“Everyone I know has a bunch of great music that never sees the light of day due to it not fitting their main project. A lot of us get into music wanting to make dance music, but end up stuck overthinking our artist projects. This is a way around that, allowing us to move quickly,” introduces producer and musician Benjamin David, also known as Mild Minds, his latest passion project to us. Excitedly, he tells us about the creation of his own music label, MOODS INTL., with which he aims to achieve great things, looking forward to a creative and transparent collaboration with both established and new talents, and musically aiming towards UK garage, to more nuanced and emotional electronica. “We are defining our success as putting out good music and making sure it is heard.”
The first release on MOODS INTL. will be the fantastic track “U REALLY HURT ME” by LUV HRTS, a collaborative project between Mild Minds and Victor Pakpour. Victor, who is one half of the alt-indie band Ruby Haunt, draws on a previous relationship for this track. The release is scheduled for next week.
We spoke to Benjamin about what he finds important when working with artists, the ingredients for a successful label, and finding inspiration in human movement, patterns, mathematics, and artificial intelligence.
Photography by Jake Inez
Hi Benjamin, thank you for speaking with us. Let´s get straight to this exciting new endeavor in your life. You have just launched your own record imprint called MOODS INTL. in the namesake of your debut album. What was your biggest motivation for starting your own label? It surely brings freedom on one hand, but also more responsibility.
Hey! The idea was spawned from wanting to give a home to all my side projects, my friends’ projects, collabs, and other music we heard that should be out there.
Everyone I know has a bunch of great music that never sees the light of day due to it not fitting their main project. A lot of us get into music wanting to make dance music, but end up stuck overthinking our artist projects. This is a way around that, allowing us to move quickly.
I think the record industry has changed significantly over the last 5+ years. Streaming has allowed for different ways to consume music, and there is more music in the electronic space than ever. Many genres can be ‘hot’ at once and music is less trend-based based, meaning a lot more artists have a world to release their music to instead of it being left on a hard drive.
We also want to help other artists and promote their music with the knowledge we’ve built over the years.
Did you have any doubts or fears before you finally decided to take this step, and if so, how did you deal with them?
Because of the casual nature of the label and what we intend to release, we are really confident and excited for what’s ahead with this endeavour.
“A lot of us get into music wanting to make dance music, but end up stuck overthinking our artist projects.”
On your label you intend to release everything from house and UK garage, to more nuanced and emotional electronica. What do you see as the main current trends within dance music?
As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of room to move these days. Trends aren’t as important to stay relevant in your own way. Albeit the obviously hot topics would be UK garage and elements of drum and bass becoming more mainstream the last few years – as well as seeing a lot of ‘turn of the century’ sounds coming back.
Aside from the style of music that fits the label, what else is important to you when working with artists?
I think being super transparent with artists is hugely important. As someone who is an artist, it can take a while to wrap your head around every deal and the inner workings of releases. You always want to be excited to be part of something, not confused or angry later.
We want to make sure other artists get the opportunity to be heard.
What do you think are the key ingredients for the success of a label? And in general, in the music business?
We are defining our success as putting out good music, and making sure it is heard. There is a lot of good music out there that doesn’t get heard because some labels don’t have the right things in place and they’re not necessarily optimizing all the tools they have at their disposal.
The first release on MOODS INTL. will be “U REALLY HURT ME” by LUV HRTS, a collaborative project between yourself, Mild Minds, and Victor Pakpour, who is one half of the alt-indie band Ruby Haunt. You both have known each other for years, already worked and jammed together. And you realized you both love emotion in dance music. The song title sounds as if it’s about a lost love, the sound however makes me feel uplifted and hopeful. What’s the story behind the track?
Yeah, it’s both super uplifting and melancholy at the same time. That was the MO for this project – exploring that nuance. This tune was definitely a bit referential to a previous relationship that Victor had been through.
“We are defining our success as putting out good music and making sure it is heard.”
How long did it take for both of you to be completely satisfied with the track?
Our plan was to move quick and instinctually with this project, so about 3 days. However, we ended up spending another 4 days mixing it!
Your definition of your music is an exploration between the intersection of humanity and technology. You find inspiration in human movement, patterns, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. That´s an interesting mix. In what way and how do you translate an inspiration such as mathematics into your music?
In the same way music can be inspired by other themes and visuals. It’s usually abstract. In a way, it influences your essence when you contemplate it. It may lead to a more mechanical programmed beat or arpeggio, or it may simply set a mood that gets me inspired.
I always refer to my song “Dopamine” for this topic, because I tried to play with tempo and noise automation on the synth so that it felt like someone running, getting out of breath, and slowing down – which is a very human experience.
Originally, you are from Australia but are currently based in LA. Are there things that you still miss from your home country?
Outside of friends and family, the atmosphere and nature of Australia is really unique. The seasons of Australia are a little more dynamic than LA. I really miss the summer holidays in Australia. Since we’re used to clouds, people really begin to let go around then.
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www.facebook.com/mildminds
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