In conversation with: Ben Hood

In this episode of Discobrain Talks, Jadey C sits down with the one and only Ben Hood; a member of the infamous House of Dinosaur collective, and a true multi-hyphenate: actor, DJ, and all-round legend.

Together, they dive into the powerful intersection of music and mental health, exploring how sound shapes mood, identity, and connection. Ben opens up about his journey through the creative world, the realities behind the scenes, and the role music plays in maintaining balance in an often chaotic industry.

Expect honest conversation, a few laughs, and plenty of insight as Discobrain Talks continues to bridge the gap between rhythm and reflection.

Where music meets mindfulness…… this is Discobrain Talks.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Disco Brain Talks podcast features honest conversations that may include strong language, discussions about mental health, and open dialogue about drugs and alcohol. Listener discussion is advised. And I am very, very, very honoured to welcome to Disco Brain Talks, Mr. Benji, your main hood.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

What's happening, James?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Hello, Ben. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

I'm pretty good. It's a beautiful day outside. It is a June day in April, and I'm very happy about it. Yeah, man. Cannot complain. Quacking shirt. Well, you know, for duck's sake and all that. And before we kick off the gorgeous show, this lovely little podcast for all his lovely listeners, we've got a gift for you. So this is for you. Thank you for coming on to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

And yeah, basically you're part of For Your Mind FC, and that's a little t-shirt there for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

I've just been gifted a uh a beautiful t-shirt for For Your Mind FC. Yeah. Uh oh, number seven.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yeah, you know, and now he's gonna start screening goals for mental health, and that's what it's about. But yeah, so welcome. Thank you for coming on the pod.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

You're so welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

But let's talk about how did we meet?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

I feel like our most seminal meet was on was really on a ski lift. It was, wasn't it? Which is where most uh most deals are done.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Yeah. Business happens on the ski plant.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

It's like a golf course, isn't it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

It literally is the cold version of a golf course.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

We were we were on a ski lift going up um going up Mont Blanc.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yeah, we were on that blanc it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

I think it was I think it was one no, two years ago. A couple years ago now. Two years ago, yeah. Yeah, goodness. Um and um yeah, it was a beautiful sunny day. I remember you just cocking your head to the side and pulling out a little tiny mic. Oh yes. And um not putting me on the spot, but putting me on the spot. Yeah, I think. Um what what drives you musically? What do you what do you what do you love? Yeah, what tickles your pickle? Yeah, what you're about. What what you know what uh you we got straight to the pork and beans of it, do you think? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Oh we porked and beans were on that jealous. We did, it was great, it was gorgeous.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Um so yes, we met through a wonderful um collective and community called The House of Dinosaur.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Oh, the little deals we did, we did, and they are I can't even I don't even actually know how to put into words how fabulous everybody in that gorgeous collective is. There's not enough words, I don't think.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

It's a it's a fully selfless contingent of people who want to make other people feel good and give other people permission to be themselves and um relax.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

There's not enough of that in the world for sure. No. And well, yeah, they give that they they will all the dinos create space for everybody. And that's what it's all about. That's why they're doing so well, that's why everyone's just flourishing. But we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of it. We'll get because we're here to talk about you. Oh yeah, we're here to talk about what makes you tick, what you're all about. So we'll kick we'll we'll start it nice and easy. Can you tell us about your music journey? What got you on the decks? Because I know, I know, you know, you're a little bit of a wax specialist, must you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

From time to time.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Time to time. Spin the old tunes on the vinyl. Where was ya? Was you eight years old? Your dad was like, listen to this.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

I was uh I was very, very lucky as um as a young one in that it was kind of a two a two-pronger, in that my my brother was really, really into his vinyl. So he bought two chairwood belt drive uh decks that need to get Yeah, you could hear 'em starting up. Um gotta get warm. They've got to get warm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They've got warm. And um he would go record shopping with his mate Pete, and um and so I he would have been about 13, so I would have been eight. And he would take me into town.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Called eight record shopping. Nice.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

