With previous releases on Delusions of Grandeur, Voyeurythm and more, UK producer Ben Sun delivers a gorgeous blend of deep textures that hearken back to the golden era of NY and Chicago with his Distant Messenger EP on Razor-N-Tape.

On the A-side, Transmission has all the vibey goodness of an early Strictly Rhythm record, while Sable Sun scuba dives into Larry Heard territory with lush pad swells and squelching acid lines. On the flip, the emotive motion of Tremors builds through hypnotic arpeggiated synths, a slow-rolling bassline and crystalline melodies, and the record finishes in proto-house territory with the Peech Boys era Larry Levan-inspired Red Light. This EP may wear its influences on its sleeve, but it looks (and sounds) classy as hell.

We caught up with Ben to run through how Distant Messenger came to fruition, and the musical journey thus far.

WWD: Hello Ben thanks for taking the time to talk. How you keeping and what are you up to today?

Thanks for having me! I’m well. Today I’m going to work on some experimental sounds in the studio. Recently I created a piece for an immersive art exhibition, whereby the artist (my sister, Heidi Kenyon) used a device to record electromagnetic sequences from live mushrooms, which we then converted to midi notes to use as the basis for a soundscape (I play the notes on various synth and FX combos). The results where astonishing – the pace, melodies and harmonies created by the varying electrical charge in the fungi organism sounded like some kind of avant garde classical composition. It reminds you that there is music everywhere. The exhibition (called Neoteric) is showing in Adelaide right now – but I am super excited by the process and plan to continue the experiment. There’s some clips on my insta if you’d like to hear some of it.

WWD: You’re from Australia originally. Where are you from exactly and how long have you been in the UK?

I was born in Darwin, in the deep north, where it’s tropical beyond the desert. We moved all over, but since my early teens my family is based in Adelaide. I’ve been in the UK since 2005.

WWD: What took you to the London initially?

Just a youngster’s desire to break out… it seemed like a great place for music and cultural history.

WWD: What is it that has kept you in the city of London?

Partly my work as a graphic designer. Love, friendship… There are times when London feels like one of the world’s great cities. It’s massive and ancient and never fails to inspire me.

WWD: Where have you been playing in around the city? What are you favourite clubs to play in London?

I used to love playing at Dance Tunnel (RIP), Corsica Studios is always a fun one. Five Miles was onto a good thing with their Plastic People style (pitch black / super hifi) dance floor… but I’m not sure yet who is emerging from the rubble, post-pandemic. I rarely play clubs these days – I feel like warehouse parties are the most fun in London – a true underground experience. Whether independent / private jams or a more organised affair like the Utopia Project by Alex Bradley. One of the last parties I played was with my friend Giuseppe Crisci who runs Senseverse records – that was on a canal boat, under a bridge in a storm. It was mad fun – and sounded great in there!

WWD: How long have you been Djing? What came first, playing with records or tinkering in the studio?

I’ve been Djing since my teens – back in the late 90s. But I’ve been messing with music since I was a child – first with VHS mixtapes from Rage (Australia’s music video channel), then with guitars, effects, and tapes, whatever I could afford – then finally I got my hands on an MPC60 which changed everything.

WWD: It’s been said that a DJ set from you is full of emotive and personal selections with a healthy disregard for cliches. What can people expect to hear in a Ben Sun set?

There’s so many ways to convey emotion with music, whether that’s through hypnotic repetition, tension, and release… or a raw vocal that gives you goosebumps. I think it’s important to work the sound system and give dancers an experience that they can’t get elsewhere: deep, rich sound waves that affect you bodily… I can’t help verging towards warm, joyful, uplifting stuff, even though I love dark, aggressive sounds. I like to include a lot of live percussion alongside the more unusual sounds you get with synths and FX. Genres and tempos all over the dial… Time and place obviously has a big bearing on it!

WWD: Do you have a studio set up at home in London?

