Ben Stevens has come a long way in a very short space of time. Plucked from relative obscurity by Paul Glazby who had complete faith in him, in just a few short years Ben has cemented his reputation as the best technical mixer in the world of Hard House. His productions have gone from strength to strength and recently he has been writing more and more of his tracks himself – including one of my top tunes of 2008 – Ben’s ‘Black Magic’ remix. His imprint Fireball Recordings is also going strong and has taken a major place in the scene as one of the most consistent and innovative labels out there.

There seems very little that Ben hasn’t done, yet his passion for the scene seems stronger than ever, and probably contributes more than any other person to our world. I caught up for a few words ahead of his headline set at Requiem in London on the 27th December.

Hi Ben, how’s it going?

Hi mate, I’m all good thanks its been a quality busy year and I’m really looking forward to relaxing over Christmas with my friends and family.

We don’t see you down in London very often. Have you played at Club 414 for before and if so, what did you think of the place?

I’ve played at the 414 a few times now, the first was for Bangers & Mashed what seems like an age ago now and also for Spin, both of them were quality parties. The club gets a really mixed crowd, which always add to the feel an atmosphere. The after hours sessions down there are always a good laugh as well!

What was it exactly that got you in to Hard House in the first place and can you see yourself ever diversifying in to other genres as some have done?

I have always been into the higher energy kinds of music, I have always been into dance music and was brought up on a recipe of The Prodigy and other rave bands. I used to buy every tape pack I could from the events and hammer them out at home. My parents loved it I’m sure! I think getting into Hard House was just a natural progression for me, it has all the energy of rave and hardcore and at the point that I was able to get into clubs it was the main music. I would often head up to Sheffield and go to Gatecrasher with my mates, but usually ended up in the car waiting for Insomniacz to open! I spent almost every weekend in Sheffield when I was growing up so was fully immersed in the culture.

The vinyl vs CD vs downloads debate has been well documented and rages on. What are your plans in that respect with Fireball over the next 6 months?

This debate will never end, there will always be a new format that comes along and wipes the old ones out (the mini disc did really well!). I however believe in giving everyone what they want and there are still a few hardcore vinyl buyers out there. For Fireball I will still be pressing vinyl until I am loosing money on each release. From next year I will be releasing white labels to try and cut some of the costs and this also means I can get fewer copies pressed. I am confident that each release will sell out in 2 months so if you want to get the Fireball vinyl’s get them when they first come out!

I may also look into releasing the tracks as a CD album next year as well, the first Vicious Circle Hardbox CD has done really well so this could be the best format for the future.

All my releases will also go on the download sites as well as I know some people just love those horrible mp3’s ;) These will usually be about a month after the vinyl releases so that I can give them a chance to sell through first.

You can always get promos and upfront mp3s /wavs from the Fireball online store as well at fireball-recordings.com

For me clubland in 2008 was a big improvement on 2007 but it’s clear that the scene is very different now to how it was a few years ago. Do you still love it as much? And from what you’ve seen recently do you think the scene has a bright future?

Clubland is an ever-changing beat and it seems that the harder styles of music are coming back into fashion again. I have certainly had a much better year this year with more gigs and also more people at the gigs, which is the main thing! I will always love this scene as it holds so many good memories for me. The majority of my friends have all come from going clubbing to hard house and even though they don’t all come out anymore I like to think they all secretly still love it and dance around in the car when they are on their own!

The fact that Radio 1 are now supporting our genre is amazing and I think this will give us a bright future. The Hard Dance Awards broadcast live on Radio 1, who would have ever thought that was possible!

How do you think we are going to attract new followers of the music? Is the music lacking a certain something and needs to change or do you think it’s merely fashion?

I think new people are getting into the music every week now. All the clubs I’m playing at have got lots more young people in them and I’m getting to know more and more new people each week. A few years ago this certainly was not the case but I think a general resurgence in dance music is bringing the younger people back into our clubs.

Music always goes in cycles so at some point everyone will want a guitar and long hair again ;)

Many of the big name producers including yourself who in the past have been going in either harder or techy directions seem this year to have all gone in a similar way, with more melodic elements and chunky basslines to their hard house. Are you all getting old or do you think this is the future of the music? Back to the Old Skool kinda thing?

To be honest I just like trying different things, if you stick to one sound all the time it’s incredibly boring and doesn’t test you.

What is your all time favourite production of your own?

Attack

And what about all time favourite Hard House track?

Code 21- Wanna Play House (OD404 Remix)

I mentioned your huge contribution to the scene which many probably don’t realise. How do you keep yourself out of trouble during the week? What labels are you involved with?

