2020 has been quite a year and one of the ways that many of us have gotten through it is through music. We're so excited to have one of our favorite artists, Benny Benassi as our cover and to end the year with! Known for his hits such as Satisfaction and his single with Jeremih - LOVELIFE. Benny has spent this year in training for a triathalon, making great music and continuing to keep the positive vibes going. Our photo-shoot took us virtually to Italy and he gives us more insight into how he got into the industry, his love of music and what he has been working on!
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with music and want to create it?
BENNY BENASSI: I've always loved music and I’ve always tried to express myself through it since I was little.
AM: How do you define your music style?
BB: Eclectic and pretty wide-ranging, now. I guess the dictionary definition would be house music or electro house music. I work in that genre but I like to alternate a powerful dirty club sound with radio-friendly songs with lyrics and voices that inspire and move me.
AM: How do you stay inspired when it comes to creating new sounds?
BB: I listen to my old vinyls with my production team and I try to draw inspiration from them. Suddenly we hit upon a sound or a mood or just a kind of energy that gets us going and off we go to try to make some good new music that looks to the future while planting its roots in the past.
AM: What was your journey in becoming a DJ and producer?
BB: As I said, I've always loved music. I had this dream of becoming the DJ, the one selecting the music. But in the early days, I had to make do with being on the dancefloor for a while, not just dancing but listening and learning! I yearned to produce my own music and to find my own sound one day. So I asked my cousin Alle who was training to be a classical musician to give me a hand. We grew up in the same apartment block and we ended up producing music together right until 2018!
AM: When you begin a new project, what’s your creative process?
BB: The creativity is a team dynamic. The process is sometimes started by something we heard on an old record as we talked about earlier. Sometimes it’s a sound or a riff from one of the team, we build on it. Then we have listening sessions and just go through all the musical ideas we have on the boil, we analyze them together and decide which tracks to develop. The best ones make it all the way! We work a lot with songwriters from all around the world, too. They send us songs or we send them our music to write over.
AM: We're huge fans of Satisfaction and you have created a number of songs that are in our playlists from your remix of Bob Marley's Jammin', Chris Brown's Beautiful People and more. What have been some of your favorite songs that you have created/collaborated with?
BB: Skrillex’s remix of “Cinema” is one of them - his energy and talent played an important role in my artistic growth. Also, his remix recently hit 100million streams on Spotify, I’m really happy that he applied his amazing skill to this track! Also, Bob Marley is such an inspiration for all of us - he taught us to love life. I had the honour to remix Jammin’, it means a lot to me.
AM: What do you think it is about Satis-faction that people love so much?
BB: When you’re in the studio, you don’t really think about the destiny of the track you’re working on, you just wanna make good music. It’ll go wherever it needs to go! I was working with my cousin, Alle Benassi, and we thought Satisfaction would be a good house/club record, we never imagined that it would get so much love! I don’t know why people love it so much more than some other tracks from the same period but they do! And I’m thrilled ;)
AM: We have enjoyed your single, LOVELIFEwith Jeremih, how did this come about?
BB: About a year ago I was sent a demo of the song by the publishers of the original British writers and I immediately fell in love with it, so I started working on it with my production partners, now known as the BB TEAM! We wanted to give it an electronic vibe and when we got the production to where we wanted it to be we asked Jeremih if he would like to feature on it. We truly loved J's personal interpretation of the track. He really lights it up.
AM: How do you decide on new projects that you want to take on or those who you wish to collaborate with?
BB: I always try to follow my instinct. I try to focus on the things that catch my attention and add my personal touch!
AM: These past few months in quarantine as we do our part to lower the curve forCOVID-19, how have you been passing your time and how have you been connecting with your fans?
BB: I’ve been training to take part in a triathlon in Spring! and I've been working on new music with my team. We’ve been extremely productive these last months!
AM: With many of us hearing about vaccines, are you beginning to make plans or think of in-person events that you would like to do?
BB: I just hope that everything will get back to normal as soon as possible. When things get better, I’ll be ready to party!
AM: What have you learned about yourself this year as we have all had time for self-reflection?
BB: I reflected on the importance of understanding the value of what we have and helping out people who love us. And the importance of running. It helps a lot!
AM: We hear that you’re dropping a new album at the beginning of the year. Can you tell us about it and what we can expect to hear?
BB: We’re actually working with singles in harmony with the digital stores. I’m thinking about an album but we’re still making some adjustments.
AM: When you’re not creating music, we know that you have an interest in triathlons. What is it about this sport that draws you to it?
BB: It’s a really complete sport. It helps you improve your physical condition in an unbelievable way.
AM: As we approach 2021, what are you looking forward to as we head into the new year?
BB: I’d rather not make any predictions, too much responsibility!
AM: What do you want your legacy to be when people think about the impact that you have had in music
BB: I’d love to bring a smile to the face of everyone who ever listens to my music. I wanna convey my passion for house music and make a humble contribution to the keeping that culture alive. May it live for-ever!
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS
Athleisure Mag's virtual cover shoot was shot by Co-Founder + Celebrity Photographer Paul Farkas. Throughout this shoot, Paul used an iPhone XS, iPad Air 2, Face-time and Clos.
IG @PVFarkas
Read the Dec Issue #60 of Athleisure Mag and see By Instinct with Benny Benassi in mag.
