FMB MIXTAPE 223 | BEN SLEIA (iTUNES)
FMB MIXTAPE 223 | BEN SLEIA (320 DOWNLOAD)
We have French-born Ben Sleia on the mixtape this week. She has since spent years living in the UK with a residency at Liverpool’s 24 Kitchen St before blessing the dancefloors of Berlin! We asked more about the mix and what she’s been up to recently…
I’ve been travelling a fair bit these past few months, for work, fun, and also to just relax. September was quite busy gig wise which was great, and I was able to play a couple of back to backs with some friends. That was particularly fun as that’s not something I’ve had the opportunity to do much these past few years. Apart from that I’ve been doing an intensive German course alongside working full time, and I was also lucky enough to get a place in an Ableton course ran by Femme Bass Mafia (a FLINTA collective from Berlin which focuses on knowledge sharing and platforming artists from their community, check them out) to finally learn how to make music. It’s been an intense few months to be honest but I’m feeling super inspired lately! And I’m loving being able to explore a new creative side by making music myself. It’s a hard process but it also feels very rewarding.
I recorded the mix in my flat in Berlin on my home set up which is 2 XDJs 700 and 1 Xone 23. I’ve been finding this set up kind of limiting recently and I would love to upgrade, but actually being limited probably makes me more focused on what I’m doing.
I think the main thing I wanted to achieve with this mix was to show who I am musically. As a music listener, I am always drawn to artists who manage to showcase all the different facets of their personality through their music, be it as producers or as DJs, and this is something I’m also trying to do constantly. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, and I’m always looking for ways to connect the dots between all my influences to represent who I am. This is exactly what I did for this mix; I did not want to limit myself as to what genre, style, atmosphere, or anything else I could go for, but rather create something new with all the tracks I picked together.
And what’s next?
The next big thing for me is the launch of my new project: Bruits. In reality, I was already working under ‘Bruits’ for a long time as it was the name of my first radio residency on Melodic Distraction Radio (RIP) all those years ago, and it was also the name of my subsequent radio residency on Refuge Worldwide. I’m now taking it further and to the club as I’m launching our first event on November 25th 2023 at Zur Klappe (in Berlin) for which I’ve invited MELANIN to play, who is this incredible DJ based in Paris who plays the flute over her mixing, as well as my friends Impurity and Blume. I’m really excited to be back in the curator seat, and these events are actually only the first phase of this project. In the new year, I’m hoping to take it out of the club and around with me, but I’ll give more information about this later on. I’m very excited about it all anyway!
Tracklist:
Azemad – Halal Rage
Simo Cell – blow the conch
Verraco – jajaja
Toma Kami – Quad
Howie Lee – Flea
RAVL – Outrenoir
uu008 – a1
Diessa – Boiling Over (feat. Grove) – Original Version
Sepehr – At The Gates Of Heaven
Hojo – 16 O’s feat. Novelist
Pete Cannon & Denham Audio – Off Me Pickle (lmAjors cOMPLETELY pICKLED mIX)
DJ Zinc – 138 Trek (POLO LILLI 145 Edit)
Ma Sha – Myrtle Warp
From The Depths – Neutral Buoyancy
Dawn Razor & Confluence – Decollerate
Joey Beltram – Energy Flash (Original Mix)
Mani Festo – Plunk
Ayesha – Buzzz
Fango – Rectum
Klahrk & Stolen Velour – Fight Me
Jokes Kultüros – Split
Daniel 58 – Dirk Nowitzonski
Bell Curve – Quicksand