So we had and he was, you know, he was uh really into the beautiful left side of house, um, the funky stuff, the disco-y stuff, the sampley stuff. Gorge. So we had decks in the we had bunk beds, and he was he was he was bringing home records uh every every weekend. So I learned to mix on these tacky little decks. That's the best way to learn. When I was about eight or nine, you know, just working out how how much how much uh pressure to apply and how much not. The other prong, the other prong is that my my dad, Gary, my dad Gary founded the great British Rhythm and Blues Festival.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Shout out to Gary.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Shout out to Gary. Big up Gary. So he started a massive blues festival in a tiny little town called Colne in um Lancashire.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Come on, Cone, Lancashire's a great place.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Yes, it is. Yes, and I remember this one time I went up to see him, and the blues festival was on, and there was this amazing artist called Bernard Allison. Um, rest in peace. Started in '97. Um but he was an absolute legend, and he he did this thing where he started, he was on a kind of um wireless uh guitar, and then he went round the top deck of the amphitheatre, and then he went out into the street, and then everyone came out of the theatre onto the street, spilling out, stopping traffic, and he was on the top of this um taxi, and he was playing, he was doing a guitar solo on the top of a taxi, and everybody just lost their stuff, and it was this beautiful liminal space where everyone forgot the rules, and there was like civil servants and dentists just foot stomping, dancing with strangers in the middle of this very kind of reserved Lancastrian town. And I just remember that as like an eight, nine-year-old going, music has the power of something pretty special here. And that was a real that was a real um that was a real kind of turning point for me.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

And I was like, I need to find out how do I be a sponge and just be all of this.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Blues led me to funk, led me to reggae and disco, led me to house, led me to tech, led me to the many wormholes of electronic music.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

It's a really beautiful path, isn't it, when you go from when you start a little one and it's like just tick, tick, tick, and then you're like, wow, and you're like, oh my goodness me, and there's still the joy of finding new music. I don't actually it just it just is like just the base maneuver, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yeah, yeah, for me it's like you know those little machines where you you put a little kind of coin and there's lots of lots of pegs and it goes down. Oh but for me, every time it hits a peg, two more come off, and then two more come off, and then four more come off, and then by the end, you know the lists I've got in my notebook, and I'm like, yep, and there we go again.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

And then I'm like, oh yeah, and then Yes. Yeah the branches of the tree, they expand, don't they? Especially when we have our horizons broadened for sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

So yeah, so yeah, there was my there was my dad, uh, there was my brother, and then for some in that from w uh unfathomable kind of innate reason, musical soundtracks, like soundtracks to movies, as a kid, I sponged that up. And sometimes I don't really remember well, a lot of the time I don't remember the plot to the movie that I saw, but I remember the soundtrack so well.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Always, yeah. Because it it's the well, music and memory all intertwined. Yeah, yeah. It's um I studied the film years ago and wrote an essay on how the soundtracks are the most influential. There's if you go you can go on YouTube and you can watch how they've edited popping into the horror movie because of the audio, they've just changed it. And they've made the shining into a rom-com. Yeah. Incredible.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Do you know what I mean? It's gorgeous. And um yeah, that's that's one of my my big ins to a lot of musical.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

And being little eight-year-old Ben as well, I imagine, you know, nimble nimble singers compared to being a grown-up with a little on the on the vinyl. Definitely probably a bit better because they are precious, aren't they, as well?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

They are. Yeah, I remember trying to um mix um mix off the wall into speed you wonder. Um, as like a ten-year-old, and I was I was pulling it off, man. Yeah, listen.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Absolutely ten, like, come on, like you should have like Blastombury hated to see you coming.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

That was yeah, that was I mean, that was back in the day days of uh of of of tape players and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Sure, yeah, but yeah, and when you're learning to mix and making mixtapes, which is now playlists and it's all a bit digital, but we're not gonna slag off digital world just yet. We'll get to that at some point. Not yet later. All in due course, but yeah, so then the music then, of course, brother, dad, incredible influences. And then what does it mean to you on a personal personal one?

SPEAKER_00 9:21

On a personal level, um, I mean that is a that's a huge that's a huge one. Huge one. Um I'd say my like my my my brain's quite visual. So um music kind of creates landscapes in my in my brain and it links me very specifically to specific moments in my life. Sure. Um it can it certainly links me to uh houses that I've lived in or different friendship groups that I've been in, or a year, or um a feeling. There's there's something I I so I have a a big case of frisson.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Oh, brilliant now. I should get that checked.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Do you know frisson? Sorry, my wife's calling.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

That's alright. The wife the wife can call, but I was like, you should actually just be like, hello, wife, are we all alright?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

So do you know what frisson is? I do not know what frisson is. So friss frisson is like um a new a neurological thing where you get really, really strong um chills and goosebumps and shivers down your spine.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

That's what frisson is.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah, when when you listen to um when you listen to music stimuli. But it can extend to seeing pictures of motion or like uh or a or a really emphatic speech or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Um but it it comes on and I get that a couple of times a day when I'm listening to music.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Yeah, so I get that watching a dramatic performance on TV. I'm like, it's got me.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Do you want to take the call?

