Bensley Ready to Be Next Deadbeats Breakout [Mix+Q&A]

Bensley has come a long way since attending his first festival in 2011. Dubstep provided the initial spark, but like his inspirations Skrillex and Noisia, the young producer has evolved ahead of the times and trends to create his own unique lane of sound design. Following the release of his first Deadbeats EP, Cascade, the producer caught up with MP3 MAG to discuss how he got to this point.

Originally from Canada, Bensley found his path early on by signing with his dream label, RAM Records. This provided him a home to perfect his craft, and during this time he would go on to release two albums (Muskoka, Next Generation).

In 2020, the producer teamed up with Zeds Dead, who had showed admiration for his music with consistent support in sets and their Deadbeats Radio. While the producer considers himself traditionally a drum and bass act, his Deadbeats debut is anything but. Cascade offers fans a lofi take on breakbeat, downtempo, and various house influences for a moody, dreamy sampler of electronic music.

Heading into a year where he promises to continue a high release rate, Cascade provides insight into his diverse, introspective potential as a producer.

Check out our full Bensley Q&A below to learn more about his inspirations, backstory & more:

What’s the origin of the Bensley project? When did you decide to make this your career?

I started trying to do this professionally after I dropped out of university. I had just finished my first year of Software Development but was having second thoughts about my path, so I decided to take a year off. I spent that year working part-time and seeing if I could get my music picked up by a label. Luckily, RAM (my favourite label at the time) reached out to me after I sent them my first demo! I quickly had to come up with an alias and arrived at Bensley (a nickname I had in school). From that point onward, I decided to work full-time on music. 

What prompted you to start making electronic music?

I got into electronic music pretty seriously around 2010-2011 when the dubstep scene was really starting to blow up. I was so blown away by the sound design I was hearing that I wanted to learn how to do it myself!

Was there a particular artist or song that inspired you?

At that time, it was guys like Skrillex, KOAN Sound, Noisia & Feed Me that were driving my passion for learning! As my tastes shifted towards Drum & Bass, my most prominent influence was Camo & Krooked. Their music was a huge inspiration for the sound of my first album. 

How would you describe your style of production?

Carefully crafted production focused on balancing memorable songwriting and hard-hitting sound design. 

How did the past year—pandemic, quarantine, etc—affect your creative process? Were you able to get a lot done this past year? 

While I’ve been missing live music a lot, this break has had a positive influence on my music. Without the pressure to create music that DJs will play in clubs, I was able to branch out and experiment with making music that’s different and thoughtful. It’s been a lot of fun! 

You recently dropped a full EP on Deadbeats. What can you tell us about the EP and what it means to you to release on such an esteemed label?

Releasing with Deadbeats has been a bucket-list item of mine for a long time. I’ve been an admirer of Zeds Dead since I got into electronic music, and they’re based in my hometown, so it meant so much to be able to release my first (multi-genre, nonetheless!) EP with them. I think the EP and music video sum up who I am as an artist so well, and I’m extremely proud of the final product!

When can fans expect to see from you the rest of the year? Any big shows/releases planned?

I won’t be slowing down! I’ve got several releases planned between now and the end of the year – lots of big things to announce. I’ll also be returning to live music with a handful of Canadian shows, which I’m super excited about.

FOLLOW BENSLEY:

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/bensley

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/bensleyofficial

TWITTER: twitter.com/bensley_music

SOUNDCLOUD: soundcloud.com/bensley

SPOTIFY: spoti.fi/3yt5it0