It's Autumn, but the sun still shines brightly into the studio of Ben Fester this early evening. As a member of Sydney's influential music collective Astral People, Ben regularly plays alongside leading DJs and producers from his home town and overseas, and is used to the dark of warehouse parties, late night venues and the faint strobe light of distant stars. A local tastemaker, his tracks are generally so new they don't exist yet. But here's a different scene. Ben's playing old soul, jazz and funk favourites at home alone, a musical meditation on the past. A reflection that we can all now share via his soundcloud page.THUMP: As someone interested in the cutting edge of dance music culture, what was the motivation to put this vintage set together?
Ben Fester: I have been meaning to record a mix like this for quite some time now. When I first started playing out, one of the first parties I played at was a weekly party at the Flinders Hotel with the Cosmonaut guys from Motorik and T. Mingus, who I do Astral DJ's and Heavenly parties with. The night was called Banana's and rotated around us just drinking many beers and playing older funk, soul and garage rock records. It was different to the other sets I was playing because there wasn't much mixing going on. More just selecting, listening to the whole song and then playing another. I really like the idea of a DJ not being restricted by tempo, just playing a song next because it should go next, even if it is say, 30 BPM faster or slower. I guess this mix is more about the selections and flow being in the spotlight with a whole lot less focus on the actual mixing.Can you take us through some of the selections, and some stories about how you initially found these tracks?
I work at a record store in Sydney, but even before that I would go in there each week to listen to the new stuff they had in. After checking the new stuff I would just sit down with a box of the 2nd hand stuff and listen to them all—somehow getting lost in the records for hours upon hours. A lot of these records I just accidentally stumbled on there. Some of these have been recommendations from other Sydney DJs/collectors/sellers like Alex Dimitriades and Dave Reid who have pointed me in the direction of tunes like "Love on a Summer Night" by the McCrarys and "Far Out" by Crown Heights Affair. Some were just tunes that I fell in love with at the Banana's night, for example Thom (T. Mingus) used to always play that Nina Simone "Funkier Than A Mosquitos' tweeter", which I just can't listen to enough.Any secret favourites you were reluctant to share that made it into the mix?
All of the tunes are favourites but none very secret. I don't really like the idea of being too secret, it's sneaky. I can appreciate DJs that are super secretive about some of their prized records but i don't think that's really for me. I don't really like putting up track-lists for mixes as I think it ruins a bit of the element of surprise, but if anyone asks what a song is I never hesitate to tell them. If someone likes a song and it makes them happy then why should they not have a chance to listen to it at home, or wherever.Who are the DJs past or present that you take biggest inspiration from?
Guys like Theo Parrish and Floating Points are definitely up there for me in the sense of being able to move around in a DJ set. Then I also take a lot of inspiration from guys like Fred P, Even Tuell, Pearson Sound, Sotofett & Fett Burger. The list goes on and on. Local guys like Simon Caldwell, Preacha & Andy Webb keep that hometown inspiration flowing.As best as you can remember, please describe the scene in your sunroom as you made this mix.
I had recently moved houses and this is the first sunroom mix I have recorded in my new sunroom, which this time around just so happens to be connected to my bedroom. Some kind of dodgy 'put a roof over a balcony and make a tiny room' kinda job, but it does the trick as it's the perfect width of an IKEA Expedit unit. I probably started recording just after 4 PM so by the time I had finished the sun had completely set. I had the windows open and my neighbours were hopefully less annoyed by the music coming out of them compared to some of the other records that I might be playing leading up to dinner time.See Ben Fester perform as part of Astral People's VIVID Live Party, Friday May 30 at the Sydney Opera House.
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Ben Fester: I have been meaning to record a mix like this for quite some time now. When I first started playing out, one of the first parties I played at was a weekly party at the Flinders Hotel with the Cosmonaut guys from Motorik and T. Mingus, who I do Astral DJ's and Heavenly parties with. The night was called Banana's and rotated around us just drinking many beers and playing older funk, soul and garage rock records. It was different to the other sets I was playing because there wasn't much mixing going on. More just selecting, listening to the whole song and then playing another. I really like the idea of a DJ not being restricted by tempo, just playing a song next because it should go next, even if it is say, 30 BPM faster or slower. I guess this mix is more about the selections and flow being in the spotlight with a whole lot less focus on the actual mixing.Can you take us through some of the selections, and some stories about how you initially found these tracks?
I work at a record store in Sydney, but even before that I would go in there each week to listen to the new stuff they had in. After checking the new stuff I would just sit down with a box of the 2nd hand stuff and listen to them all—somehow getting lost in the records for hours upon hours. A lot of these records I just accidentally stumbled on there. Some of these have been recommendations from other Sydney DJs/collectors/sellers like Alex Dimitriades and Dave Reid who have pointed me in the direction of tunes like "Love on a Summer Night" by the McCrarys and "Far Out" by Crown Heights Affair. Some were just tunes that I fell in love with at the Banana's night, for example Thom (T. Mingus) used to always play that Nina Simone "Funkier Than A Mosquitos' tweeter", which I just can't listen to enough.Any secret favourites you were reluctant to share that made it into the mix?
All of the tunes are favourites but none very secret. I don't really like the idea of being too secret, it's sneaky. I can appreciate DJs that are super secretive about some of their prized records but i don't think that's really for me. I don't really like putting up track-lists for mixes as I think it ruins a bit of the element of surprise, but if anyone asks what a song is I never hesitate to tell them. If someone likes a song and it makes them happy then why should they not have a chance to listen to it at home, or wherever.Who are the DJs past or present that you take biggest inspiration from?
Guys like Theo Parrish and Floating Points are definitely up there for me in the sense of being able to move around in a DJ set. Then I also take a lot of inspiration from guys like Fred P, Even Tuell, Pearson Sound, Sotofett & Fett Burger. The list goes on and on. Local guys like Simon Caldwell, Preacha & Andy Webb keep that hometown inspiration flowing.As best as you can remember, please describe the scene in your sunroom as you made this mix.
I had recently moved houses and this is the first sunroom mix I have recorded in my new sunroom, which this time around just so happens to be connected to my bedroom. Some kind of dodgy 'put a roof over a balcony and make a tiny room' kinda job, but it does the trick as it's the perfect width of an IKEA Expedit unit. I probably started recording just after 4 PM so by the time I had finished the sun had completely set. I had the windows open and my neighbours were hopefully less annoyed by the music coming out of them compared to some of the other records that I might be playing leading up to dinner time.See Ben Fester perform as part of Astral People's VIVID Live Party, Friday May 30 at the Sydney Opera House.