SPEAKER_00 10:51

No.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

She's alright.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Is the wife okay? Is wife all alright though? How is wife?

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Wife is great.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Working hard, hustling.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

We were filming um filming a feature yesterday together.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

She was playing a Belgian street pimp. Been there. Yeah. It's a tough day.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Tough day in the office.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

What do you do? You've got to hustle. For me personally, I've I've been like I've been quite a chronic insomniac for twenty going on twenty years.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah, a long time, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:21

So we're talking not a decent night's sleep in a row for maybe twenty years. So whilst that has been really brutal, it has given me time to become a bit of a music nerd. Yeah. To hone the craft. To hone the craft. Um and like those without without music during those pla th those times, and being uh an insomniac isn't just not sleeping, it comes with many other bits of baggage. Yes. It's hard.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

It's no picnic. It's no picnic.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

It's no picnic. But um without music, I would have been completely lost. So like mus music is music is my mate. Saving grace. Music's my support puppy. Um and it's there for me and it can lift it can lift me out of any mood at times. It can it can help me grieve, it can make me grieve if we need to, it um um and also it can make me completely ecstatic.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

From naught to zero uh when I wasn't expecting, and every time when I'm thinking, ah man, I'm in a real FUD just get on your bicycle and listen to some tunes. Yeah. And I ev every time, every time I come back, I'm better.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Yeah, yeah. 100%. The impact of it is, well, thank goodness, I don't know where I would be. Probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for music.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Yeah, real serious for. I'm not gonna lie either.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Yeah, real seriousness. Thank goodness for I think what the world that would would the world wouldn't cease to exist if it wasn't for like gorgeous music in all some rich classical house, this golf course, and it just is it's really poignant to just acknowledge it and go, oh thanks, music. Yeah, thanks everybody. Excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

I l I literally feel it and see it as like as as a physical person who is by my side.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Have you ever seen music? Have you ever I know that sounds silly to say that synthesis, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

So uh yeah, yeah, yeah. It comes it comes with the extreme frisson, but I have to the the the the moonlight has to be just right.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Yes, it's gotta be like that perfect 12.01, and it's like the witching hour, and you're like, oh wow, I can see waveforms in the sky. Fantastic. I didn't know it was this this summer day, but here we are.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah, I've got I've got a Paul um Jamie who's one half of Audio Jack and he has it r big time. So when he goes out and he's in the vibe, he's like, whoa.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

He's in a bag of Skittles upside down, just knowing that's and that's just a normal day for him, one and I've really wanted to hear that. Well, let's talk about then let's talk about the impact of the scene and the the environments that we love so much on our mental health, because that's what we're here to discuss. This brain talks we're here to talk about music and how intertwined it is with mental health, how it supports us, how it is a crutch. And I want to know if the scene in the industry has had an impact, and if it has, what's that about?

SPEAKER_00 14:31

It's kind of like it's a bit of a double-edged wanger, that one, isn't it? It is, it is double-edged, yeah. Um like I'm 40 now, so I kind of I I grew up with no social media and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Um so like when I was going out to get gigs, it'd be literally with a a pile of 20 burnt CDs with uh with um with a promo um set on it, and you'd go in and you'd you'd you'd ask the if you could see the venue manager and you'd have a chat and you'd probably do a trial set.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Bit of charm.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Yeah, trial set before you even, you know, sign the on the dotted line. Um and while that sounds long, it's way better, I've got a lot of it. And a bit better. Whereas whereas nowadays you you essentially have to um not every time, but you essentially have to become uh a short filmmaker, documentary maker of your of your life and make sure that everyone knows what you're doing all the time, um which I think really detracts from the point of what it's about. Yeah, and you've got to have this little sides business. Um and not everyone wants wants to do that.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

No, they don't want to do the music or whatever hobby that they love.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, and if you want to play a bigger a bigger venue or something like that, um if you can't prove that you have played other venues with with visual content or so far, or or or tell people how many uh people follow you. Um that is it it's like it's a weird existential pressure. Oh my goodness, I wouldn't believe that um, you know, 15 20 years ago just wasn't even the consideration.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Didn't exist, did it?

