We’re speaking with Marc Benjamin in this exclusive interview, and we couldn’t be happier to hear more about what makes him tick as an artist. You can stream his latest tune ‘One Chance’ right now, and Marc also tells us a bit about the making of it.
Enjoy.
Hey Marc, good to chat! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself as an artist… what is your signature sound?
I just started as a DJ and developed myself into an artist without actually realising it. I guess my signature always has been melody, I’ve been experimenting with a lot of genres and music styles but the main focus and what always stood out has been the melody. You can always hear these progressive melodies back in my sound, no matter what production, tempo or genre.
What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned since you started making music? What have been some of the challenges so far?
Never give up! As cliché as it may sound; inspiration comes and goes and so does creativity, it’s about how you deal with it and for how long you can believe in yourself. If that’s for ever, you shouldn’t be worried. Ups and downs in your career make you stronger and develop yourself into a higher level. It’s all about how long you can keep it up!
The things from what I’ve learned the most are; saying goodbye to things and welcoming new things, which can be anything; projects, people you work with, material, literally anything.
Do you remember what first got you into wanting to create music? What do you listen to when you’re not making it?
I never really wanted to make music in the first place. I always had passion for music and could express that in DJing. Having ears for good new music and being creative with making transitions from one song to another was just pure joy to me, but I wanted more then that and choose to make a living from what I love doing. somehow I met my production partner through mutual friends and things started to kick off. Now we’re running and being a great production team and I’m finding my way in it.
There’s no specific genre what I’m listening to when I’m off, it could be anything. This morning I was listening to Rudimental’s album, yesterday in the gym I was listening to Kygo’s live performance at Coachella and the other day on my way to the studio I listened to Eric Prydz. It just depends on the mood, weather and vibes I have.
Your new track ‘One Chance’ is making waves right now. How long did it take you to put together and did you enjoy making it and what’s the story behind it?
This song took quite a while, the procedure of some songs goes really fast and some of it takes longer – this was one of them.
We made a few other similar songs since I wanted to make a change in my sound direction, and for that you need to experiment. So we started doing demos on a lower BPM with the same sound I used to play and sound like and after few of them, the instrumental of ‘One Chance’ was born.
I always enjoy it, I love the process of making it. People mostly don’t realise it but it can be a long process, but I always love it from the beginning – making many versions until we have finally something. Finding the top-line and finding a great home for it… it can be hard to find a label where it is well suited and people who believe in it the most.
Did you enjoy working with Eric Lumieré? What does he bring to the track in your opinion?
Eric is a very talented singer and writer, I’ve had several sessions with him and he always brings good vibes. I love working with him because he’s just so good in finding the right words and expressing them in to melodies, which make the song just more awesome! His emotional lyrics on ‘One Chance’ gave the song the right vibe and mood.
Lastly, what have you got coming up next, both in terms of production and DJing? What are you most excited about for 2018?
I’m very excited about all the productions I’m going to bring out in 2018 – it’s the year of my new sound and it will be one of the most productive years release-wise. Other than that, I’ll be doing some amazing festivals and club shows, especially in Asia.
