Here’s the latest in our series of interviews with some of London’s best promoters. This time around we spoke to James Benenson, one of the men behind Found Series, and Urban Nerds, two outfits that have really injected some life into the capital’s party scene by working with a variety of genres, all with a strong focus on grassroots and a London/UK-centric kind of vibe. Found connects the dots between house, techno and a variety of London-born sounds like jungle, grime and dubstep. This year they’re organising five separate one-day events in London, which is a mammoth task. We had a great chat with James recently, where we not only discussed the Found Series but also delved into his hobbies…
So, first of all, tell us how you came to be one of the people in charge of Found Series?
I started out when I was 17, as a writer to begin with, freelancing and writing about grime, dubstep – the emerging sounds in London back then. I had a real interest in the music and ended up writing about it for magazines like RWD and other small online publications. Initially, it was about having a way of getting guestlist into the clubs I wanted to go to! Eventually that interest led to a desire to put on my own parties, which kind of ate away at me for a while until I finally set up Urban Nerds with a crew of mates at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane. It became the first ‘UK Bass’ party in London to take on the warehouse scene, I got into the warehouse thing and came across house and techno for the first time as I was going to venue viewings and looking for new spaces. That was when I met my current business partner, Will. We worked together on a few things and, four years ago, we realised there was a gap between the electronic stuff he was doing and the more grassroots, London stuff I was pushing and that culminated in the first Found Series, which took place at Hidden in Vauxhall. We have an interest in underground British club culture and that’s really what Found is all about, connecting the dots between underground house and techno with grime, dubstep and all the other stuff.
I was listening to some old pirate radio tapes the other day and, when you listen to the adverts, so many of the parties had jungle in room 1, house in room 2 and RnB in room 3. It’s rare to see that these days, which is why Found is so refreshing…
That was the thinking behind Urban Nerds initially. ‘Urban’ music was a dirty term at the time, it was “ladies free before 9”, shirts and shoes for the men, overpriced tickets and a lot of questionable hip-hop and RnB. For me and my mates, growing up in London, it was about pulling together grime and dubstep with hip-hop, RnB, jungle, garage and all of that stuff. From Will’s perspective, he’s been promoting for over 20 years and seen a lot of the parties you’re talking about, it was a natural synergy when we came together and we’ve got utmost respect for people that focus on one thing and go in-depth into one sound – but we’re interested in the party and what brings people together.
Tell us about the events you’re putting on this year because you’re really going all out aren’t you?
For sure, we’ve come full circle in that we started out as a series of club events and now we’re running a series of festivals. We have five one-day London festivals happening in the city this year and, I believe, over 400 artists, 30 stages and four London parks involved. The series embodies everything I’ve just said; we have Born & Bred at Haggerston Park in June, which will be an exploration of the music that was born in London; jungle, dubstep, grime. Then we have Found at Brockwell Park, which is very much about the cutting edge of house and techno, it’s very international. Then we have 51st State at Trent Park in north London, on 8th August which looks back to the heritage of house, back to Chicago, New York and artists like Masters At Work and Tony Humphries. It’s not just about house but the music that surrounded it then and now; disco, garage, soul and even elements of dub culture. It’s a transatlantic festival because it works off that triangle from the Caribbean, to the States and the UK. At the end of the summer we have Ceremony on the 12th September – it’s a 360-degree celebration of dance music, where there will be different tents for different electronic music genres. The day after Ceremony we have United, which is all about Britain and places jungle and garage next to hardcore and acid, showing how the music has progressed from the late eighties up to now.
How do you guys manage to stay on top of all of this and maintain a social life?
We’re lucky to have built a small but solid team. We’ve come a long way and, over the years, we’ve handpicked a team that’s very much become like a family. We work differently to other companies in that things like talent booking are very much a group effort, there’s no one set booker – it’s an amalgamation of personalities in the office pitching in when they need to and having a community discussion about our branding, our ethos and our direction. Rather than just another excuse for a festival, which is not what we aspire to be at all and I hope people don’t view us in that way. If you like at the series you’ll hopefully get a grasp of the range of exciting music that’s on offer, a lot of which you won’t normally hear all in one place. We’re also not ashamed to say that we’re grassroots; we’re about a city location, stage, a tent and really good music.