SPEAKER_00 16:20

It's um Yeah, I find I find that um I find that I find that I find that a bit I find that a bit odd. 100%. But on the I guess on the on the other hand, you know, if you go even bigger, you've got your your your huge DJs who are on the top of the pyramid with pyrotechnics. Yeah. And, you know, it's been broadcast live to Dubai.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah, and there's fire and there's girls dancing everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Yeah, and it's like the opening of the Olympics. And it was really long, but yeah. And then there's 300 people filming you at any time, and this person's try is trying to DJ.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, overstimulation is definitely the under underestimation. Yeah, my god, it's that hats off to all DJs. I love music so much, I don't want to be a superstar DJ. No. No disrespect or no judgment to anyone. It's amazing. You couldn't make me enough money to have to be that that. I just want to play some tunes, have a good time in a little dirty small box with 50 people in it.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

That's me, happy.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Yeah, yeah. Back to basics and leads. So 2000 uh was was gorgeous. You couldn't even find the booth if it was that dark.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yeah, but so you don't want to know it. Well, who's the deal?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

And everyone everyone gets on with what they're there for.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah, exactly. The connection and the just being and the existing. It's I'm currently, we're currently, as for your mind is, oh, no one wants to know. Brands, companies, oh until you've got 100k. It's like a minimum quote of 10k, and I'm like, I've been going five years. Who cares about followers? Who cares about actually what we're doing? They still don't. I'm not gonna go and name all these brands, but I have sent out God knows the amount of emails, and no one wants to. But if I walked into a room and shook someone's hand, I would walk out of what I wanted. Yeah, that's the difference of personal touch.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

That's the difference. And um, and yeah, yeah, I think um I mean on on the other side of that, there is uh there's a much more um there's a there's a much bigger platform for people who haven't got the I don't know, who haven't got that either about them or um or want to do it. I mean the world is very i is is is always rapidly changing. I d I don't know if you know a thing called uh um Old Music Fridays.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

So on the other hand, you've got this beautiful community of people who come together and listen to music that they might not ever have heard before.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

And that is now growing into I think they're gonna do a live thing, and the guy owing cuts who does it is just like so full of vigour.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Oh my god, the passion, like it's so beautifully pure.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Um that's why it's doing well. That's why people are relating to it. They're kind of going, oh my god, I can just feel it, and I'm yeah, I'm in.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Yeah. So, but then without having that platform edged wang. So it's a double-edged wang.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Yeah, that's it's what it is, and it's it, yeah, it's it's a blessing, and there's some beautiful things on there on platforms, but then there's always but it's a yin and yang. The yin and yang to the wang, isn't it really? Yeah. What a sentence that is. So let's talk about so I've done that, yeah. Let's talk about music as therapy. Now we've discussed it a little bit, we've spoken about, you know, growing up and how it has been a saving grace, it is our saviour.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

And if you physically, if you're you know, you're having a bad depression moment, not you know, but if you're having a bad moment to stand up and physically shake, to physically just shake it out, not not quite a shift at all at all. But you know, she was right. She was stand up, shake it out, and how like with with that with coping mechanisms and music being therapy, is it? Do you do it? When do you do it? Are you like on the country? You know, we're having a bad day, like we said, we put on a tune, it lifts us out of our mood. So let's talk about coping mechanisms, and we've spoken about music being therapy, let's talk about how.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

So, how for yourself. Um, I think one of the like biggest breakthroughs that I've found in the past year is um is cloud busting. Right? Cloud busting is no matter how rubbish or worthless or or down or tired you feel first thing in the morning, get out. Get out, get moving. Outside, yeah, literally. Outside. Um get moving and put on put on some music that's gonna lift you up, right? Let's let's get rid of those little toothpicks of offering. Don't give yourself that time to go, oh. That's it. Cut cut it out. That's it. Um give it the moment. There's some there's some kind of um neurological name for that that period. I think you're in something like theta waves or something when you wake up and you're more susceptible to influence the first uh half an hour or something.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

That's why they say it's still if you're phones for the first half hour when you wake up, then get that overload of fake dopamine.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, yeah. So um so Yeah, up, shower, out, just just do it. Just just do it. Um I would say for a long time for a long time for me, it was it was alcohol.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yeah, for real. Alcohol's a big one. Yeah. It's uh and and it's 'cause it's easy and it's everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

