Needle Exchange: A DJ Questionnaire with Benjamin

His go-to records, his craziest gig and the music you should never ask him to play.

IMAGE: Courtesy of Benjamin.
By Matthew Singer

Years DJing: Formally, I've been playing out for about seven years. I'm a lifelong, if lapsed, musician and a compulsive and omnivorous consumer of recorded sound, so it was equally a natural transition and retroactive justification for my best and worst excesses.

Genre: If one pictured a Venn diagram with segments representing Steely Dan, Ashford & Simpson and late-era Weather Report, I'm in the middle trying to figure out how to keep people from leaving the bar. I've also toyed with "Modern Dad" and "DX7th Heaven."

Where you can catch me regularly: Every fourth Thursday at Moloko for Salad Nights. I've also been at Toffee Club (with Jason Urick as Pro Gear and Pro Attitude) and Biwa quite a bit lately.

Craziest gig: Nothing immediately springs to mind at like a Jimmy Page/misdemeanor charges/"waking up on a kibbutz with the touring cast of Cats" level. But in recent memory I played with Tony Remple of Musique Plastique and there was table dancing as well as interpretive rug flapping. So suffice to say the fuse had been lit.

My go-to records: "Let Me Kiss You Baby" by Fern Kinney; "Adventures in Success" by Will Powers; "Gone Flying" by Phil Manzanera; "On a Day Like Today" by Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9; "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" by Prince.

Don't ever ask me to play…: One memorable night involved a Swedish couple where the male representative repeatedly requested some Sepultura, which "would make big party happen," so let's just say I'd be OK if that's a one-shot deal.

NEXT GIG: Benjamin spins at Moloko, 3967 N Mississippi Ave., with Natural Magic, on Thursday, Oct. 26. 9 pm. Free. 21+.

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