PREVIEW: 4 Years Of Mount Heart Attack W/ Ben La Desh & MermaidS

Over the last four years Mount Heart Attack have proved exceptionally good at staying on point. Pushing trends aside and focusing on the producers and DJs who take things that little bit further, they’ve been responsible for some of Glasgow’s biggest debut performances, showcasing the type of artist who is willing to take risks, but will always bring it back to the dancefloor. Regardless of genre, they have always strived to bring that element of surprise to their parties, making their events more about forward-thinking club music on the whole as apposed to jumping on what’s hot or sticking specifically to one style or direction. From Addison Groove to Mele, Tiger & Woods to Cosmin TRG, there have been many memorable moments since their first night in 2008, and this Friday they plan on celebrating.

Although it's been some time since the last proper MHA event, things have been far from quiet. Promoter and resident Ryan Smith embarked on a fresh musical journey this year as part of the seductive MemaidS, recently releasing a debut EP on their own label and gaining support in all the right places. Channelling a deep, sexy groove and enough funk to derail the Soul Train, you can expect a perfect warm up to this weekend’s headliner, Ben La Desh.

Based in Rotterdam, Ben has only just started releasing music but is already turning some influential heads. Fusing a subtly emotive mix of sleek, rhythmic house and dark, mesmerising disco, his sound is delivered through some impeccable production skills which have seen him feature on labels such as Outernational and Sleazy Beats. Growing up in Africa and name checking Glasgow natives, The Revenge and OOFT! as substantial influences, its perhaps easy to see why Mount Heart Attack have  selected him to represent at their fourth birthday, choosing once again to promote new and exciting over safe and predictable…

Check out some of Ben's music below as well as a recent interview ahead of this Friday's party:





Ben La Desh - Stop That Groove Girl EP - (Sleazy Beats Black Ops Vol. 1) by Ben La Desh

Synth: Ok, so let’s start with a bit of background, we’re always intrigued to find out how producers got into electronic music – was there anyone in particular who you’d site as major influences (musically or otherwise) growing up?

Ben: Major influences, that’s a tricky one. There are so many artists, tracks, albums, synths, drugs, people, women, and things in life that influenced me. I just love music!! Besides that I grew up in Africa so I really like all kinds of African beats, great stuff to sample!

Synth: Obviously at some stage you decided to start producing, did that stem from DJing or was it always something you had an interest in? How difficult did you find it first getting noticed?

Ben: As a child I lived near a park, what I remember is that I played music really loud in my room and opened the windows, hoping the people in the park would enjoy the music I was playing, not sure if they did though :) Let’s say some premature DJ action.

As a teenager I had a computer, some software and a keyboard, all really shitty, but that’s how it started, DJ’ing came after that. Getting noticed was a different story. I worked on my music for years, but only decided around 2 years ago to send my music to people and put it online. After that my tracks got picked up by labels. The Sleazy Beats Black Ops release went really well and caught some quite good attention.

Synth: Your sound is deep, grooving and almost techy in places, how would you personally describe it and what influenced its direction? Is house something you’ve always been passionate about?

Ben: Describe my sound? That’s pretty hard, I always find my tracks deep, moody and sounding a bit weird, so let’s call it the Ben La Desh sound. I have been all over the place when talking about influences and genres, I like house, but I do like other deeper genres as well. I must say early OOFT! & The Revenge bits made a huge impact on me.


Ben La Desh: smooth

Synth: You’re based in Rotterdam at the moment, what’s the scene like there? Obviously Amsterdam has some great clubs and of course the ADE event, does that rub off around the country?

Ben: Well we have got some really good DJs and producers living in Rotterdam. Alden Tyrell, Mark Du Mosch, The Please, David Vunk, Gerd, Taras van de Voorde, Last Mood to name a few. Besides that the mighty Clone Distribution is based in Rotterdam, so that’s quite cool.

Looking at club nights it’s more a matter of taste. There are loads of events that represent Tech-House, Techno, Dubstep, Drum&Bass, Dutch House and so on. Deeper types of House and Disco nights are kinda hard to find in Rotterdam, personally I don’t go out that much, which is good as it keeps me in the studio. Not really sure about the rest of the country, there is a lot going on, but it has been a while that I went to another city to go out.

Synth: You’ll be playing Mount Heart  Attack’s 4^th birthday this weekend in Glasgow, how can we expect a Ben La Desh set to take shape? And if you had to name one tune (other than your own) which is really doing it for you right now what would it be?

Ben: I would call it deep and moody; the tempo and progression of the set really depends on what kind of night it is. And I’ll play some brand new material of my own. I recently discovered this tune: Christian Vance ‘Pandanus’… what a track! Deep, dark and moody!



Synth: Finally, you’re recent releases have been attracting a lot of hype with support coming in from OOFT!, Lewie Day and Cottam, what else have you got coming up in 2012 that we should be looking forward too?

Ben: Here’s a couple of forthcoming releases:

David Vunk & Ben La Desh – Turner / Deep Valley (Moustache Records) – October 2012
Ben La Desh – Midnight Rendez-Vous EP (Dirt Crew Recordings) – November 2012
Ben La Desh & Plan d’Aqua – Crackstate #1 (ISM Records) - November 2012

I’m currently working on a new Sleazy Beats Black Ops EP and a remix for a really great American label, more info soon.

Ben La Desh 'Where Is The Favor' is out now on Dirt Crew Recordings

WHAT: Mount Heart Attack's 4th Birthday 
WHO: Ben La Desh, MermaidS, Cutter's Choice
WHERE: The Berkeley Suite, 237 North Street, G3 7DL, Glasgow
WHEN: Fri 5th Oct // 11-3am
TAX: £3 OTD
VISUALS: Joe Crogan
FACEBOOK EVENT: http://www.facebook.com/events/429064527129301/

Mount Heart Attack on Facebook
Ben La Desh on Soundcloud
Ben La Desh on Facebook
MermaidS on Soundcloud
The Berkeley Suite on Facebook