It's easy, it's everywhere. And I think I've got some kind of genetic um mutation where you don't get drunk. I do eventually. I do eventually, but also um it doesn't make me tired, it lifts me up. So uh so yeah so for a long time for a long time and this goes hand in hand with uh insomnia it's a very difficult thing and also gigging late at night. Oh yeah you do that a lot yeah and completely unconventional working hours um yeah yeah it was you are an unconventional working hour respectfully thank you thank you I'll take that yeah I'll take that um but yeah but uh you know eventually i in the short term uh it helps me out fantastic helps in the long term it's not my mate it's not my mate so yeah so it's not um it's again it's a crutch it's it's skateboarding to the bus it's not gonna get you there but it's gonna get you somewhere for a bit it helps it helps for five minutes and then you're like oh so this is also gonna give me depression because it's a depressant you're like oh okay yeah and what is whilst the club scene is everything I kind of I'm kind of like a little bit low-key happy to see 20 roads not absolutely blathered on the floor like no inhibitions left and like oh you're like actually like oh you like not throwing up in the corner with like your heels and like you're just on the floor in the curb and living your twenties best life which we all like no judgment I did it yeah yeah yeah I'm I'm pretty sure it's still going on it's still a right of passage where I'm from but yeah who's not been drunk in a field underage yeah I'll not raise my hand to that no one's raising their hands what's but yeah yeah yeah it's um I think I think so I I I am I am worried that the I don't know the the the the the the gen the the upcoming generation the youth of today isn't it the youth um are a little bit too I don't know sensible little bit too sensible like you need to go out and drink a couple of WKDs in the park come on right or yeah or I don't know Or Glenn's Volcano judge yeah or I don't know you like I'm not gonna chat to you do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 24:14

I hate that hate that I make friends with a lamppost what do you what do you want from me is like absolutely nothing mate just saying hello yeah just being like oh yeah what are you saying like I come in peace but but that that's not a blanket statement that's not blanket statement no it's just more it's just more um pre prevalent these days yeah no for real it actually is let's talk about dreams dream collaboration now are you uh are you f you're frequenting the old producing old situations making music yeah playing the bass being actively involved I certainly don't play the bass no I know but you don't set the bass but you're uh you're a man that frequents and plays tunes and makes music right yeah who dead or alive and the dead or alive you could bring up bullied loads of people who would be your dream collaboration and you can pick a couple it doesn't have to be like that's it I'm gonna do them alright dream collaboration um I'd have to I would have to go I'd have to go Quincy Jones Quincy Jones in the studio Oh my god imagine just being sat there with Quincy I think I think I would have a Quincy Jones Mr Scruff and me three parter I'd really really like to make um I think a dream thing would be a kind of jazzy a jazzy house album jazzy house with the Mr Scruff squash bassy bubbles on there as well right how do we right Quincy can we resurrect people?

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Oh my goodness mate that what a triangle of like that'd just be yeah that that's with with with with D'Angelo on the on the vocals to be fair I think that's where I'd I think that's my sweet spot. I think that's that's my pocket that's I want to live in that pocket that that's oh oh yeah with that vocals that I'd just be and then inspirations then so obviously we've mentioned D'Angelo Quincy Jones your brother your dad music so you were you know finals going through ticking through what else got ya what else got you what like they're saying three moments with three tunes of your life three moments and three tunes of my life can be any I you've got a wedding day and a gorgeous wife as well do you know what I mean like I think the first one would have to be at the music box um no pun intended oh as we are in music box we are um studios right now here in Farrington but the music box in Manchester um which is no longer there sadly um was a gorgeous a gorgeous venue where Mr Mr Scruff used to do Wednesday night and um he used to have like he used to have tea ladies serving pot noodles and cups of tea sick amongst lots of other beautiful bits and bobs but it was the first time I'd ever been somewhere where there were there were like people in their sixties and people in the people who would like fake ID'd to get in there. Oh yeah and such a beautiful there was different communities there was Indian communities and Caribbean communities and there was the students and there was people there were there were married couples there who had binned off the kids for the night and get with the kids and um I think that's where I heard like my first in a series of you know like your 12 minute feel of coutie nugget he's gone for a way tunes on yeah yeah he's having the bag yeah so I think yeah I think it would probably have to be water nugget enemy for you know the big long version would be one of my favourite things and I used to go there on my own I used to go there on my own as like an 18 19 year old at uni because nobody else was like everyone was gonna go I'm gonna go and watch Vitalik or something like that. Yeah no just to Vitalic but you know I was like what else is out there and that was the first night that was the first night I went to where it was like right you can have Afrobeat you can have house you can have funk you can have disco you can have a a meandering kind of six minute orchestral piece you can play sunra orchestra on a dance floor you can Yeah you can you so I think when I first heard yeah Wasn't I get enemy by Philiputie that was like a that was a Bosch a Leah an enlightenment all my boss yeah yeah fine I'd have to say another one would have been probably in Leeds. Oh yeah we got the Leeds crew uh uh a club which is no longer there called Stinky's Peep House I'm upset that that's no longer uh that that'll be one of many incredible venues that are no longer a thing which is um unfortunately and out of nowhere the DJ just played Kick Out the Chairs by LCD Sound System and it was like it was so left field and that was another one where I was like you can go you can expect swap and you blindsided me there and that would have been yeah it would have been probably eight like 16 17 then jaw dropped you're like hold on a minute everyone's going what's he doing and I'm like this little genius this is incredible yeah yeah yeah you're like what like wow jaw dropped you're like in awe yeah yeah because I'm like you've just pulled off a madness that I didn't even think would even was even possible yeah um so I think I think those and then just watching my brother DJ my brother John O who's been my biggest inspiration um he can he can just whip out he can whip out some noodles man booking him all right fine book him in book him he's a great chat as well no I want I want to book you for a back to back vinyl set as well are we gonna celebrate each other back to back you turn around I turn round and then we somehow try and throw some vinyls at each other and then get told off probably by bare window for breaking vinyls.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

