Up and coming DJ duo Jack Beats are: Plus One (Niall Dailly) and Beni G (Ben Geffin). Pride caught up with one half of the team, Beni G to talk about what it takes to make a great remix, influences and why he can’s stop listening to Frank Ocean.
How did you guys get together?
Niall and I have both been around for a while making music and DJing but just separately. We’ve known each other for a while about 10 years and about four years ago we got together to form Jack Beats.
For anyone who doesn’t know about you guys yet, how would you describe what you do and your sound?
It’s really hard to define our music. It’s a lot of different things: house, electro, hip-hop, dubstep. A bit of everything.
What are the elements that go into making a great remix?
Well, it’s hard to say but you just try to improve on and offer an original take on the original as much as possible. I’d say that involves figuring out and then taking all the things that work and make you love the original track and then putting a new spin on it.
Tell us about your background. What kind of stuff did you grow up listening to you?
All types of music really, acid house, hip-hop. I was really influenced by groups like The Prodigy not just because of the music that they made but also in terms of production value too –I really respect Liam Howlett. I also grew up listening to 90s hip-hop, all that Golden Era stuff, so people like Nas and Busta Rhymes.
You’ve remixed for some pretty big names: Florence + The Machine, La Roux, Beyonce, Passion Pit. How do you decide whose tracks you want to work on?
Well with Florence + The Machine and La Roux, me and Niall remixed tracks for them simply because we were fans of the artists, we liked what they were doing musically and they were bubbling along at the time. In the grand scheme of things we generally seek out the people that we want to work with rather than the other way around.
What artists are you feeling right now? What’s looping on your iPod?
I really like Frank Ocean at the moment. We were DJing so we didn’t get to see him when he was in London (he performed at XOYO in November). His music’s great, I like his style of R&B, it’s cool that’s he’s so mellow and tame with it. I’m listening to Drake’s new album Take Care as well.
What’s up next for Jack Beats?
We’re working on our album which should be out early next year. We’re starting our residency called ‘Jack Loves’ at Fabric on the 2nd of December and our new single ‘End of Love’ is out on the 5th December.
The new single ‘End of Love’ is out on the 5th December.
www.myspace.com/jackbeats
www.facebook.com/jackbeatsmusic
