Artist spotlight: Ben Kama
Our first Artist Spotlight since the dnbscene 2.0 relaunch is the highly talented Ben Kama, who has impressed us all with the quality and consistency of his releases over the past month. His highly original track Someone is one of the highest-rated tunes on the site, and occupied the number 1 spot in the charts for two consecutive weeks. In this spotlight feature we find out more about the man behind the melodies and get an insight into the methods behind his music.
Basic facts please. Where do you come from, where do you live, how old are you, what do you do for a living?
My real name is Eppu Syyrakki, Benjamin being my middle name. I'm 26 and I'm a metalworker/construction worker! Not very creative combination I know but I really love the fact that you can leave the workplace behind for good when your day is over. No bringing the job home in that industry. I did do 1.5 years of media studies in a polytechnic university here in Finland but I decided that if I was to spend all my free time making music with a computer, I didn't want to spend my working time sitting on a computer.
Ben Kama isn't your real name. Could you explain where it came from?
As I said, Benjamin is my middle name. I had to add it to 'Kama' after my first release (part of the Ambassadors 4 compilation by Santorin) because I noted a house producer under the same name. I never listened to much house in the past so I had no idea. 'Kama' was a choice for me because it can mean many things - in my native Finnish it means just 'junk', but in Japanese it means a weapon that the peasants used to use, and it also has meanings in several religions and langages across the world.
Give us your life story so far, in no more than 3 sentences.
I was born a shy momma's boy on a cold January morning in 1984. My parents didn't have much wealth but they gave me much love in my younger years. In my teens I was swept away by drum and bass, and on that road I still remain.
What do you use to make music?
I have a few tools that I know well and I use them in almost every production I have. On the hardware side I have a PC (bought 2 years ago), an EMU E4X sampler, a Yamaha 12 channel mixer, 25-key midi controller, Alesis M1 MKII speakers and a Hercules RMX DJ tool. I don't use the Hercules much when making tunes, but I've been looking more to it recently. It is after all a MIDI controller at heart. I also have an old Hi-Fi setup and a few different headphones for A/B-ing.
On the software side I still use FLStudio. I've been using FL since version 3, and it was the first 'step up' from trackers for me. I've stayed with it because I know it like the back of my hand and I can quicky lay down the ideas in my head. I use Rob Papen's Predator & Albino a lot, almost every track I make has at least one instance of either one. My go-to processing plugins are the PSP Mixpack 2 plugs, they are fairly easy to use and it's a very comprehensive package. I use a lot of free plugins and synths as well.
What do you think your main strengths as a musician are?
I'd like to think it's musicality, but lately I've been drifting towards more monotonous tracks, aimed much more towards that hypnotic rave feeling (even done some house or dubstep/techno tunes in recent times) - so I guess I have to say it's diversity. In recent years I've opened up much more to different genres inside EDM, and don't want to limit my creativity by setting a strict BPM to any of my productions. Some ideas just work better with different base grooves.
What got you into drum and bass in the first place?
A mate of mine started using Impulse Tracker back in '99 I think. He played me a few pieces he had done and I only remember watching vigorously what happened on the screen. The same mate introduced me to Adam F's 'Circles' and it just blew me away. At first I was much more into the experimental stuff by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, having a metal background really made that kind of weird stuff my base in d'n'b. I quickly got into the oldschool jungle sound of the early 90's as well and that had a heavy influence on my music in the early years.
Who are your biggest influences and why?
I've had loads in my times as a producer, and a few are worth an honorable mention. Of course the experimental things of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin lie deep within me. I also draw a lot of inspiration from my childhood and youth years, which would be metal like Fear Factory, Sepultura or Pantera - I still like to listen to this stuff every now and then to remind me of the energy it has. Then there's soul/r'n'b from the 70's, with some modern heads in there as well like John Legend or Owusu & Hannibal. I also like the more 'aware' hiphop that has something to say, like MF Doom or Dead Prez. When it comes to drum and bass, my tastes change almost as quickly as the scene itself, but for the moment I'm really looking up to Seba, Break and A-Sides. They all have been in the scene for years and still manage to deliver interesting music as well as stuff that is guaranteed to move the dancefloor.
What are your views on the current state of the drum and bass scene in general?
I've talked with some prominent people in the scene when I was helping promote and run a club in central Finland. Some of the more esteemed guests were Lenzman, Kasra, Redeyes and Blu Mar Ten for example... Most of these people were really pessimistic about the scene because of the huge number of producers trying to 'make it', so there's less cake for everyone to share. I have no experience from 'the field' in central Europe or the UK, but it seems to me these people still manage to attract full venues and they keep on the top despite of the fierce competition, so in my mind the diversity can only be a good thing. There's been some changes after the minimal invasion as well, like getting some of that oldschool influence and opening up the tempo of dnb like it used to be in the early years. I guess it all goes in cycles, but this has really caught my attention recently. So you could say all is looking good in my opinion. Competition also forces change to the scene, the prominent people will have to come up with new ideas or they are out of the game.
Talk about your favourite track that you've made, and why it's your favourite.
That would be 'Tears Of Jah' on Santorin recordings. It is very simple, amens and reggae samples with 808 subs. In fact it's so simple I haven't been able to reproduce ideas like that since, and it was made 2,5 years ago. It is also important to me for being the first ever track of mine that was picked up by a label.
Share one funny story from your life.
For some reason all I can think of is that I used to be a ballet dancer in the tender age of 4. True story.
Latest release
I was supposed to release this before christmas but the Distractions of Everyday Life got in the way. It's a remix of the legendary "Making Of A Cyborg" theme track from Ghost In The Shell. The samples have been used a million times already, and they are such a cliché that I just had to set this as a free download. Hopefully I managed to breathe some new life into the original!
http://www.dnbscene.com/track/ben-kama-kenji-kawai-making-of-a-cyborg-bootleg-rmx
Where to find Ben Kama
http://benkama.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ben-Kama/353471538564
AIM: usvakama
Basic facts please. Where do you come from, where do you live, how old are you, what do you do for a living?