In that sounds like a good Friday night to me like where do I sign up? So okay what tracks so let's say you've got a set next week of you play with dinos but say you've just been booked.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Yeah what's in your what are you playing at the moment what's like what's your go to what's on the rotation the rotation um so yeah there's a couple of artists I've been getting deep into at the moment I'm a massive fan of what the brighter days family are putting out my god their music is like it's a bit tasty in it yeah like jaw dropping is tasty it's gorgeous so um yeah yeah um and it's it's it's kind of s like ubiquitously good they don't put out any knackers do they no just it doesn't feel like they're even like they don't have to try they just they just get in the room and just just bounce off each other and it just works and they hit record. Well they've got they've got family in their name so it obviously comes from the roots man they're like bro they go way back.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Yeah and you and you can tell and you can tell I guess on the back of that Rico who is Rico yeah I listen to him on rinse every week I think pretty much pretty much yeah yeah loving what he does but a lovely subversion of of MC in yeah it's effortless poetry almost feels like he's like just he's not he's not talking about rims and and shankins he's talking about love and and life yeah it's beautiful no he's he's he is actually the nuts Charles Rico and Briday's family I haven't yet to see him live though yet yet it's alright it'll happen um also uh a great artist from Cambridge called Delian Sound Delian Sound Delian Sound okay goes into this it's it's got its roots in dubstep but it has um it just it just transgresses into gorgeous drum bass into bass music into jungle yeah and then whips it back and there's so many the production on it is just like yeah it's it's jaw dropping so Delian sound from Cambridge check him out Cambridge when they when they when someone pulls it back and they're oh my god oh god it it it is music is just so cool in it music is so cool I'm so grateful and so and someone would rather be deaf or blind blind wouldn't you I'm already nearly there anyway I'm already nearly blind anyway I you can't I need to hear things yeah I am over here actually you've just been talking to the you've been talking to that suitcase for a while well that's the thing it looks similar to your similar skin tones you know what can I do what's leathery leathery leathery is that DFS it's like no I'm not gonna be mean I was gonna say the Gran from Benador and like DFS sofa vibes but you're not that I've never been con you're not that compared to a gran or or a leather sofa but I'll take it. When you're in your 70s that is when because hopefully you'll be residing in a nice warmer climate and you'll really just it'll just the town will just get you. I'm gonna go for it yeah yeah it'll be you'd look great at 70 alright so let's talk about let's talk about the climate that we are losing venues yeah and um with so many grassroots venues closing across the UK rising costs affecting nightlife blah blah blah blah blah how do you feel about the current state of it all not good no yeah I couldn't imagine feeling like all good about it's not um it's not again it's a it's a triple edge wanger this one it's not all bad but like if we're looking at it from a bird's eye view yeah it's not it's not ideal.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

No it's not um you know you can no longer you can't go out with 20 quid in your back burner anymore and get in for three quid five quid have a couple of beers and hit the bus home um unfortunately um yeah it costs so much money to do the thing it does that that these days you you can't you can't get a a a a call out of leftfield and go are you coming out? Do you want to go on this It has to be thought out planned. Put it into the budget for the week you know people are trying really hard people are trying really hard um I went to I went to Phonox last week. Did ya nice which was um which was actually really it was great. It was great gorgeous it was great and it was affordable ish but affordable ish affordable yeah okay um and that was you know and that was great and and again there was quite a nice little spread bet of um of people in the crowd and the the smoking area was pumping and people were talking to each other and it was very nice and it was like that is that's good and positive. 100% but there's so many there's so many places that have closed down yeah so many graveyards so many graveyards of um of of I d I was thinking about the other day did you ever go at passing clouds in Dawson? I don't think I did no no I don't I don't think I did no that was such a gorgeous venue for all things all things fruity and left field and and magical um and I passed it by the other day and I I I I had I had reverse frisson. Oh no you want that yeah but yeah I had a small a small little morning there um so reverse frisson sounds like a Pokemon channel so yeah it's hard it's hard but then again like you know the rise of UKG at the moment come on is is popping.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

