Ben Pierre Explains His Sound in 50 Tracks

A while ago, we behind the editorial desk at Magazine Magazine asked Ben Pierre to put together a “Sound of” chart because a standard list of current club records would explain only one part of what he does and it’s something I wanted to dig in a bit more into after a few successful remixes he did for the label. His 50 selections include progressive and organic house alongside ambient music and electronica, with Enamour, Spencer Brown, Budakid, Nox Vahn as Fairchild, and Simon Vuarambon appearing across the list. 

Some suit a day show or the busiest point of the night, while others remain important because of the period or performance attached to them.

What really caught my attention is how specific those memories become once Ben starts unpacking the list. Kozua’s “Venice Beach” is connected to his first large main-room performance at Electric Brixton, while Eko Centrik’s “Half Light Island (Jamie Stevens Mix)” takes him back to a midnight set at Transformator in Wroclaw. Budakid’s “Silent Summer” has a separate connection to the lockdown period, and that same attention to place appears in Ben’s productions, where field recordings and recreated natural ambience often provide the starting material. 

The chart explains what Ben selects and how he writes, and our short discussion with him shows why certain records have remained with him.

The chart is now out there, but what is the ‘Sound of Ben Pierre’ and how would you define your sound?

Overall, I would say it’s more melodic and atmospheric, but also music that you can both dance and chill to. The style itself has come about through producing a variety of genres such as ambient, house, trance and cinematic under previous aliases - I dabble between those styles with my current release output, striving to ensure that each production is a unique experience. 

The tracks are inspired by moments in time which drove me to put pen to paper but ultimately, I’d like to think it’s music from the soul.

What are your key inspirations for the typical ‘Ben Pierre’ release and how do you combat a creative block?

There’s a saying that I often tell myself and that is: ‘Inspiration doesn’t always grow on trees, but sometimes you have to go back to the woods to find it’. Being out in nature is a big source of inspiration for my works, a form of grounding where all the noise and rush of daily life drifts away and the mind clears, opening up to new ideas. It’s both my inspiration and method of combatting the creative block. Sometimes it’s the sheer beauty of the place, sometimes just the serenity, or even the distant song of a cuckoo bird that inspires. 

Within many of my productions, I like to replicate the atmosphere and ambience of these places that inspired them to use as a basis to build from, the natural ambiences you hear are field recordings and recreations of that particular place.

To further combat the creative block, I also love to experiment writing different genres, from ambient to breaks and trance. Just the switch-up to a different genre allows for different writing techniques to be experimented with, some of these could well apply also to a project that you’re possibly stuck with in the block.

What is your process of cratedigging and what was different when organising tracks for the chart?

Typically, I would select tracks that I resonate with but also that I can imagine would function well on the dancefloor, be it at a day show, at 3am, peak-hour or kicking off a night. I love tracks with a strong melodic core - those that really express emotion as well as offering up drive and flow. I also strive to find tracks that the audience didn’t realise they wanted to hear, perhaps something unexpected or completely new to make the listening experience unique.

As for the chart, many of the tracks hold a special place. The concept wasn’t necessarily to pack it full of dancefloor heaters but to also feature some beautiful, cross-genre electronic productions that really resonated with me throughout my career, tracks that I also hope would also take others on that musical journey. There’s a mix of everything from organic house and progressive to ambient and electronica, featuring works from the likes of Enamour, Spencer Brown, Budakid, Nox Vahn (as Fairchild) and Simon Vuarambon to name a few.

And finally, of the fifty tracks selected for the ‘Sound of: Ben Pierre’ chart, are there any in particular that hold a special place for you?

That’s a tough one! It was tricky even just to pick fifty tracks but there are a few that are quite sentimental to me.

Silent Summer by Budakid is definitely up there, the piece feeling like a true journey into the wilderness; a driving melodic track that pulls you in from the offset and guides you through its story. Released during the pandemic around the lockdowns, it was almost a form of escapism listening to it, how a piece of art can really take you places and allow the imagination to drift freely.

Venice Beach by Kozua is certainly memorable from a performance at Electric Brixton in 2023 alongside Marsh, Nox Vahn and Nicky Elisabeth. It was my first large, main-room performance and, although quite nervous initially, it was such a stand-out, pinch-me moment for me to be up on that stage in one of London’s great iconic venues. I dropped Venice Beach midway through the set and the atmosphere of the track just hit the spot for that point in time.

about - Silver Dusk (Volen Sentir Retouch) is another one of those storytelling productions. Both the original and the retouch both capture and epitomise that moment of the track’s namesake, Silver Dusk; serene and awakening. A staple in some of my earlier performances, it provided a fitting moment of reflection within the set.

Eko Centrik - Half Light Island (Jamie Stevens Mix): Midnight in Wroclaw, Poland. Midway through my set at Transformator alongside Nox Vahn, the momentum was picking up. Just a spot-on dancefloor driving progressive heater that landed perfectly in that moment. I've always enjoyed Jamie Stevens’s works and they have been long-time staples in my sets, other favourites also in the chart are ‘Stay (Golden Return Mix)’ and ‘With You’.