It is an absolute pleasure to welcome Ben Holtam aka BenG back for a highly anticipated hot mix. Ben has filled this episode with funky disco tracks that are scoring highly in his playlists.
Hi Ben, great to have you back for another podcast mix. Please introduce yourself to those unfamiliar with your DJ life.
My DJ style tends to be on the soulful, funky & disco side of house. I grew up listening to hip hop & began to “dig into the crates” to discover where my favourite artists found their samples. From this, I got more into funk, soul & disco & that’s where my love affair began with this kind of music.
I DJ part time, just for fun & try to put out a “mini mix” each week which tends to consist of whatever is floating my boat from what lands in my inbox or I discover online. As mentioned before, I do edge towards the funkier tracks & the style can be anything from nu-disco to something a little more jackin’ or even from the odd disco re-edit from time to time.
Talk us through how you filled your time during the lockdown.
Mostly it was spent out walking & keeping fit mixed with watching pretty much every boxset on the various streaming platforms.
Sadly, I was made redundant in October as my position at the company was no longer required (damn stupid Covid plague!). So now I am finding work where I can to keep the bills being paid. Music is a great way to switch off from the stresses so I am ever grateful to have that in my life.
What's planned for 2021?
Who knows? Let’s keep positive & wait & see.
Describe your DJ style.
My DJ style tends to be on the soulful, funky & disco side of house. I grew up listening to hip hop & began to “dig into the crates” to discover where my favourite artists found their samples. From this, I got more into funk, soul & disco & that’s where my love affair began with this kind of music.
Talk us through your podcast mix track selection.
When I began planning this mix, I wanted to go full on disco. It began that way, not as full on as I fancied but still...plenty of disco vibes. However, the more this mix went on, the funkier it got before returning to those modern disco tracks.
Usually for these occasions, i.e. a guest mix, I like to bring out the very latest tunes but this mix features a few from a while back too, anything that fits the overall feel.
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