Miami Horror on the Art of Curation: Building Temporary Pleasures

Benjamin Plant has been thinking about impermanence lately. After nearly two decades building Miami Horror into a festival mainstay, performing everywhere from Coachella to Governors Ball, he's launching something new. Temporary Pleasures is a record label focused on modern disco, French house, funk, and R&B. The name says everything about Plant's philosophy: those flashes of joy on a dancefloor matter precisely because they don't last.

The label's first release arrives October 17th from TOGETHERNESS, Plant's club-focused alter ego. "Hard 2 Forget U" is sample-driven house music stripped down to its essence. No fluff, just carefully curated loops and infectious grooves. It's the kind of track that locks you in and doesn't let go.

This launch comes at an interesting moment. Plant just finished "We Always Had Tomorrow," Miami Horror's third album and first release after a nine-year gap. Now he's building infrastructure to support other artists while exploring sounds that have obsessed him since childhood.

We caught up with Plant to discuss why now felt like the right time to start a label, how impermanence shapes his curation philosophy, and what success actually means when you're building a community around temporary pleasures.

Why did now feel like the right time to start a label?
Plant is direct about the timing. He just wrapped Miami Horror's third album, a massive undertaking that took years. "I feel like now's the right time, having just finished that huge task," he says. "The goal with the label is to create a home for our alter egos and side projects, and to build a community around that world of house, disco, and funk/R&B."

Why launch with TOGETHERNESS instead of signing outside artists first?
Starting with TOGETHERNESS might seem counterintuitive. Most labels want to establish credibility by breaking new talent first. Plant sees it differently. "Togetherness is kind of the heart of the whole thing," he explains. "It's something we've wanted to do for years, and it just made sense to launch it ourselves since we already had such a clear vision. The whole idea is about flexibility and having the freedom to move at our own pace."

Where does this vision come from?
That vision comes from decades of experience. Plant grew up obsessed with Daft Punk, spending years digging through disco records, drawn to their color and panache. Other musical priorities took over for a while. Miami Horror became his focus. But that passion for sampling never disappeared. He kept leaving hints of disco in Miami Horror releases, waiting for the right moment to fully explore it.

"It's the genre we know best," Plant says when asked about his A&R approach. "We've lived and breathed it for nearly twenty years. Within those loose boundaries, there's actually a lot of range. We love everything from slow, dreamy nu disco to colorful sample house, funk, and soul. It's music that just feels right."

What does the label name mean to you?
The label name carries weight. Temporary Pleasures isn't just clever branding. It reflects how Plant thinks about dance music and life. "Honestly I love the name for so many reasons," he says. "It's a reminder that impermanence is part of what makes art and life special. It's also a nod to the hedonistic side of dance music, the freedom and liberty to temporarily experience that pleasure freely."

How did this philosophy develop?
The concept crystallized during a period when Plant wasn't going out much. Distance gave him perspective. "I started noticing how all these pleasures we chase are temporary. We live for those flashes, even though the chase never really ends. I also felt like dance music echoes that in some ways. Dance tracks are like bursts of magic that have their time in the spotlight."

How does this philosophy shape the label’s approach?
That philosophy informs everything about the label. Temporary Pleasures will release music, but Plant also plans to host events called "Pleasure Center" and curate mixtapes showcasing similar sounds. The approach feels intentionally old school. "For us it's about doubling down on the sound and building a proper community around it," Plant explains. "A lot of artists in this space feel scattered, so we want to bring that energy together: people who share the same spirit and taste."

How central is sampling to the TOGETHERNESS sound?
Sampling sits at the center of the TOGETHERNESS sound and the broader label aesthetic. In 2025, the practice looks different than it did when Daft Punk built their career. Technology changed everything. "There's so much more music online now that we'd never have found back in the day, thanks to YouTubers digging up lost and rare records," Plant says. "We often discover gems that way, though we still like to track down the vinyl for sampling when we can."

What are the most important filters when listening to demos?
That combination of old and new methods shapes his curation decisions. Plant understands the technical side of production. He knows what makes a track work on a dancefloor. But those aren't the primary filters when he's listening to demos. "It's the emotional impact," he says. "The way a track can lift and suspend you. Dancefloor functionality comes next, though many of our releases aren't strictly made for the club. There's crossover with music that simply fits 'the good times' in our lives. We steer away from anything that feels generic. We want that magic, color, and expression that disco and sampling bring."

How do the Pleasure Center events tie into the label?
The Pleasure Center events aren't an afterthought, whereas he sees a direct relationship between what happens on a dancefloor and what the label releases. "Again, it's about doubling down on that sound: the euphoria and sense of freedom that disco and house music bring," Plant says. "The events and releases feed into each other. They both come from the same place. What happens on the dancefloor often reaffirms what we want to put out as a label, that shared moment of release and connection. It's all part of the same energy."

Do past major label experiences influence Temporary Pleasures?
This thinking comes from experience. Plant spent years in the major label system with Miami Horror. He learned what works and what doesn't. But interestingly, those lessons aren't shaping Temporary Pleasures the way you might expect. "In all honesty it doesn't really influence it," he admits. "We had a good experience with majors but it was a long time ago. Now it's really about using our experience and taste to put the art first, before the 'label' or financial side of things."

What does success look like for Temporary Pleasures?
When you ask Plant what success looks like, he doesn't talk about streaming numbers or roster size. His answer is simpler and somehow more ambitious. "I'm not kidding when I say it's about putting out the music that makes you feel something and in the long run, putting enough of it out that we can build some kind of scene and community," he says. "That will be our idea of success. Shared memories made up of temporary pleasures."

It's a fitting way to think about things from someone who's spent the last year reflecting on impermanence. Plant built Miami Horror into something lasting. Now he's creating a space dedicated to moments that don't last, to the flashes of joy that make life worth living. TOGETHERNESS' debut single "Hard 2 Forget U" arrives October 17th via Temporary Pleasures. It's the first of many temporary pleasures to come.