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Benjamin aka BENCH MC born 1981 in Vienna, found the best foundation (basement) in his family. His mother, coming from England, was into dancing and music her whole life, so Bench had always music, rhythm and beats around him. Being a folkdance teacher his mother listens to a lot of Greek, Armenian, Bulgarian, Russian music and so on. So that´s where it all started for Bench. At the age of 10 he started to play drums and tried a few different other instruments but after 4 years he noticed... Read more
Benjamin aka BENCH MC born 1981 in Vienna, found the best foundation (basement) in his family. His mother, coming from England, was into dancing and music her whole life, so Bench had always music, rhythm and beats around him. Being a folkdance teacher his mother listens to a lot of Greek, Armenian, Bulgarian, Russian music and so on. So that´s where it all started for Bench. At the age of 10 he started to play drums and tried a few different other instruments but after 4 years he noticed that he was more into eletronic music and beats. Hip Hop and dancehall were what gave him goose pimples at that time. At 16 he started to go out to the local Drum and Bass and Jungel events and really fell in love with the whole raving thing. That was 1997.
´99 was then the year when it all become more serious. More events popped up, local crews tried to find their way into promoting events and more people were to come to the raves.
In summer ´99 a friend of Bench promoted a little event where a mic was just lying around, so Bench grabbed it and the rest is history as we say !
From there on everything went fast. A few weeks later he became resident mc for the local crew/camp called Reload that was the first drum and bass crew above trife life in Vienna.
In 2000 Reload had a weekly Thursday night and one big event once a month at the infamous Club “Cave”. Bench hosted all of those nights and his reputation grew incredibly fast.
Within the next two years he played at every major event in Austria. From Vienna to Innsbruck. Benjamin saw all the clubs and promoters but for him it seemed like the end of the road. So he packed his things and moved to London.
Staying there for one year, seeing all the clubs, parties and raves he was more than motivated when he came back to Austria. So he took his mcing a step further.
Apart from that the situation in Austria had changed and new opportunities had risen. A new club had opened in his home town and a new camp was founded. Bench became the resident MC for UAF ( Urban Art Forms) and got the opportunity to play at the UAF- Festival 05 as the only Austrian Mc!
Bench: “ The UAF festival was the moment when I noticed that I had made it. Before that I had always seen myself as just good enough for Austria and the few shows I did abroad. But when I was on the stage at the festival in front of that huge crowd screaming at me all my doubts were gone ! “
Being on stage for more than six years he has developed into a real crowdpusher. He´s more into hosting and moderating than too much rhyming and chatting. His strong and clear voice gives him the ability to take the parties, shows, raves to different levels. Being strictly a Drum and Bass MC he knows the rules and sees himself as a part of the sound, the set and show!
Bench: “ I see it like a circle. Everything works together. You have got the dj, the mc, the music and the crowd. They all complement each other!! I just like to talk with the crowd, and spread a certain feeling or emotion. Just create a special vibe. I think as a mc you can bring in that certain something. You can direct the crowd, the music, the vibe in different directions. You can bring out the best of the tune, the ravers, even the dj and yourself. But most important is still the crowd. It´s all about them and I´m just a part of that that tries to spread good feeling!“
So that´s why you will hear “ It´s not about the dj, it´s not about the mc, it´s all about you !! (ravers) “quiet often. Show less
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