is the catalyst for all this shit. And then you have like a generation, our generation, that grew up watching this shit and whether they liked it or not, people absorbed that and they think that’s just like, how you have to be. Maybe it works for some people, it’s definitely funny, but it’s not inspiring, it’s not artistic, it’s not musical…
TP: It’s not natural!
B: (Laughs) I could go on for hours about this shit.
Trackstars- “Bonanza” from the Trackstars EP
TP: I just wanted to ask one more question, about the Track Stars record. You’ve been friends with Brandon, Delroy, for a long time?
B: Yeah, for like ten years, I’d say.
TP: And you guys had done something together for PPU before, right? A seven inch?
B: Yeah, we did an RX 45, it was this really bugged-out, strung out – I think one of them was called “Strung Out”, it was like music for a snuff film or a porn, like really low budget fucked up sounding.
TP: So what was the deal with Track Stars? Was it tracks that you’d been working on for a while or had sitting around? Did you intentionally come together to do this for L.I.E.S.?
B: It was definitely intentional. We came together and we wanted to make some house tracks and put ‘em out, and we did it. I forget if we were making it for L.I.E.S. from the jump but we started making these tracks, six of them or something and we ended up with those four that we put out.
TP: Did you write the first record together?
B: Yeah, we made it in person in his studio.
TP: Do you have more of that stuff coming out? Did I read that somewhere,that there’s another volume?
B: Man, we have other stuff that’s unreleased but we are definitely planning to do something. We’re overdue to link up again.
TP: Other than a new Record on Apron records, do you have other stuff due out in the foreseeable future?
B: Yeah, there’s this record with my friend Anthony that I’ve been working on for like two years now, I guess since right before Covid started, and it’s kind of like ambient-fusion-y, some ECM vibes.
TP: Did you do a live set with him recently?
B: Yeah, yeah!
TP: Yeah that was amazing!
B: Thanks man. We did a live show in September. Hopefully once we put the record out I’m sure we’ll do more. It’s been fun to play more guitar and do something different. This is the first fully collaborative album I’ve done with someone, and it is such a different process, especially this type of music, which has made it cool. He comes from more of a jazz background, he’s a trained musician, jazz guy. Plays trumpet and keys, amazing singer. He’s a vocal coach, teaches piano. He’s really much more of a traditional musician than me. He’s played on a few of my records in the past. He’s played in live stuff in L.A. We’ve been doing stuff together for a long time but this is the first thing we’ve actually released. The project doesn’t have a name yet, but I’m working on it.
