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German artist Ben Evers has been a part of the house music underground for many years as one half of Adana Twins. Now he is stepping into new creative worlds and delving into new influences and inspirations on his own. His excellent solo works have already impressed on groups such as Permanent Vacation, Correspondant and Live At Robert Johnson, but now he launches his new label, Eternal Sunshine, with a fresh house sound.
We had the pleasure of interviewing him and this was the result.
Hey Ben! Welcome to Chromatic Club. With summer in full swing, what have you been up to?
Hey guys, first of all, thank you very much for the invitation to do an interview with you. I'm really enjoying the summer right now, spending a lot of time with friends, my wife, and my kids, and with the launch of my label Eternal Sunshine, very exciting times are definitely coming my way, which I'm extremely looking forward to. I've spent a lot of time in the studio over the past few months, pushing my sound forward and looking for tracks for my DJ sets, as I'm a DJ with heart and soul besides producing. I've collaborated with some great and exciting artists, just released twice on Correspondant, and on Friday my debut EP on Live At Robert Johnson will be out. If someone had told me a year ago that in the first 12 months I'd release on Permanent Vacation, Live At Robert Johnson, and twice on Correspondant, and also start my own label, I would have probably called them crazy. I'm really very proud of what I've achieved in such a short time and that motivates me immensely to continue this journey consistently.
This month, you’re launching your Eternal Sunshine label, with the debut release ‘Let It Go ft. Keshia’. We’d love to know more about the imprint and ‘Let It Go’
The idea to start my own label came rather spontaneously. Nowadays, I think it's important to release things spontaneously, which isn't always easy with external labels, as they of course have their release schedules, most of which are set 6 months or more in advance. And since I've always been a doer, I thought to myself: I just have a wonderful single with Keshia that I want to release in the summer. So I'll just do it myself. After that, my team and I set everything in motion and within a short time laid the foundations for the label. It was important to me from the beginning that the label exudes a positive vibe and doesn't come across as too serious. That's why the name Eternal Sunshine. I think it fits perfectly with the music I release and also with me as a person. My good friend Anatolij picked this up perfectly in the implementation of the logo and the design and something really great has emerged. For now, the plan is to only release my own stuff on the label. Only digital and maybe once a year a physical product, which doesn't necessarily have to be vinyl. It's important to me that you can hear the influence of Hip-Hop, RnB & Dancehall in the releases, as these genres have greatly influenced me and I listen to a lot of urban music privately and less electronic. I find it very exciting to combine these genres with housey or sometimes trancey vibes. Whether I always succeed, I can't promise. But at the moment, it's looking pretty good. Hehe.
Standout vocals from Keshia here! What’s your collaboration process like with vocalists when creating dance records?
The contact with Keshia came from my buddy Pasqual, who had already worked with her on another level. I showed him some things that I thought were great and he said straight away: You have to work with Keshia. I'll connect you two. So I had an idea in my head that I wanted to prepare for our first session. But I wasn't really satisfied with my implementation. And an hour before Keshia came to the studio, I started something completely new. The fact that I didn't want to show up empty-handed and only had an hour made things actually easier because I just started from scratch without anything in the back of my mind and 10 minutes before Keshia arrived, the instrumental for Let It Go was finished. I felt that from the very beginning a great vibe developed between Keshia and me and she understood exactly what I wanted and we had the demo vocals in the can within an hour and arranged the song. Then we went to the Boogie Park Studios and recorded the vocals in one of the most beautiful studios in Hamburg. After we had the new vocals in the can and I finished producing the song, everything went to Matthew Styles for mixing and mastering and Jex Opolis made an incredibly fantastic remix a few weeks later, which made me very happy because I'm a huge fan and he was my absolute top candidate.
As a member of Adana Twins, you’ve spent some time venturing outward with solo projects; how has this been going so far?
As I mentioned above, I'm really very happy with what I've already achieved in this short time. It just feels incredibly good to have my own playground after 15 years as a duo. Working as a duo naturally involves making both sides happy, which often ends in compromises. Which is good because only when both tastes and opinions flow into a track, does it become a track from both. With the solo project, I notice that I approach things much less overthinking and have many more trial and error moments and generally make progress much faster because I just pay attention to what I like. And I really like this feeling right now and don't want to miss it anymore. Because it will also be good for the work as a duo.
What’s your favourite venue right now and why?
I've been a big fan of Robert Johnson for years. So that location takes first place. Closely followed by PAL in Hamburg, which unfortunately closed in winter and is now looking for a new location. But I'm sure it will be just as good & beautiful as it was before.
Away from the DJ booth or the studio, what are your hobbies, pursuits or passions?
I started boxing a few years ago. I never thought I'd find myself regularly in a gym. Pumping weights was never my thing and honestly, I was too lazy and too often on my phone to follow through consistently. I just need someone to kick my ass and a group to train with. And that's exactly what I found in boxing. It balances me incredibly and gives me a lot of energy. I have really great trainers who are also extremely on the same wavelength with me. I really don't want to miss boxing anymore. And my best friend just started road cycling. That's definitely something I want to try out because it has piqued my interest. Otherwise, I love reading, enjoying every second with my wife and kids, and having an incredible amount of fun cooking.
What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?
I'll continue to give my all in the studio and there will definitely be one or two more releases from me on Eternal Sunshine. My next EP is already in the starting blocks. Two original tracks from me and a pretty ravey remix from Man Power, which turned out really well.
Ben Evers's 'Let It Go' ft. Keshia arrives on Eternal Sunshine on August 30th 2024.
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