Ben Sims

London, UK

Techno with its funk, groove and electronic-fused origins intact — three to five decks running near-constantly, hands and faders a blur as tunes overlap into a dense, quickly evolving collage. Schooled on hip hop, reggae, soul, house and rave in the 80s, he helped define British dance music in the 90s and has spent the twenty-five years since championing new producers. Over fifty original productions and countless remixes have gone out through Tresor, Drumcode, Mote Evolver, Token, CLR and Mosaic — and, uniquely for a UK artist, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood and Kevin Saunderson have all called on him for remixes. The labels Theory, Hardgroove and Symbolism, the Machine night co-founded with Kirk Degiorgio, and the Run It Red show on NTS all serve the same search for the next great record.