Yes all my music is recorded at my loft in Limehouse. I’m blessed that my partner Amina is very musically switched on and gives me super useful feedback in the process (usually by closing her eyes and dancing)… The Distant Messenger material was recorded at my old place, a warehouse in South Hackney where we also did parties – we had a sound system in the main space, as well a piano – with all sorts of different musicians rolling through.

WWD: As a lover of analog synths, vintage drum machines, and old-school samplers, what are your most important pieces of kit in the studio?

The MPC has always been the central piece / brains of the setup. More than a sampler, I use it to record all the stuff I play on synths and drums – when I’m happy with a part I lay it down as a midi sequence and keep it rolling while I write the next bit on another instrument. To keep things essential, I try to think of my setup as a band… the current line-up is Drums (MFB Tanzbaer, Boss DR-660, Behringer 808 clone), Keys (Roland Juno 60), Bass + Rhythm (Arp Odyssey) and Lead (Moog Sirin). I also have a decent rack of FX, with units from Eventide, Strymon and Moog.

WWD: What were the first releases you put out and on what labels? What would you say is your most notable release?

My first few releases were on Voyeurhythm. I started to notice a lot more interest in my music after we dropped a track called Salty Tears.

WWD: Voyeurhythm is your label. Who is it you run it with? When did the label begin?

VR was started with two friends – Tyson ‘Tight Pants’ Ballard and Mostyn ‘Megadon Betamax’, back in 2010.

WWD: You’ve put out your own releases the label. What other artists have you released on the label?

We had a great record with the debut LP from Francis Inferno Orchestra… I’m a big fan of Elliot ‘Etbonz’ Thomas who went on to release with Love On The Rocks… Freekwency came through with some great boogie tracks, and the enigmatic Berliner Joseph Salzig, who’s been a big influence artistically over the years.

WWD: What’s happening with the Voyeurhythm, What plans are there for releases?

It’s on hiatus right now – we’ll see! Tyson is doing a really interesting label called Scream Time Action.

WWD: As a producer you have put out under the alias Earth Patterns on Utopia Records. What do you tend to release under this moniker?

The Earth Patterns project was a bit of an experiment as I started to branch out into more synth-based / electronic / ambient sounds…as opposed to the more disco influenced stuff I had been making. Now I think that can all come under one banner: it’s just creative progression.

WWD: You’ve had a stream of solid releases on the hallowed Delusions of Grandeur. Tricks on Wax has been a real fave of mine! Place of Worship EP and Tides too. Are there plans for further releases with DOG?

Thank you! Delusions have always been such great people to work with. Tom Roberts and Jamie (Jimpster) really care about what they do and do it well. As a prolific artist himself, Jimpster has been a great creative influence, with hands-on advice and input. Yes we’ll probably work together again!

WWD: We hear that Larry Heard is a fan. How did you manage that?

Haha I don’t know about that! The inverse is definitely true, Larry really changed the whole musical landscape for me. He occasionally puts out a mixtape and some time back one of my tracks (‘You Should Know Better’ on DoG) showed up on there, which was a real buzz for me, to know that he has that record.

WWD: You had some great remixes for Quantic on Tru Thoughts and San Soda. There are some artists like Prins Thomas for example, where you just know its him on a remix with his Diskomiks flavour. Have you got any signature moves when you remix, or does it vary each time?

Nothing specific, more experimental… I lay out the stems and jam on the parts that resonate most. Sometimes like with Quantic or Kraak & Smaak it might just be the vocal and the music takes on a life of its own.

WWD: You had a track on Razor-N-Tapes Christmas comp- Family Affair. I was blown away by The Answer. Deeply soulful with a hip hop lean. Are you a soul boy and hip-hop head at your core?

Ah, thanks. I was stoked when RNT selected that one as it’s not always easy to find a place for the downtempo stuff. Definitely I came up on hip hop and soul – people like Pete Rock and Q Tip were crucial for me understanding how to make beats.

