->who are you, where do you live?
Ben Richardson, Sydney, Australia!
->what are you doing when you´re not playing music
When im not working in my day job,
im reading about music or something to do with music! and listening to music,
music music music.....
im also into the mysteries of the world,
so i like to read about this too and watch National geographic and all those
documentaries!
->how did you come to music, did you play other instruments/music before
you came to psytrance
Well i have my father to thank for intoducing me to the guitar when i was
quite young, he taught me a little,
but i lost interest until i reached high school where i took it up again.
During this time i also learnt to play drums, after an African man came to our
school playing all the traditional instruments...
i was blown away.
I played in a school band, then after leaving school yet more bands formed playing
mostly heavy metal,
and i played both drums and guitar (not at the same time haha).
Some of my friends were starting to go to raves,
i didnt really like the music at that time,
but soon they began to go to trance parties and i was hearing some of the music
they would bring home,
and it started to catch my ear. Soon i went along with them to a trance party
and that was it,
the productions came soon after.
->what is your style, how and when did you come to trancemusic, to producing
and to your first gigs
Well i have a minimal kind of style, definitely not the traditional Goa
type sound, darker progressive sounds.
No gigs yet!! send me an email!!!
->what is going on in your local scene
As far as progressive minimal goes... not a great deal,
we attempted to start a club in Sydney, but we didnt get the support we needed.
The parties are mostly playing more 'full on', crazy psychedelic stuff,
not my thing....
but we do get the odd party with nice refined minimal sounds!
->what does trancemusic mean for you, how important is trance for you, where
do you use it for
Hmmm good question. When im making tunes its an escape, when im dancing
its an escape, so i guess its an escape from the daily mundane grind of work!
But its also a lifestyle too, you know music is my life.
I guess too its like a religion...
"in the beginning there was a word and the word was SOUND"
so yeah... this music can really touch you!!
->what do you think about our scene and where do you think are we going to
Well, i can see that now the minimal sound is starting to take off, so
things are moving in this new direction, and so am i.
There is still plenty more possibilities with the music, so the future could
bring anything!
->what are your releases/events until now
One of my tracks "Syzygy" will be released on Koyote's "Random" compilation
on 03/03/02,
other than that nothing else... the rest is unreleased.
->what are your futurities, upcoming releases, upcoming events
Im open for bookings!!
->what was the best, funniest or strangest experience in your carreer
I would have to say the best experience thus far was hearing 700 Germans going
off to one my tracks at Natraj Temple, all during Oktoberfest 2000!!!
Prrrost!!!
->>>>What does namhaj mean?
Its a secret... but i will give you a clue, my nickname is Jahman.
->What new stuff are you working on?
For myself i am beginning to create an album hopefully ready with in the next
year.
Currently we are doing a remix of "The 12th House" from my side project "Hiram",
I am also doing remixes for D-vei and Vaishiyas... and soon will also be remixing
some of Andre's (Cokeroach) solo works.
I am also working on my live set.
->Tell us a bit about your studio
Well i can say that my studio is slowly moving from hardware to software.
->Which DJs and acts have influenced your style?
Thats a tough one. I cant really think of any one artist, or even a few, who
have influenced my sound,
but,
some artists that i respect and admire, in no particular order,
would be, Auricular, Beat Bizarre, Prisoners of the Sun, M.O.S., Haldolium,
Bitmonx...
but there are plenty more nameless tunes that have inspired me on the dancefloor.
Outside of trance, Mike Patton (Mr Bungle, FNM, Tomahawk) has made a great impact
on my musical tastes and appreciations.
->ok, that´s it for the fhirst if there is anything else you want to tell
please feel free
Beware the peacemaker!
