Known for making the “experimental accessible”, Ben UFO is a British DJ, radio host and cofounder of the label Hessle Audio – home to artists such as Shanti Celeste, Pangaea and Call Super. His knowledge of multiple forms of bass music, from garage, jungle and DnB to techno and house, shows up in his all-encompassing DJ sets, which have “no regard for geographical or chronological borders”
Ben UFO Open to Close at Mooi Space presented by Standard Time x Paradox
Ben UFO: (Open to Close Room 1)
747 b2b Emily Nicoll (Room 2)
Caleb Klager (Live Room 2)
This event will also be hosting the Black Sunflowers TIFF premiere afterparty
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Room 1: Over the past five years, Ben UFO has acquired a deserved reputation as one of contemporary dance music’s most daring and wide-ranging selectors, with his keen ear and razor-sharp technical abilities enabling him to cut between eras, lineages and mixing styles with dazzling ease and fluidity.
Having cut his teeth in early dubstep and drum ’n’ bass, his roots lie in UK rave culture – yet his selections cast the net wider, drawing new mutations of this culture into the orbit of house, techno and other global dancefloor sounds. In the club, his sets somehow manage to be simultaneously considered and raucous, sliding from sidewinding broken rhythms into an irresistible four-to-the-floor groove, or broadsiding you with unexpected tangents, old favourites and bizarre secret weapons.
It’s refreshingly difficult to pin down what makes Ben’s DJing distinctive and exciting, whether you encounter it on the radio, in a recorded mix or on the dancefloor. If there’s a core characteristic of his approach it’s an infectious warmth and restless love of exploration, exemplified by his habit of meshing mind-bendingly strange tracks into peak-time sets, and by the way his Thursday night shows on Rinse FM weave together jacking unreleased dance cuts with new finds and dubbed-out oddities from across the globe. In the club, he shapes these elements into something rich and unpredictable, interspersing phases of driving momentum with joyful curveballs and ruptures in the flow that jolt you back to your senses — moments, as he describes it, that feel like coming up for air on the dancefloor.
From their early years in Leeds, Ben UFO and Hessle Audio have evolved into core figures in an increasingly globally-connected dance music scene. Having provided an early platform for music from kindred innovative spirits such as Blawan, Peverelist, Untold and Joe, the label continues to release new music from both its founders and emerging new artists. This openness marks the cornerstone of Ben’s approach: drawing connections, exploring new ideas, and feeding some of Hessle Audio’s energy and enthusiasm back into the musical communities of which they are an integral part.
Room 2: Paradox curates a lineup of Toronto's staple underground artists. The kind of names that mean everything to those who've been paying attention.
747 and Emily Nicoll jopen the night for a extended b2b . Co-founders of the highly regarded Aquaregia label, and with 747's sets having resonated across some of the world's most celebrated clubs and institutions, this is an opening that demands your attention from the first record.
Closing out the night, Caleb Klager takes the floor for a live hardware set. An artist spoken about in hushed tones by those who know. Consistently pushing the boundaries of sound and leaving the room inspired.