Superstar remixer who has worked with Madonna and will.i.am works from his mum's garage!
Musician Bentley Jones working in his studio in his mum's house in Solihull
You won’t have heard of him, but Bentley Jones is a huge music star – who works from his mum’s garage in Solihull.
He has worked with the likes of Madonna, will.i.am, Sia and Ariana Grande.
Lady Gaga follows him on Twitter and he is treated like a rock star in Japan.
He’s a different kind of musician, one who remixes hits and puts his own stamp on them from his studio.
Now 30, he’s been doing that since he dropped out of college at 17. He has since built up a global business.
Having
released his own music in Japan and America, Bentley is now stepping in
to the spotlight in his own country. He’s releasing his first album,
called The Prequel, and is planning a UK tour.
Madonna
Bentley explains: “I started experimenting with music when I
was a teenager, just playing around in my bedroom with keyboards and
synthesisers. I taught myself from scratch to do geeky stuff like
editing wave forms.
“They tried to get me to take music GCSE at Light Hall School but that wasn’t for me.
“I’m
doing the same things now but on a professional scale, although I still
feel like that teenager making sounds in my room. I try not to think
too much about Madonna and Lady Gaga listening to my music.
“I
was remixing music and sending them out to people, until a promotional
company in London called back and offered me a contract to produce
remixes for them.
“I was just 17. I dropped out of the media
course I was studying at Stratford-upon-Avon College but I didn’t have
to move to London, I could just carry on at home.
“My grandfather
died when I was 19 and I used his inheritance to convert the garage at
my mum’s house and turn it into a studio. Now I work all over the place
but I still come back.
Musician Bentley Jones working in his studio in his mum's house in Solihull
“I do play some instruments, but not well – to the point where I can get the sound I want from them.
“I
will start off playing on the keyboard and find a chord I like, then
add a beat and a melody. I like to think of a piece as a lump of clay
which I will keep moulding and building on.”
Most of Bentley’s
work involves remixing the hits of stars like Madonna, Sia and Lady Gaga
– he’s remixed Living For Love, Chandelier and Judas. “I am asked to
remix hit singles to promote the artists, usually in nightclubs,” says
Bentley. “My tracks will be sent out to radio and club DJs.
“I
will listen to see what I can take from it, and anything that jumps out
at me I use as a starting point for turning the song into what I want.
“I
can be speeding it up and changing the beat or adding a hook. It’s not a
case of improving on the original, just taking it to a different place.
"Fans aren’t too happy if you change too much of a song they
love. My remixes are not necessarily commercially released but they can
be if there’s a demand from the clubs.
Lady Gaga
“I don’t usually get to meet the artists, although I have
hung out in Tokyo with Pharrell Williams. He’s very short, a good foot
and a half of him is those hats he wears!
“One of my Twitter followers mentioned Lady Gaga was following me – I hadn’t even noticed, but that is cool.
“It
does feel slightly weird to promote my music in the UK. I feel like I’m
in a bubble when I’m somewhere like Japan, where they treat me like a
rock star. I don’t get too overwhelmed because it seems so unreal and
far away.
"But now I’m doing it here on my doorstep, which is exciting but a little bit strange.”
No comments:
Post a Comment