Ben UFO

Under the name Ben UFO, Ben Thomson has built a career in London focused on DJing rather than on production, working across an electronic spectrum that links dubstep, UK garage, house, techno, breakbeat and other bass-driven rhythms without confining itself to a single club format. Ben UFO first appeared on the pirate station Sub FM and later on Rinse FM — two important contexts for shaping his approach, which is based on sequencing different aesthetics and a constant attention to the exchanges between British scenes and wider dance music. As cofounder of the label Hessle Audio with Pearson Sound and Pangaea, he helped shape a London sound that extended dubstep into more open, syncopated and hybrid forms. His discography under his own name remains limited, reinforcing the idea of an artist defined by track selections, mixes and club context. Ben UFO is thus known through mixes for the BBC, Fabric and Rinse — notably Rinse: 16 in 2011 — and through performances on club and festival stages worldwide. He continues today with the same line: precise, mobile and cross-cutting DJ work rooted in soundsystem culture and the shifts in British electronic music.