Interview - Assailants (Ben Sims & Truncate)

Soon the eleventh edition of Soenda Outdoor will take place. The Soenda team has been working incredibly hard to create an unforgettable festival experience. We’d love to give you a glimpse of the work and preparations that are currently underway to create that spectacular day on May 18th.

In this last interview of four, we sat down with some huge names from the Techno scene; Ben Sims and Truncate. Having known each other via the music scene for many years they developed a friendship over the past 5 years which included occasional b2b sets. Two years back Ben Sims and Truncate decided to start working on music together which resulted in ASSAILANTS; a DJ/production duo and in their label called ‘Obscurity is Infinte’. In this interview they will tell us how they prepare a gig together despite the distance between them, if they ever disagree musically and what we can expect from them for this Soenda edition. So buckle up and get ready for ‘The Road to Soenda’.

One of you is based in LA and one in London which throws up some interesting working questions. How do you prepare for a gig together, for example? 

BS: Typically we’ll meet right before the party. Recently, in Colombia, we hadn’t played together for a couple of months so we had lunch to catch up and inevitably chat about music; who we’re playing with, what we’ve been making, any special edits etcetera. There’s no fixed plan or prep, we just reconnect and naturally find out where the other one is at musically. At most we’ll decide who’s going to start but that’s it. The party and feeding off each other’s selection determine the rest. 

You are both very successful as solo artists, but there must be a reason that you are working together. What is it that you can do as Assailants, that you can’t do as Ben Sims or Truncate individually?

BS: I think there’s a unique sound when we produce together and the fusion of both styles just works really well. Even when we began by just remixing each other, the results of us both working with the kind of grooves the other one typically goes for creates a different vibe to what we do individually. So it’s a lot of fun, trying ideas but never quite knowing where they’re going to go. It’s much like the DJ sets, a healthy combination of challenging each other and being inspired by the other's decisions.

What was the process you undertook when creating the EP? 

DF: It was basically a lot of jamming and trial and error. We didn’t really go in with a plan for the record. Some of the ideas Ben had already laid out from older projects and if I remember correctly, I think I had some ideas I did in my studio as well. Most of the EP was made in Bens studio over the times I stayed in London. It took a couple of years to finish haha. But in the end we were happy with the results.

Due to both of your schedules - how are you finding it planning future ASSAILANTS work, both in the studio and in clubs?

BS: Obviously schedules and residing in different parts of the world does affect the regularity of the project but that’s what actually helps keep it fresh and fun too. We have our solo missions to focus on and you can have too much of a good thing. Soenda will be our 5th gig together this year and by then our follow up EP should be just about ready too, so very happy with how things are going in 2019.

Does it ever happen that you don’t agree on something musically? How do you fix that?

BS: I think we both have different ways of doing things and different approaches to making and finishing music, it’s all part of it though and that’s what makes it fun and a challenge. Neither of us wants the results to sound like just one of us, there’s no point in that, so we’re not pushing too hard to get our own way, if a track seems to be coming out too much like just one of us, we let it go, that’s happened already. 

DF: Yeah I think we’re both pretty easy going in the studio when we work together. We lay out ideas and either agree or disagree. As Ben said, we try not to let our own way get in the way too much… but sometimes when playing a gig together there have been times where we disagree on some tracks played haha but in the end we just have a laugh about it. Ben gets embarrassed and tries to hide behind me when I play a track he doesn’t like haha.

Similarly, Do you compromise a lot as playing as Assailants compared to playing as Ben Sims or Truncate?

BS: Aside from not leaving the other one with a track that’s a fucker to mix out of or has dodgy edits, there’s no compromise at all, the opposite probably, feeding off each other takes us in all sorts of directions we’d unlikely go alone. At our last gig on the Colombia tour, we closed really Housey, something I rarely do alone, sometimes when I’m playing solo I might try something different but lose faith too early and divert, playing with someone you respect and them following your lead or vice versa gives you more confidence to experiment. 

Last time at Berghain we went on a proper Acid House excursion, heavy and raw 87/88 gear, it was great and sounded amazing in there but again, only possible because we trusted each other’s judgment and the selection and ran with it.

Ben, in a previous interview you said DJ’ing is your overriding passion and you make music because of it, not the other way around. Is this also the case with Assailants, you make new music so you can play it in the weekends? Or is it also about making the music?

BS: I still see myself primarily as a DJ, yeah, the ASSAILANTS doesn’t really change that but the key difference here is the desire and enthusiasm to actually produce. Sometimes I find it difficult to justify working on music for myself when I’ve released so much already but this thing with David is new and I really want for us to build a catalog of tracks, mainly for our sets, obviously, but also to see where the collab takes us, we’ve been fairly laid back and natural about working on music so far so I’d definitely like to see us up the ante, get more projects under our belt and push the production side of things.

Are we going to see more from Assailants? What are the plans?

BS: New EP nearly finished and some remixes due soon too. On the gig tip, a tour of North America is our next big thing. 

The two of you have played at Soenda before both individually as together (Soenda indoor Nijmegen 2016). What is your experience with the festival?

DF: We’ve both had great times playing at Soenda before. Along with the great line ups, the sound, production and the overall professionalism of the whole crew also add to the nice experience. 

We are very excited about welcoming you to Soenda again this year. This edition you will play after Speedy J and before Rebekah (19:30 – 21:00). What can we expect?

DF: I think you can expect to hear a lot of unreleased music as well as special edits that we both are always making. It definitely makes our sets a bit more special. But in the end, you can expect some machine funk and hard grooves. 

 

Quickies

Are there any other DJ’s you would like to play b2b with?

BS: Derrick May, Josey Rebelle, Derrick Carter, Claire Morgan.

DF: James Ruskin, Mark Broom, Ben Klock, Jeff Mills (I’d die).

Last artist you listened to?

BS: The Exaltics.

DF: Steven Julien.

Favorite all-time artist?

BS: Arthur Russell.

DF: Jeff Mills.

Favorite gig?

BS: La Real, Spain (2006, closing party).

DF: Closing Berghain b2b with Drumcell in 2016.

Favorite show as part of the audience?

BS: U.K. Fresh 86 (Hip Hop and electro concert).

DF: Jeff Mills all night long in Minneapolis 2015.

Favorite music genre?

BS: Golden Era Hip Hop .

DF: Hip hop/ Lofi/ Instrumentals.