WWD: What would you say is the definition of the sound you are creating now?

I usually try to describe my music through the process rather than the outcome… a lot of it is analog synthesis paired with percussive grooves and arrangements inspired by the records that I dig… whether that’s Maurizio or Patrice Rushen, it all goes in the pot. Lately I have been listening to more Andalusian and Arabic music.

WWD: Moving on to your new EP ‘Distant Messenger’. How did you originally hook up with Razor-N-Tape?

I’ve known Aaron and Jason for years since they invited the Voyeurhythm crew to play with them at Miami WMC. They are such a positive force, and I’ve  been blown away by the original output of the label as it’s developed. So, I’m really happy this has finally come to pass, and we’ve got more in the pipeline.

WWD: There’s a real Metro Area vibe on Transmission. Loving the Jon Sable remix too. Can you us through the tracks a little?

Sure. Transmission began messing around with these chords I loved from an old jazz-funk record. It slipped into this super laid-back groove with some hi-hats from the Tanzbaer. The main lead line I made using CV/gate control (rather than midi) on the Odyssey, which gives it that sliding kind of sound. There’s a polyrhythm involved – whereby the parts / loops have different relative bar lengths (e.g., 14 steps over 16), so it seems to evolve and come in and out of sync over time.

Sable Sun… Jon laughed because I never changed the name from the demo! He came around to lab one day after we’d been threatening to jam for some time. We blazed and fired up the synths and just started showing each other what we do. He got on the Juno 60 and started playing those groovy dubby chord stabs with a delay pedal, and I got onto the Odyssey again with that acid-y sort of sound. Nobody spoke for a while, and then the track appeared. A nice musical dialogue – it was super smooth, just one afternoon session. I wish we’d done more!

Tremors. I was experimenting with a rhythmic LFO applied to the chords, which makes them kind of shudder in time to the beat. It’s a super simple idea – in fact, you can see me recreating it live on RNT’s Youtube channel. An old school house bassline, and then I had some choir samples on the MPC that are tightly clipped to let the delay ring out. I played the lead line on the DX7.

Lastly, Red Light… It started with the bassline this time, over that conga rhythm. Once that was rolling I began playing the chords with a delay pedal – a bit inspired by that raw vibe you hear on certain Paul Simpson or Man Friday records.

WWD: What are your next ambitions as an artist?

I plan to do more collaborations! They’re always so interesting and fruitful, and I learn a lot. As well as producers I have friends that sing, play cello, piano, trumpet. I want to make more time to get them into the studio and jam more. As well as more ambient mushroom experiments haha.

WWD: What other material are you working on at the moment?

I’ve just finished a 4 track EP for Phonica which will be coming out later this year, really excited for that as I’ve long been a fan of the label. And I’m working on another longer (LP sized) project with Razor-n-Tape, almost as a part 2 of Distant Messenger – where there will be a diverse range of tempos and styles, now that we’ve introduced the vibe. Perhaps more of a listening record; it’s still taking shape.

WWD: Have you got some gigs lined up in the coming months that want to share?

I’ll be doing a regular appearance on MFFM (https://minorfigures.fm) – a new radio platform as well as some parties and events with them. They have some really exciting stuff in the pipeline with bands and DJs from all over. I’ll also be looking to do some more live performance stuff – gigs will be announced on my instagram @bensunmusic

WWD: What do you like to do when you’re not making music?

I keep myself paid with some graphic design work… I try to keep moving with daily yoga and a bit of skateboarding and bike riding… and you’ll often catch me down at the Captain Kidd pub sipping an ale and staring out over the Thames.

WWD: Thanks so much Ben, and congrats again the sensational sounds!

Thanks guys!

Listen to Distant Messenger – https://razor-n-tape.fanlink.to/BenSun

Follow Ben Sun – https://lnk.bio/bensunmusic

Follow Razor-N-Tape – https://linktr.ee/razorntape