BEN WATT [16.05.07] KEEPING IT PUNK Ben Watt is a greedy, greedy man. Not content with just one profession, the British muso can be classified as a DJ, producer, independent label owner and one half of UK band Everything But The Girl, and that's just the way he likes it. "I like all of it - people used to call it multi-tasking, but it's more about not having to be so focussed on one project all the time," he begins. "That was one of the problems with making records with Everything But The Girl, everything used to be so focussed on one major project every 18 months or 2 years and it became very pressurised and quite claustrophobic - because if you got it wrong and people didn't like that particular album then you could be washed up for a few months with nothing to do, and it was very depressing." It's fair to say that the vast majority of Australians would probably still remember Watt from his EBTG days, something that Watt says he accepts, but still finds frustrating. "So many interviews start with that band, and they've been starting with it for 8 years - I'm sure I'm going to get to the point where my DJ career is probably even bloody longer than Everything But The Girl's career," he laughs. So is the association with his former project something he strives to get away from? "No, not at all you know, my life is my life, and I've done so many different things in it, I understand that there are some people who will only remember me from that band," he says. "I don't mind at all, some people get very uptight and say you know, that was the old days, I won't talk about that, but I don't feel like that at all." But Watt has much more to talk about than the past. Moving into the future at a rapid rate, the entrepreneurial musician says life has changed significantly for him since he began his career in the music industry over 25 years ago. "I really like working under the radar again - I guess that's the main thing, and being in charge and the general sort of positivism of the independent scene, where any success is great," he explains. "There's always that atmosphere when you're on major labels that you're never doing enough and you're not selling enough records and you find yourself making little compromises and agreeing to video scripts you might not have chosen first time around - but I'm so pleased I'm out of that game really." "I can just walk down the street without being bothered, I can put out records I like in the sleeves that I like, I can DJ where and when I choose to DJ, it's very liberating." The owner of Buzzin Fly records, Watt says the culture of the independent music scene is something he revels in, and is especially passionate about encouraging new and emerging artists. "Encouraging artists is what it's all about, you know. I'm in my forties now, and my teenage years were the very end of the '70s, early '80s, which was the period for independent music and that's always been in my blood and I've always believed that new bands and new artists are the lifeblood of a label," he says pointedly. "I had absolutely no interest in signing established artists or asking established DJ producers for a track for the label, I always wanted to start with new talent, that was the ethos with what the label was started." But that's not to say that Watt has stepped out of the spotlight and busied himself in the background - the talented DJ is still playing and recording regularly, and is ready to bring his live set down under next month. "I just hope there's enough people in the room who dig what I do, you know - I'm a crowd watcher, and very attentive to what's going well and what's going badly in the set that I'm playing - but you know I won't suddenly switch to 130 beat per minute electro commercial house if I think it's going badly," he laughs. "I just do my thing and hope that people will be into it." Erika Hennessy Ben Watt plays the We Love Sounds winter festival at The Arena on Saturday June 9. His new record Buzzin Fly Volume 4 is out May 28. back to top ^

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