It is popping it is popping this speed garage nation well just garage yeah UKG is it's it's slapping it's slapping it really is slapping as well with like South London jazz oh my goodness Let's talk Ezra Collective yeah I have just literally recorded a radio show this morning and I think I played maybe eight nine of their tracks yeah like it just jazz house is everything. Yeah jazz is the foundations the Montreux jazz festival is on the bucket list yeah because once again you think Vonox is not a cheap night out I think I have to sell one of my kidneys to go to that gorgeous festival because of the location that it is in of course you know but um but yeah I think um like scene wise I don't know I don't know how I I don't know how it would get better.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

I think I maybe the government needs to do a little uh go a little French where they prioritize the arts and they give um the bursaries and levies to artists and make that a priority instead of I don't know jizzing all the money in certain different ways. Well that's it isn't it um but that sounds like an extremely left um epoxy left wing statement but also you know support the people I I know that the industry brings in billions so you know if it brings in billions and that's more in tax and you know then everyone's a winner.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Well look you've got the Premier League football teams they have their grass fruits and they're putting money into the eight year old kids and all that because if they don't have that they won't have the next Stephen Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. So you know the same premise with the football applies to music people have got to put it's tricky and I think that should be filtered down into education as well.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

100% um you know not just not just um I don't know finance and AI will make you money and that life is more than that. So much more than that.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

But then then we're going into philosophy class aren't we are yeah yeah yeah what is life really about but let's talk about um life outside music as much as I mean I don't even think my life exists outside of music it just is but what else are you up to? What else are you you know you mentioned you were on set with your lovely wife yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

I was you were filming a little sum in summit so let's talk about well yeah life outside of music life outside of music for me is um I kind of see I kind of see music and storytelling and film in very much the same I don't know the same sphere. Two become one that's Bascales three become three you know three become five become five exactly yeah good bad um so so yeah so I I I I uh I write in direct so I'm just doing a feature film at the moment. I've been out in the out in the States filming in um in Nashville and uh yeah we're doing the the kind of a London the London scenes or which are meant to be in Nashville so we're in a basement yesterday. Um but like in j in general what I do outside of music I'm also yeah I would I would say I would say writing I like to I like to have a really good stare. I live I live by the sea.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

So I like to have a really good stare but I also like to note down what uh what's going on who's passing by um and try and transport myself into people watching what other people are doing how they're feeling um I live in a bit of a daydream I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lie Jay preaching to the choir yeah you know our wonderful friend Kate our mate Kate she said to me a couple of years ago she went do you write things down and I was like what do you mean by that and she went well you do so much crazy shit you know as a compliment she meant that she went but you just she went you're everywhere Jay she went do you write things down and that has resonated with me.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

I think about her saying that to me every day since she did that and I was like holy shit she's right do you want to write things that you yeah I do I try my hardest now I'm so bad at taking photos there are like periods in my 20s and 30s where there's just no documentation of what I've been doing but I do have about 20 or 30 journals of what I've been doing.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Yeah and I do it that that is it there's no I mean photos obviously are everything and they capture everything but like you're in a force that I mean you forget we forget what we've just put down in that sheet come back to six months later six months later you're like wow and then instantly you're like back in that moment like you're writing that page again. Yeah and shout out to our mate gay I love ya and just that yeah that is such a oh my god write things down write down the argument you just had with your mum write it down because and not even not even to keep it no write it down get it out it's like a s a slow form way of just kind of essentially Victorian bleeding out uh that the doctor would do and it just gets all about it. Yeah that take ages isn't it especially Victorian doctors they thought they were helping they were just putting leeches on everything you'll be alright.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

But yeah write it down or throw it away if it's important or if it's not because artism is get getting it out.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Yeah and yeah it's it's such a it's just it's just good for your brain isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Yeah it's really good for your brain. Yeah I g I guess to sum up your uh your point I yeah so I'm either um writing directing acting which I do um or uh I'm also a s I'm also a celebrant so I I did you I Ino well I officially but unofficially marry people.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

