Artists Profile

Current Location :: London, UK 

Music Genres :: Techno 

Since establishing Theory Recordings towards the end of 1997, London-based DJ / producer Ben Sims has undergone a swift rise to prominence within the global dance music community. His globally extensive DJ'ing performances have earned him a ranking amongst the world's top techno spinners, many of whom have fully embraced his studio production work.

Ben's DJ'ing apprenticeship began with hip hop at the tender age of ten. In the fifteen years since, his multi-styled turntable skills have developed into a precise compound of rhythm, texture and groove. Following on from spinning at parties, his long-running involvement with pirate radio began in 1991. A key figure in the establishment of London's Atmosphere FM, Ben subsequently took his skills to the clubs when the authorities began sanitising the airwaves in 1995.

In the years that followed, he steadily built up a reputation for ultra-tight techno mixing, infusing elements into his sets from his earlier days of DJ'ing hip hop and house. Snapped up in 1999 by esteemed Berlin-based booking agency Dy-Na-Mix, his skills behind the decks have been much in demand, touring worldwide from Australia to the US calling at nearly every country in between. Regular high profile gigs throughout Europe and at long-running UK nights such as The Orbit, Voodoo and House of God have also help further his reputation as one of London's most exciting DJ exports. 

A self-confessed vinyl addict, Ben's own recordings clearly reflect his long-standing passion for groove and funk based music. His production style - an amalgamation of jackin' Chicago funk, driving filtered loops and dark tribal house music provided popular despite the deluge of funk-deficient minimal cuts dominating the techno scene during the late Nineties. In magazine interviews Ben often describes his production of music simply as the natural continuation to many years spent behind the decks. Forging tracks in an energetic metallic mould with a rich, hypnotic consistency, much akin to his DJ'ing style, he admits that his penchant for producing is secondary to his love of playing out. Hence, he views his studio output very much as dancefloor music constructed for manipulation by the DJ.

After waiting patiently for both his music and confidence to develop, Ben's first release (Theory 001) paved the way for a whole new school of floor-friendly funk-based rhythms, gaining instantaneous recognition and prompting an influx of recording offers. During April 1998 he began to receive widespread recognition for his first Killabite release - a slamming EP of cut-up warehouse classics hammered by everyone from Jeff Mills to Carl Cox.

Although the Killabite EP's were never intended for release, the records quickly gained cult status with DJ's on both sides of the techno / house axis, and in many ways set a precedent for the string of sample-based dancefloor tools that ensued. Since the launch of Theory, Ben's material has enjoyed success on numerous prestigious labels, such as Primate, Primevil, Code Red, Tresor, Phont Music and Pure Plastic. Following the completion of many reputable remix projects and the launch of four further labels - Hardgroove, Native, Symbolism and Ingoma - his records have found constant club application from many of the scene's most respected players, thus remaining in-situ in record boxes around the globe.