How To Dj With Benjamin Benedek
Benjamin Benedek competed in Elite Model Look in 2013, and has since walked for Moschino and shot for Versace. Recently, he has hooked up with his best friend Filip to form a DJ duo. Ahead of the Elite Model Look Austria Final 2017, we catch up with Benjamin to find out more.
Two heads are better than one
I have been into making electronic music for a while now, more like trap. I was really into it on my own, and then I met my friend Filip, who’s a model too, and we started modelling at the same time and he is also into this kind of music. After two years of being friends, he suggested we formed a duo together, and it was cool because I never wanted to do it on my own. I think that way is harder, if you get big you are on your own touring. Modelling is similar – you travel a lot by yourself, and it’s lonely. If you have a friend, it’s easier.
Get social
We started, and made some mixes and remixes, and we had a Soundcloud, and a stage name already, but we got approached by a manager on Snapchat. I was out at a club, and I was Snapchatting shots of the DJ and I was like, “the music sucks, I would kill the crowd in here”, and so this manager got in touch. He asked what kind of music I would play. I told him and he replied that he manages some top DJs, so I was like “wow” – that’s how we got in touch. Basically, he advised us to start again, so we deleted our old stuff.
Whatever you do, do you
We want to have something special. We’re working on our music, and on our brand. We have a new name: Ben & Phil. I love it, it’s short and easy. We have a few songs already, but we’re still working on more. I’m not sure how they are going to be, I think one is good because we showed it to a few people and they like it. I hope one of those songs will catch the attention of a big label, and we sign with them. We’re working on visual identity as well, so we have to do a few shoots together.
Go offline
We both live in New York, we were trying to connect with singers, because we don’t want to only do trap or electronic music, we want to combine it with good vocals, to make it more accessible. New York is a good place for that. I hope we’ll release music this year, but the problem is that you don’t just need music, you need the whole package, a whole team and a good band. Everything has to be perfect. That’s what takes most time, to build the whole thing. It’s a lot of work, but it’s different from modelling.
Keep it simple
I think I have a good idea about how it should look, Filip had an idea about how it should look. We want to dress in black and white, the same but opposite. I will wear black, and he will wear white – maybe I have some white pattern, and he will have the opposite. There’s no one else doing that right now.