So, away from that, we hear you have quite an interesting hobby?…
Haha, yes. My not-so-secret scuba diving hobby is out of the bag! It’s something that I picked up randomly when I was 13 – I used to go to Cyprus every summer to stay with my grandmother during the holidays. After going through my toddler years and seeing everything there was to see of this tiny little Cypriot village, I decided I needed something else to occupy my six week holiday and scuba diving did exactly that. I’ve done my best to maintain that as a hobby all my life, obviously it’s not the easiest thing to do as you can’t just step out of your house and do it, but I find it’s a really calming, thought-provoking hobby that really allows your mind to rest. It’s so different to anything above the surface and offers some silence away from a world that is very noise-led.
What level are you at now then?
I’m a paddy diver, which is the biggest diving organisation. The first course is open water diver, the second is advanced open water diver. Once you’re beyond that, you’re getting onto a level where you’re diving every two months or wanting to do it as a career. I’m also a nitrox certified diver, which means I can breathe enriched air, which has more nitrogen in it than the air we breathe on the surface. It means you can dive deeper for longer, I’m really proud of that one and I’ve logged around 90 or more dives now, too, which I keep trying to build on.
Where did you go diving last?
I went diving in Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt, which was incredible. I also did the Barrier Reef not long ago.
What’s been the most breathtaking experience you’ve had while diving?
Just in general, Sharm-El-Sheikh – the dive area there is a nature reserve, so it’s pristine. It’s not just about what you see, you get interesting currents, which are a challenge to navigate – it was the first time I hadn’t been to some tropical paradise, where you jump in and jump out again. You really had to plan to dive and work with experienced divers to make sure you came out safely at the other end. As I said, it was pristine, which, sadly, is becoming a rarity these days but with the challenging currents, it was even more rewarding.
Is there anywhere that’s next on your hitlist?
I definitely want to dive in Mexico, not least because I haven’t been to BPM yet! I’ve got plans to get over there in January, like the rest of London seems to do, and hit BPM – then go and recuperate under the Mexican sea. The Andaman Islands off Thailand would be great and the Galapagos Islands, too – which, obviously, are hugely important in respect of nature and evolution. I think it would be really special to dive there, especially as it’s so protected, thankfully, with only a limited number of people allowed to dive there each year.
Let’s chat about EastEnders, as we hear that’s another interest of yours? Are you managing to keep up to date with it?
Always. It’s literally, four times a week, then phone goes off or isn’t answered, the bedroom door is shut and it’s complete silence, undisturbed while EastEnders is on. It’s all rubbish really, but it’s rubbish that, like the diving, helps you switch off. It’s also a family tradition, I’ve been watching EastEnders since I was four years old, so 23 years now! I couldn’t live without it.
Which storyline has got you gripped at the moment?
I was hooked when we were waiting for the big ‘Who killed Lucy?’ reveal, but that was a bit of an anti-climax – I almost put a bet on but I’m glad I didn’t. Last night there were two funerals on the same day, as only you can in Albert Square, and they managed to mix up the coffins… I think someone got cremated who shouldn’t have been and someone was mistakenly buried. This is the kind of stupidity that’s a nice break from the world of electronic music, four times a week. I’m not ashamed to say I’m a solid EastEnders fan.
Back to the festivals, we guess you’ll be running around a fair bit, but is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing?
Personally, I’m really excited about Motor City Drum Ensemble at Found. Obviously I’ve known about him for quite a while and I’m a big fan of his mixes, especially the Boiler Room stuff that’s out there. On an open-air stage, he should be amazing. Collectively we’re excited about Marquis Hawkes and so many others. Born & Bred is going to be really special, seeing people like Digital Mystikz, Goldie and Wiley on one main stage is going to be great and probably should have been done a long while ago. We’ve got someone really really big doing a classics set at Ceremony, 51st State, there’s so many acts – the dark horse has been the soul tent with Omar singing live.
Finally, finish the sentence, ‘Without house music I would…’
…probably be a Scuba Diving instructor!
For information on all the Found Series events, click on the buttons below.