My real name is Eppu Syyrakki, Benjamin being my middle name. I'm 26 and I'm a metalworker/construction worker! Not very creative combination I know but I really love the fact that you can leave the workplace behind for good when your day is over. No bringing the job home in that industry. I did do 1.5 years of media studies in a polytechnic university here in Finland but I decided that if I was to spend all my free time making music with a computer, I didn't want to spend my working time sitting on a computer.
Ben Kama isn't your real name. Could you explain where it came from?
As I said, Benjamin is my middle name. I had to add it to 'Kama' after my first release (part of the Ambassadors 4 compilation by Santorin) because I noted a house producer under the same name. I never listened to much house in the past so I had no idea. 'Kama' was a choice for me because it can mean many things - in my native Finnish it means just 'junk', but in Japanese it means a weapon that the peasants used to use, and it also has meanings in several religions and langages across the world.
Give us your life story so far, in no more than 3 sentences.
I was born a shy momma's boy on a cold January morning in 1984. My parents didn't have much wealth but they gave me much love in my younger years. In my teens I was swept away by drum and bass, and on that road I still remain.
What do you use to make music?
I have a few tools that I know well and I use them in almost every production I have. On the hardware side I have a PC (bought 2 years ago), an EMU E4X sampler, a Yamaha 12 channel mixer, 25-key midi controller, Alesis M1 MKII speakers and a Hercules RMX DJ tool. I don't use the Hercules much when making tunes, but I've been looking more to it recently. It is after all a MIDI controller at heart. I also have an old Hi-Fi setup and a few different headphones for A/B-ing.
On the software side I still use FLStudio. I've been using FL since version 3, and it was the first 'step up' from trackers for me. I've stayed with it because I know it like the back of my hand and I can quicky lay down the ideas in my head. I use Rob Papen's Predator & Albino a lot, almost every track I make has at least one instance of either one. My go-to processing plugins are the PSP Mixpack 2 plugs, they are fairly easy to use and it's a very comprehensive package. I use a lot of free plugins and synths as well.
What do you think your main strengths as a musician are?
I'd like to think it's musicality, but lately I've been drifting towards more monotonous tracks, aimed much more towards that hypnotic rave feeling (even done some house or dubstep/techno tunes in recent times) - so I guess I have to say it's diversity. In recent years I've opened up much more to different genres inside EDM, and don't want to limit my creativity by setting a strict BPM to any of my productions. Some ideas just work better with different base grooves.
What got you into drum and bass in the first place?
A mate of mine started using Impulse Tracker back in '99 I think. He played me a few pieces he had done and I only remember watching vigorously what happened on the screen. The same mate introduced me to Adam F's 'Circles' and it just blew me away. At first I was much more into the experimental stuff by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, having a metal background really made that kind of weird stuff my base in d'n'b. I quickly got into the oldschool jungle sound of the early 90's as well and that had a heavy influence on my music in the early years.
Who are your biggest influences and why?
I've had loads in my times as a producer, and a few are worth an honorable mention. Of course the experimental things of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin lie deep within me. I also draw a lot of inspiration from my childhood and youth years, which would be metal like Fear Factory, Sepultura or Pantera - I still like to listen to this stuff every now and then to remind me of the energy it has. Then there's soul/r'n'b from the 70's, with some modern heads in there as well like John Legend or Owusu & Hannibal. I also like the more 'aware' hiphop that has something to say, like MF Doom or Dead Prez. When it comes to drum and bass, my tastes change almost as quickly as the scene itself, but for the moment I'm really looking up to Seba, Break and A-Sides. They all have been in the scene for years and still manage to deliver interesting music as well as stuff that is guaranteed to move the dancefloor.
What are your views on the current state of the drum and bass scene in general?
I've talked with some prominent people in the scene when I was helping promote and run a club in central Finland. Some of the more esteemed guests were Lenzman, Kasra, Redeyes and Blu Mar Ten for example... Most of these people were really pessimistic about the scene because of the huge number of producers trying to 'make it', so there's less cake for everyone to share. I have no experience from 'the field' in central Europe or the UK, but it seems to me these people still manage to attract full venues and they keep on the top despite of the fierce competition, so in my mind the diversity can only be a good thing. There's been some changes after the minimal invasion as well, like getting some of that oldschool influence and opening up the tempo of dnb like it used to be in the early years. I guess it all goes in cycles, but this has really caught my attention recently. So you could say all is looking good in my opinion. Competition also forces change to the scene, the prominent people will have to come up with new ideas or they are out of the game.
Talk about your favourite track that you've made, and why it's your favourite.
That would be 'Tears Of Jah' on Santorin recordings. It is very simple, amens and reggae samples with 808 subs. In fact it's so simple I haven't been able to reproduce ideas like that since, and it was made 2,5 years ago. It is also important to me for being the first ever track of mine that was picked up by a label.
Share one funny story from your life.
For some reason all I can think of is that I used to be a ballet dancer in the tender age of 4. True story.
Latest release
I was supposed to release this before christmas but the Distractions of Everyday Life got in the way. It's a remix of the legendary "Making Of A Cyborg" theme track from Ghost In The Shell. The samples have been used a million times already, and they are such a cliché that I just had to set this as a free download. Hopefully I managed to breathe some new life into the original!
http://www.dnbscene.com/track/ben-kama-kenji-kawai-making-of-a-cyborg-bootleg-rmx
Where to find Ben Kama
http://benkama.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ben-Kama/353471538564
AIM: usvakama
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