BEN MARSDEN

I was always very sporty at school and had a passing interest in music but nothing too serious. My dad was a builder by trade and we moved around a good bit when i was a kid. Evenings and weekend's were spent working on the latest project which of-course myself and my siblings got roped into, he'd always have radio 1 playing in the evening and at that time you'd have people like Pete Tong, Danny Rampling, Annie Nightingale and Fabio & Grooverider all hosting shows over the weekend which i happily absorbed, there was always a good amount of variety covered if you could stay up late enough and I recorded a lot onto cassette back then and listening back throughout the week and then stored the cassette in my collection. This, alongside a mates older brother lending me a northern exposure CD mixed by Sasha and Digweed which looking back had a pretty profound effect on me, the lengthier blends and proper sense of patience within the music really pulled me in, the overall journey was always more of a focus, opposed to the direct impact of any one tune. Things also got pretty hectic at home during younger years and the sense of escapism that i got as soon as i was able to switch off from the world and immerse myself in sound served as welcome distraction.


Unfortunately there's no mega story behind the name Means&3rd, I've been in Manchester a long time and during that time there's been several iterations of my DJ/Artist name and Means&3rd was the 3rd version plus some letters rearranged from my surname and it ended up sticking. Sometimes in the past audiences have expected 2 people to turn up to a gig thinking it was a duo which is pretty funny and something i never considered at the time but choosing names is a stressful practice and I don't fancy repeating it again.

I suppose a highlight would be more of a slow burn, I've been DJ'ing since I was 14 and things have slowly developed over the years and throughout that time i've had the pleasure of meeting the best people, present some insane music and create on a regular basis, food for the soul. I'm still heavily involved in the Manchester dance music scene and super positive about the future of my own career and Manchester's development as an electronic music hotspot. In terms of influence there's been plenty of DJ's and Producers along the way but Svreca from Semantica records is someone who I've always heavily respected, his curation of the label is flawless and I could happily buy every release blind and be a happy customer. Also In recent year's I've been a keen follower of Aaron J who's an insane DJ as well as a label owner who has been pushing things, I always appreciate a good flow and atmosphere when listening to a mix and Aaron I always achieves this in droves.


Producing was definitely something that followed the DJ'ing, I do kind of wish i'd got into it earlier but things work out the way they do. I decided to go to college to focus on music production which kicked things off and had some years of falling in and out of love with it but the incredible thing with production is the constant learning environment you place yourself in every time you sit down. There's never really been a rule book for electronic music creation and for that reason there's never going to be a completion point which you arrive at. I love experimenting with sound and im fortunate enough to have a good number of toys to facilitate that process these days but it's also super important to bare the end goal in mind. Exploration and noodling is all good but you need to remember your creating a track sometimes, if that is the final purpose.


When it comes to preparation for a gig it usually consists of getting to know your music as much as possible, I'm constantly listening and absorbing different sounds as much as i can and when it comes to gig's you just need to be as comfortable as possible with the music you plan on presenting. When playing out I've never planned anything , it never really occurred to me, I just prefer letting the feel of the night inform my decisions. When I get the opportunity, I love playing for extended periods and getting to a place where you've gained the trust of a crowd and them then being happy to go with you is a special place to be when in the booth. 

I'd say recycling sounds and repeating projects. The anxiety of having to create everything from scratch can be quite overwhelming and giving yourself a solid basis can be a powerful tool when trying to start something new as well as being a big-time saver, time efficiency is vital when trying to capture a moment of creative flow. These sounds then get re-processed and you often end up with something completely different to where you began. I'm also really keen to start making more 'tracky/tooly' music, having patients with your music is something I really struggle with and I'd love to explore this further.

Performance wise it depends on what I'm doing, DJ'ing wise I'm still playing records and probably always will, I've started playing some digital bits out these days and the possibilities are endless, if you're able to get outside of normal patterns the layering capabilities and potential to re-create your own structures within the music you're playing is awesome, but I still genuinely really get a kick out of playing records, you need to be entirely engaged with what you're doing the whole time and you need to know your music inside out. If you're referring to performance the visual element of playing records in my opinion is obviously a lot more entertaining to my eye. If it's a live performance things obviously get a lot more interesting with a load of gear involved. As long as your able to see someone create from an audience's perspective it must be entertaining to have the visual feedback of something being created in front of you. In reference to technique's, I love creating atmosphere and playing with this, everything is a tool with the type of techno I play, you're constantly layering tracks and creating tension and release moments, it's something I really respect in a good DJ and try to do as best a job as I can myself.


* Influence wise there's so much I can pull from, I'm very lucky working In Eastern Bloc Records, it's a constant onslaught of new music, sometimes too much, but i really enjoy listening to a lot of Ambient stuff, for all the shit Spotify gets I have discovered a shed load of new music and being outside of techno can really fuel idea's that can bleed into what i do in the studio. Outside of music I love being active and sometimes clearing the head via exercise can be the perfect time for something to bubble to the surface, things can be quite heavy during my working hours now that I've taken on the events role these days so it's a welcome change.


Advice to someone starting out....be open to new things and just love the music you're digging, be genuine about your purchases and don't let current trends define what you're digging, everyone's a DJ these days and we're ten a penny so the only thing that's going to keep you aside from everyone else is staying true to 'your own taste'. Music operates has always operated in circles and sometimes what your into is flavour of the month and sometimes it's completely under the radar but if your into it for the right reasons and genuinely passionate about it, when it does come round you'll be there with a wealth of knowledge in your chosen area and be ready to share it with people. 
Also, I know I'm biased but I teach people to DJ and I recommend anyone wanting to start to get used to playing with records and using vinyl. Whether you plan to get into the digital side of things or not the knowledge and understanding you gain from learning on vinyl is invaluable, sequencing music on records and knowing how to achieve a flow of music with its limitations puts you in such a solid position, ultimately it can be a hell of a lot more fun, I understand there's an argument for optimising performance and i can 100% see the pull but the risk and tactile nature of a tangible format builds for some special moments.

So many things have changed, the disappearance of club spaces in Manchester and country wide is probably the most worrying, my initial experiences were so informative and opened me up to so many different types of people with so many different types of idea's, in a time when people's views can be so polarised it's so important to engage with each other in the flesh instead of social platforms that are anything but social sometimes. Looking forward I'd love to see a further bringing together of communities, myself and Kerrie (my girlfriend) brought the events side of things at Eastern Bloc to fruition and being able to give people there first gigs and see them go on to be seriously competent DJ's is an amazing feeling and experience. Also being able to provide a space for new collectives and young promoters is very rewarding so I'd love to see more of this on a wider scale. Also, the sub-genre of techno I'm into is slowly getting bigger in the UK with collectives popping up in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds so I'd love to see these flourish more and collectives /labels/DJ's/Producers start communicating more and travelling to gigs, supporting each other.