Ben Hemsley, the winner of DJ Mag’s Best of British Best Producer award for 2023, is on a mission to bring trance back to the masses. In an interview with DJMag.com, he talks about his pivotal Creamfields performance, his production ethic, and working with his heroes. Hemsley started making music at his home in North Shields when he was 13, and by 14 he was putting on under-18s events. He got into classic trance via Dave Pearce compilation CDs, progressive house via Sasha and John Digweed, and also tried out making some dubstep and EDM bangers as well. His tunes have appeared on labels like Trick, Sola and Repopulate Mars, and which have picked up support from DJs ranging from Michael Bibi and Jamie Jones to Annie Mac and Fatboy Slim, and his international DJ profile is rapidly rising too.
Hemsley’s summer Ibiza Rocks residency was a huge success, and every date on his Connection tour sold out, including massive venues like Warehouse Project and Newcastle Arena. His bebé Recordings label’s small-but-perfectly-formed catalogue has also grown with big releases from Klubbheads, Cody Wong and his own summer release ‘IBIZA’. Hemsley’s recent success may appear to have happened overnight, but it was actually preceded by several years of low-level DJing and production graft.
