JASON BENTLEY
The super-DJ and KCRW staple on the state of the beat at the dawn of 2005
The super-DJ and KCRW staple on the state of the beat at the dawn of 2005
Jason Bentley is the hardest-working man in dance music. In a scene revered for its marathon partiers and diva DJs, Bentley is all about the business of showcasing the sounds. As such, he hosts Metropolis weeknights on KCRW (89.9 FM) and After Hours on KROQ (106.7 FM),
Saturday, midnight-3 a.m., which is celebrating its 10th year on-air in 2005. He also supervises film scores and soundtracks (The Matrix franchise), remixes dance singles, and chooses cutting-edge electronic music for major commercials.
Bentley helped introduce Los Angeles to the electronic dance music revolution in the late '80s, when he returned from a raved-up Europe and started spinning house and techno on college station KXLU (88.9 FM). He moved on to KCRW, co-founded a few record labels (including Quango), and went to work doing A&R for Madonna's Maverick Records. In the past few years, Bentley has been part of a core group that successfully lobbied the Recording Academy to add a Best Electronic/Dance Album category to the Grammy Awards. The 34-year-old keeps his eyes and ears on the ground floor of club-land with his Friday night "bossa:nova" parties at Zanzibar in Santa Monica. On New Year's Eve you can find him downtown spinning records from 10:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the 5th annual Giant Village event, sharing the headliner spot with the Killers, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, the Crystal Method, and Mark Farina.
-Dennis Romero
CityBeat: Giant Village claims to be the largest 21-and-older dance event in the U.S. What's that say about the state of the scene?
Jason Bentley: Giant has managed to capture the over-21, U.K. mega-club model. In this scene, there's a lot of drama and turbulence. [Giant founder] Dave Dean's a survivor. You look at recent events with Spundae and Godskitchen [club-night giants which recently split after merging last year], and they seem like they're in complete disarray. Dave Dean has just stuck with his vision.
With Spundae splitting off and launching its own Saturday night events again, and
Godskitchen and Giant doing major Saturday night parties, can L.A. support three mega-clubs?
I don't think that Los Angeles can support three mega-clubs. I think that the real heyday of the competition for DJs and big names has past. We still enjoy the best DJ talent in the world here in Los Angeles. These guys could be anywhere, Digweed, Oakenfold, and Tiesto at the Hollywood Palladium. These are world-class DJs who could play anywhere - Asia, Europe, South America - and they land here.
Was it wise for Giant Village, normally a DJ-driven event, to add a rock band to the bill this year?
You hear the influence of rock returning to dance, whether it's rhythmic rock bands like Franz Ferdinand, or the whole school of Brit-rock, or bands like Interpol. Warp, one of the greatest electronic labels of all time, just procured a rock record by Maximo Park. With Felix Da Housecat and what Sasha and Junkie XL have done recently, you've seen a turn toward rock. I, too, as a DJ, have responded with more indie rock sounds in my sets. It was a backlash to that sort of extreme trance sound.
What happened to electroclash?
Electroclash was part of that whole reaction to trance. You'd go over to Europe and hear things that were absolutely horrendous, like trance covers of '70s rock songs. Electroclash was a way to answer that with substance and attitude - and to bring the performance aspect back to dance music. I think some of the bands that we hoped would break through didn't, but I wouldn't count them out yet. Fischerspooner is one. Scissor Sisters had a huge year. We're not breaking genres; we're breaking bands.
With dance-floor hits from the likes of Gwen Stefani ("What You Waiting For?"), pop music seems to be getting dancier, but the dance music community doesn't get much credit.
We have to be very Zen about it and understand the influence we have. The nature of our scene is to always look for what's next. That's our fault. I think you undermine your own legacy to a certain extent. People snap up the ideas once you're done with them and don't appreciate where it began.
You were on the Grammy dance music committee that approved Paul Oakenfold's compilation, Creamfields, for eligibility in the first Best Electronic/Dance Album category ever. There was some concern in the dance music community when it was nominated because it's a collection of other people's music.
I feel good about all of the nominees. Everyone in there is core to the scene and has done a lot for our music. Compilations are allowed in many different categories. We assessed three different compilations and admitted all three - Oakenfold, Gabriel & Dresden's Bloom, and Sasha's Involver. We admitted them based on the DJ's involvement in the production. We need to embrace DJ/producers in this music community. Compilations are the currency for how the music is understood. Have we invited an avalanche of compilation submissions for next year? Probably. We'll have to assess those. I'm fine with the controversy, the debate - that's healthy. We made a very aggressive statement about who's part of our scene, and no one snuck in who I'm embarrassed about. They're not going to create another category for us anytime soon, so if we were to acknowledge mix-CDs at all, it would have to be as part of this category.
With the last true DJ shop on Melrose closing last week, what's the state of retail?
It's kind of an extension of the mentality of the dance music fan. They're well into trading music and mixes on the Internet. I go to Amoeba and Aron's because I need a broader selection. I stopped going to the indie DJ shops because they were so specific, and that hurt them. There are online music services that are thriving. I hope vinyl doesn't go away. I don't like the idea of DJing with software programs. I like the feel of vinyl. You can see it and smell it. The other day I took an import out of its package and there's that distinct smell of recently pressed vinyl. I found myself passing it around to friends, saying, "Smell it."
Are films and advertising firms as interested in electronic music as ever?
The ad world and video games are good. I'm working on two video games at the moment. They call for very progressive electronic music. It's pretty healthy. Perhaps it's just necessary that we diversify and get our hands into other areas of the business. We all know the record business is a fairly dysfunctional wing of the music business overall.
Do you have any hope that satellite radio - with several dance channels already - will help buoy dance music?
I'm still a skeptic. There's a lot of hype, and they have a lot to prove. I just don't think people are going to want to pay for something they get for free. XM radio approached me years ago and wanted me to work on a channel and the money was laughable, like a hundred a month or something.
The new year brings us the 20th anniversary of the Winter Music Conference, the dance industry's annual retreat in Miami. What kind of changes has the conference seen over the years?
It's remarkable. It still has all the momentum and more. There's more depth to it. The M3 Summit [a panel-oriented music business conference nearby] and the DanceStar awards came to town. I remember when it was only at the Fontainbleau hotel. Now it's all over South Beach and downtown.
Back at Giant Village, how will you warm up the BPM magazine stage for house music legend Mark Farina?
I'm going to try to keep it housey and eclectic and not drive the sound beyond what Farina will cultivate, because to do otherwise would be just rude. I'll keep it organic and warm.Published: 12/30/2004
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