Name: Don't Be Afraid
Vibe: Most DBA releases oscillate between retro verging-on-cheesiness and avant-garde weirdness.
Founded: 2010
Location: London
Claim to fame: EPs from the likes of Mr. Beatnick, MGUN, and Neville Watson put DBA on the map.
Upcoming releases: Yesterday, Semtek announced the imminent arrival of The Tutonic EP from prolific tech house legend Mr. G, who once remixed one of Semtek's early tunes.
By the numbers: There have been 15 DBA records, two releases on both the Special Editions and DBA Dubs sub-labels, and four volumes of the Spargel Trax compilations.
Artists to watch: Get involved with MGUN.What's the deal?
In 2008, Benji Semtek disappeared into the Alps. He returned from the mountains with a fresh batch of tunes, and soon set up his own means to distribute his work to the public: a record label called Don't Be Afraid. It's a fitting title for an outpost that charges into the most unmixable depths of left-field house as eagerly as it approaches the corniest elements of disco. Although the first four releases came from Semtek himself, he soon ventured into the business of putting out other peoples' tracks, and over the years he's built up a roster that includes NTS radio host Mr. Beatnick, mysterious US talent Disco Nihilist, and Detroit experimentalist MGUN. Last year, DBA rolled out a special editions imprint devoted to more straightforward dance cuts.Tell me about the first gig you ever played.
Benji Semtek: The first gig I ever did was in a club called Gossips, which was in SoHo in London. Now, Gossips was originally quite an important spot for acid house and acid techno in the late 80s and early 90s. It was the place where you'd hear acid house without actually going to a massive rave in the countryside or without going to an Orbital rave or something. At the time, I think I was 15, and it just so happened that some of our friends lived in the building above the club, and as a favor to them—obviously, the club owners knew that we were all underage, but they let them have a party every now and again, and they wouldn't ask anyone any questions about how old they were.What year was this?
'96.How many people were there?
Probably about 150.Alright, not bad. Does that mean the club was at capacity?
Yeah, I mean, here's the thing: In those days, you did have places in SoHo which were just clubs that had a license till three or four in the morning, where they'd have a sound system. I guess, because it was '96, and because of the massive explosive of dance music in the late 80s and early 90s, everyone was trying to cash in on this idea of bringing what started in warehouses and in fields and stuff into a club space. The problem always was that, if you're in the countryside, you can get away with anything, but the London authorities cracked down because club music is associated with drugs and so on.Back then, there were a lot more opportunities for smaller DJs, because it was a booming economy in the 90s. People were out every night of the week. The biggest nights of the week in the music industry, throughout the 90s, were Thursdays and Sundays, because no one gave a fuck whether you went into work on a Friday or a Monday. There was a Thursday night thing that was a bit more for the heads, but it doesn't really exist anymore, because now people have to work hard to justify their place. If you work for an independent record label, you've got to pull your weight—you've got to be there at 9 o'clock on Friday morning to justify your job. Everyone wants to work in this business, but there's no money, so you can't be slacking.In many ways, it's a good thing. It's led to a massive belt-tightenting. But in the 90s it was a bit different because there was so much more money around. You could make much bigger margins on recorded music, and it was very easy to stick a house or techno record out, which might today sell 200-300 copies, which back then would have sold 3,000, 4,000, 5000—even more maybe. It was just a different age, and I was really lucky to have started DJing at that point, because there were more slots for people who played records, and it wasn't so—you didn't have a lot of competition from people who weren't that into it and were just playing on their computer, because there wasn't any software or anything. Either you were into it and you bought records to play, or you didn't. There was no in between like there is now.Connect with Don't Be Afraid on Soundcloud
Connect with Ben Semtek on Soundcloud
Vibe: Most DBA releases oscillate between retro verging-on-cheesiness and avant-garde weirdness.
Founded: 2010
Location: London
Claim to fame: EPs from the likes of Mr. Beatnick, MGUN, and Neville Watson put DBA on the map.
Upcoming releases: Yesterday, Semtek announced the imminent arrival of The Tutonic EP from prolific tech house legend Mr. G, who once remixed one of Semtek's early tunes.
By the numbers: There have been 15 DBA records, two releases on both the Special Editions and DBA Dubs sub-labels, and four volumes of the Spargel Trax compilations.
Artists to watch: Get involved with MGUN.
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In 2008, Benji Semtek disappeared into the Alps. He returned from the mountains with a fresh batch of tunes, and soon set up his own means to distribute his work to the public: a record label called Don't Be Afraid. It's a fitting title for an outpost that charges into the most unmixable depths of left-field house as eagerly as it approaches the corniest elements of disco. Although the first four releases came from Semtek himself, he soon ventured into the business of putting out other peoples' tracks, and over the years he's built up a roster that includes NTS radio host Mr. Beatnick, mysterious US talent Disco Nihilist, and Detroit experimentalist MGUN. Last year, DBA rolled out a special editions imprint devoted to more straightforward dance cuts.Tell me about the first gig you ever played.
Benji Semtek: The first gig I ever did was in a club called Gossips, which was in SoHo in London. Now, Gossips was originally quite an important spot for acid house and acid techno in the late 80s and early 90s. It was the place where you'd hear acid house without actually going to a massive rave in the countryside or without going to an Orbital rave or something. At the time, I think I was 15, and it just so happened that some of our friends lived in the building above the club, and as a favor to them—obviously, the club owners knew that we were all underage, but they let them have a party every now and again, and they wouldn't ask anyone any questions about how old they were.
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'96.How many people were there?
Probably about 150.Alright, not bad. Does that mean the club was at capacity?
Yeah, I mean, here's the thing: In those days, you did have places in SoHo which were just clubs that had a license till three or four in the morning, where they'd have a sound system. I guess, because it was '96, and because of the massive explosive of dance music in the late 80s and early 90s, everyone was trying to cash in on this idea of bringing what started in warehouses and in fields and stuff into a club space. The problem always was that, if you're in the countryside, you can get away with anything, but the London authorities cracked down because club music is associated with drugs and so on.Back then, there were a lot more opportunities for smaller DJs, because it was a booming economy in the 90s. People were out every night of the week. The biggest nights of the week in the music industry, throughout the 90s, were Thursdays and Sundays, because no one gave a fuck whether you went into work on a Friday or a Monday. There was a Thursday night thing that was a bit more for the heads, but it doesn't really exist anymore, because now people have to work hard to justify their place. If you work for an independent record label, you've got to pull your weight—you've got to be there at 9 o'clock on Friday morning to justify your job. Everyone wants to work in this business, but there's no money, so you can't be slacking.In many ways, it's a good thing. It's led to a massive belt-tightenting. But in the 90s it was a bit different because there was so much more money around. You could make much bigger margins on recorded music, and it was very easy to stick a house or techno record out, which might today sell 200-300 copies, which back then would have sold 3,000, 4,000, 5000—even more maybe. It was just a different age, and I was really lucky to have started DJing at that point, because there were more slots for people who played records, and it wasn't so—you didn't have a lot of competition from people who weren't that into it and were just playing on their computer, because there wasn't any software or anything. Either you were into it and you bought records to play, or you didn't. There was no in between like there is now.Connect with Don't Be Afraid on Soundcloud
Connect with Ben Semtek on Soundcloud