So I kind of like um I'm laughing at you I'm just laughing because I'm already ordained as well so I can't be bothered. You ordained ordained yeah Universal Life Church baby. Yes ma'am got a document and that I did it as a joke and then I actually ended up marrying someone so what could you the somewhere when you commit to the bit sometimes it gets it that's I think if we take any any listeners take anything away from today commit to the bit commit to the bit and just go in you've got nothing else to lose that's it I um I yeah commit to the bit always so life as I had in music what I want to know is what would you say now to your 18 year old self If you was like hey listen come here I've got a bit of advice for you and that if I could say anything to my 18 year old self I would say I would say take yourself take yourself off to the other side of the world don't worry about making money for at least two years travel around and be and have a tiny bag on your back.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

Yeah just go see go do experience yeah there's so many years in my life and not in not in a regretful way but there's so many years in my life that I was hustling and struggling that I feel could have been used living.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

Yeah you that energy wasn't wasted because in the moment it was relevant to what you were doing. Absolutely but you're like oh yeah probably should have put a bag on my back and done a little run and just gone and looked at some walls that are old.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

I didn't make a I I didn't make a penny for eight years, nine just just treading water, spending it, getting it in, spending it in the same few places when um I think that going going out and you know exploring exploring the world and meeting all those people um would have would have been would have uh would have been a different path. A hundred percent would have been a different path. Yes. Um I'd have also loved to have gone vinyl shopping around uh around uh America. Oh my goodness I should have I I I'm not saying I should have I still can. You will. And I will.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

When you go shopping for vinyls in the US, but also like Japan, I wanna go that Japan, South America.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

Yeah, yeah. Um that. I yeah. Spend less money on on booze and spend it on records.

SPEAKER_01 44:17

Spend on records. And that's okay, because you can you're like, oh I don't even I do I am partial to a Guinness.

SPEAKER_00 44:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:23

But other than that, I'm like, yeah, well but also we are we only learns we only learn until we're like okay actually.

SPEAKER_00 44:30

That's it. But the question was what would you tell yourself? What would you tell? With with until you're 18 year old self.

SPEAKER_01 44:36

Spend that money on records not tequila.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

Spend it on records not tequila and um and look after yourself and also look after yourself. Don't worry if you mess it up please fail. Please fail and fail and fail. Keep failing because it's all good. All experiences eventually are good experiences. 100%. Even if you lose your wallet you'll get a new one. Something about that will teach you something or you might uh you might find the kindness of strangers who get you back to your house um a beautiful thing. And that could be your future wife you didn't even know about it. Beautiful wife or or a or the beginning of a stalking. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 45:14

You know potato tomato whatever it's all fun is it's all fun in games until then won't leave you alone you're like please and then you have to call the police but if that ever happens please make sure if you are listening you talk contact the right channels to get that dealt with. Yes. But okay well Ben honestly we could we could gas for hours and hours and hours I know that but that's why we have questions to give us some guidance to structure so we don't chat about everything because we could chat about everything.

SPEAKER_00 45:43

And why there are no child pigeons out there. Well where are they?

SPEAKER_01 45:48

They're somewhere they're somewhere they're somewhere and they probably are all reporting back to the government.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

Alright we'll get to that later Ben thank you so much for coming on you're so welcome Jason have a gorgeous rest of your day I will and we will no doubt talk soon.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

Alright everyone be kind to yourselves look after yourselves kind for real love yourselves love yourselves and if you're having a bad day it's okay but get it off your chest in whatever capacity writing it down dancing it out talking to your mum call somebody call someone talk it out man it's the best way it's never that bad even if it feels like the world is ending and if you don't have someone to talk to there are people that you can call there are contacts you can drop for your mind a DM and I will chew your ears off and you'll be like God I wish I'd never rang her then you'll have to ring the police again leave me alone is happening again like sorry it's been an absolute pleasure Jake thank you thank you for coming on and this is important it's important to talk and be real that's what we're here to do.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Big up for your mind.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

And that brings us to the end of today's episode of Disco Brain Talks. Thank you for tuning in and taking the time for yourself to listen, reflect and connect through music and mind. Big love to Ben and MusicBox radio team David I love ya big love to all the people involved with today's episode if something in this conversation resonated with you feel free to share it with someone who might need it too and don't forget to follow the podcast so you never miss a moment. I've been your host JDC and this is Disco Brain Talks where music meets mindfulness.