Niall and Beni aka DJ’s Plus One and Beni G are Jack Beats. Who are Jack Beats we hear you ask? Well they are two of the most exciting and world renowned producers/DJs around smashing up clubs left right and centre. Plus One (member of DJ super heroes Scratch Perverts) and Beni G (part of Mixologists) are renowned for some huge remixes and bangers of their own including ‘Get Down’. On the eve of the release of their new single ‘End Of Love’ we caught up with them to discuss new music, Leonard Cohen, signing to record label Deconstruction and their arsehole cards. 

Jack Beats! Huge news you have a new single coming out on the 5th December. What can we expect from your latest musical effort? 

Beni – We didn’t want to tread old ground, we don’t like to revisit stuff too much. We want to keep things interesting. If we’re into it, then that’s a good sign!

Niall – Hybrid house sounds at a dubstep tempo?!

It samples Leonard Cohen and this is the first time he has let anyone sample his music, how did you manage to convince him to let you sample his music? 

Beni – Well the track started around the sample and we never thought we would get it cleared so our manager suggested putting it out on a white label. I guess he really liked it and he didn’t think we’d ever be able to get it cleared….but Sony managed it somehow. Let’s not question it!

How did signing to Deconstruction come about?

Niall – it’s such an iconic and history-rich label with so many artists on it so we’re really excited to be releasing with Deconstruction.

What does it mean to you as artists releasing this record on this label?

Beni – They look after huge artists, and our peers like Magnetic Man and Katy B so it’s exciting to be a part of that.

Niall – Yeah, their history goes back so far so y’know, it doesn’t even matter about any of that… 

Beni – …any label with that much history, I’m just in awe of their artists.

Your night ‘Jack Loves’ is back on the 2nd December at Fabric, what can punters expect from you both and the night itself?

Beni – It’s always a fun night and we always both look forward to partying with our mates in London. We’ve got Busy P, Mickey Moonlight, 12^th Planet playing so it’s gonna be interesting to see how all those guys party in London!

How did Jack Beats form? You were both involved in other projects before you formed, where did you meet and what made you want to collaborate?

Beni – Yeah we were working on other projects, but we were friends, and we thought ‘you know what, let’s get together’, we finished a remix together, we started working on more and more music together and that’s where it was born.

If you could play anywhere in the world where would you play and why?

Niall – The place that I’m most pining after would be, in Tokyo, the Fuji Rock festival.

Beni – Yeah we’ve both been to Japan loads, and Niall’s played it with his other group but I’ve never done it.

Niall – Yeah but it was ‘in and out’ and I’ve always wanted to go back proper.

Beni – If anyone’s reading this from Fuji Rock, we have an amazing live show that would smash it halfway up a mountain!

What is the best thing about being in Jack Beats?

Niall – Beni!

Beni – Niall!

Niall – In all seriousness, the best thing, and I hope it’s the same for Beni, is  having someone to work with in the studio with and finding out that actually, we made good music together. Before, we both did music full time and it didn’t quite kick off but when we started to make music together, something clicked. It’s been the making of us, it’s easy to think you could do other things on your own, but we each need someone to work with and that’s what makes it good. And we’re in love. [laughs]

Beni – We see the benefits of working together, I guess that’s why there’s such successful duos in music production. It’s fun. Y’know, when you’d make music yourself on your own, you’re in the studio driving yourself mad and it’s difficult and you can loose your marbles. It can be difficult to make decisions, but it’s much easier with another opinion. We get more done.

What is the worst thing about being in Jack Beats?

Beni – The impending doom of not finishing our album…

Niall – I would say constantly trying to better ourselves…

Beni – …yeah but that’s what makes it work. It does get painful for both of us as we are constantly setting our levels of quality control so high that it gets really tough to maintain but it’s important to push yourself.  

Are you competitive music makers? Do you compete to make the best beats, tracks etc or is it very much a collaborative effort?

Niall – It’s a collaborative effort to compete with the rest of the world!!

Beni – Yeah anyone competing against each other won’t last very long in this industry.

Who inspires your music?

Beni – Timbaland is an obvious choice.

Niall – Yeah it’s still the same sort of people from back in the day. Good producers of bands and pop groups, music that sounds as well produced now as it did then, rather than noisy dance music. I don’t really listen to a lot of dance music in the studio, we tend to listen to 4 or 5 tunes that inspire us and we constantly go back to them because their brilliant productions.

Beni – Yeah, and Neptunes stuff!

Who are you both listening to at the moment?

Both - Jack Beats mostly!!

Beni – Yeah, but in a really un-narcasisstic way as we’re trying to finish the album. Oh and Drake’s new album, it’s the only one I’ve had time to listen to.

Who would win a battle of the DJs Beni or Plus One?

Beni – Niall is 2001 World Champion whereas I was a runner up in a team category, so I’d have to say Niall! I don’t think we’ve done scratching on a track, that we’ve released before. There’s a joke, that we haven’t done any scratching before so if we speak about it for future material, we always look at each other and say ‘you should do it’ and then the other says ‘no you should do it’ and then I’m like ‘but you’ve got gold turntables!’ It’s a source of constant amusement!

You are supporting DJ hero Fatboy Slim on his ‘5 Night Stand’ mini tour, are you excited?

Beni – He’s not a just a UK dance legend but a bonafide international dance music legend. It’s an honour to support him.

What in your opinion are the best lyrics ever written? Also whilst we are at it, best song? Best album and best DJ?

Beni – Seriously?!

Niall – We definitely can’t answer that, that’s so hard!

Finally what makes Jack Beats FLY?

Niall – [looks at Beni] Our arsehole cards?!

Beni – Yeah yeah, we’ll explain and I realize this makes us sound like arseholes… Basically because we travel so much I have a Gold BA card and Niall has a Silver one and we get to use things like Concorde lounges. But it’s a source of amusement for us, we’re like cracking out these pieces of plastic taking the piss out of each other. But they make us literally fly…. [laughs]

Jack Beats are hosting ‘Jack Nights’ at FABRIC in London on the 2nd December and their new single ‘End Of Love’ is released on the 5th December.

Find Jack Beats here: 

http://www.facebook.com/jackbeatsmusic

http://twitter.com/#!/jackbeats