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Ben UFO on B2B Sets: "I've Learnt a Lot from Everyone I've DJed With"

The Hessle Audio co-head maintains that not all live team-ups are "gimmicky."
Joy Orbison and Ben UFO. Photo via Ben UFO's Facebook

Earlier today, Hessle Audio co-head Ben UFO wrote a Facebook post on the merits of the back-to-back set. The UK selector, who has shared the decks with artists such as Joy Orbison, Jackmaster, and Lena Willikens, maintains that the joint performance method isn't always "gimmicky, or as a cheap tactic to sell festival tickets," he writes, adding "which it undeniably often is!"

According to Ben, people often think that the only successful back-to-back sets come from people who possess similar musical outlooks or styles, "but I think almost the complete opposite," he says. "Obviously there needs to be a connection between the two people playing, but it's amazing to see DJs who have slightly different takes on things working to create something that neither of them could on their own."

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An example of a B2B pairing that shouldn't have worked, but did to much dancefloor acclaim, is that of highly-revered eclectic Four Tet and former bro-step posterboy Skrillex, who teamed up for an intimate set at London venue Underworld back in April 2015. "It was undeniably fun. The crowd went crazy," Four Tet later told Rolling Stone of the experience. "His of mixing is really fast and frantic, which was new for me… He was probably playing more mellow than normal and I was playing harder than I've ever played before." They reunited for another B2B set earlier this year at the FORM Arcosanti festival.

Essentially, DJing with another person isn't all too different from going solo. Where the latter is about reading the room and adjusting your selections as needed, the latter does that and inserts another person behind the decks to play off of with little room for error. If that's not next-level trial by fire, what is?

"Playing this way forces you to step outside of your comfort zone, to react spontaneously to things that are outside of your control, and to maybe reassess habits of your own that familiarity can blind you to," says Ben. "…I grew up playing music with friends and in groups, learning to listen that way and participating in something that was bigger than any one person. I think that's cool, and I've learnt a lot from everyone I've DJed with…"

Earlier this year, we asked Bicep member Matt McBriar, Tessela, Krystal Klear, and more about the art of the B2B, and where it often goes wrong.