Haha I like to get in trouble as well so I’m not too sure the question is right! Work wise though I spend 2 days a week at Toolbox Music distributing all the vinyl and CD releases we do from labels such as Toolbox, Fireball, Deprivation, Pure NRG etc. This is a great job and I love doing it, its not easy getting shops to take the releases anymore. The other 3 days I work at home in my really clean and tidy office/ studio organising stuff for Fireball or doing the day-to-day label management of Vicious Circle. I also make sure that I have at least 1 full day in the studio each week, be that at home or with Maddox over in Sheffield.

I said that you’ve achieved a massive amount in a short space of time. Do you still have any ambitions left? Is there anyone you would love to collaborate with?

I am just in the process of doing a series of collaborations for 3 releases on Fireball next year called ‘Battle Royale’! It’s been great to work Amber D, Andy Farley & Paul Maddox and I’m sure we’ll all do collaborations together again in the future. I’ve just got to tie down Glaz and Adam M now for the rest of the series.

You obviously are very fond of the recently-revived Parlez Vous at The Mill in Bradford. You’ve even named your track ‘The Vous’ in its honour. Is that your favourite club? What’s so special about it?

Haha I love the place yeah, the club has a real underground feel to it and it’s got such a mixed bag of people there. I missed playing there a lot while it was closed for a few months. The DJ booth is so close to the crowd it can be very unnerving for anyone that hasn’t been there before but I really buzz off it now, even when people try to spin the records back or eject cd’s!

The rather immense Firebox album mixed by yourself and Nik Denton is out now. Is this going to be a regular thing or just a one off? What was the idea behind it?

Hopefully it will be a regular thing yeah, we’ll just have to see how it does first! I wanted to get a Fireball compilation album out this year and Nik wanted to get another Toolbox ones sorted as well so we just thought it would be best to pool all the resource to make one mega album! If you love either of the labels then go out and get it, it would make an amazing Christmas present for a loved one, maybe your gran.

You now live with Rodi Style although our nasty government won’t currently let him back in the country. Has this helped you both with your productions to have someone to bounce ideas off, and have you come to blows yet over any midi patterns?

Having Ben living at our house has been great yeah, his productions are pure class and he has helped me so much when I’ve been getting stuck. He should really be charging an hourly rate! We both give each other tips on what we can hear coming from the other rooms so its great for both of us really. We have been working on some collaborations together as well of 2 old trance tracks. These started out as bootlegs for us both to play in our sets but as Sam Townend loved them so much he has signed them to Tidy for release in the New Year as a continuation on the theme of their ‘Music For A Harder Generation’ series. So keep an eye out for ‘Age Of Love’ and ‘Eternal’ next year.

Tell us some bad habits Rodi has. He must have at least one.

He likes to lick the feet of our cats.

Who do you rate the most out of all the new faces you’ve seen and heard this year? Is there anyone completely unknown who you think could be huge if they pulled their finger out?

He’s not really a new face but production wise and for pure effort within the scene Karl Davis is doing some great things. He has a fantastic passion for the music and works really hard with his labels.

Favourite non-hard house music?

Oasis, I could listen to their albums all day.

Top 5 of 2008?

Ben Stevens & Rodi Style – Age Of Love (Tidy)
Paul Glazby – New Clear War Fair (Vicious Circle)
Velos – Revenge (Fireball)
Ben Stevens – Frequency Response (Fireball)
BK – Don’t Give Up (Nukleuz) – because I can’t stop playing it again!

Jade Goody, Vanessa Feltz and Jo Brand – Which would you Kill, Shag and Marry?

Goody – Shag
Feltz – Kill
Brand – Marry

That’s a horrible thought, thanks for that!

Rumour has it that you like a good party. What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve done and whose fault was it really?

You must have got me mixed up with Sten Bevens, I’m a church going lightweight. However there have been far too many to mention, a few including lifejackets off planes that probably shouldn’t be in writing!

Is there any news on the next VC bash?

We are planning and event for the start of next year in the North so keep your eyes open on the internet for more info.

Who would win a fight between Paul Glazby and Ian M? My money is on Ian.

Haha I don’t think so, I think Glaz has got more power in his little finger than most people!

What are you getting me for Christmas?

Tesco value socks, everyone needs some!

Thanks for your time, see you Saturday!

No worries mate

Links:

fireball-recordings.com
new.facebook.com
benstevensdsi.com
myspace.com
myspace.com
vicious-circle.net
vc-dsi.com