Coming into the production game a little later than most, Benny Benassi’s impact on the dance scene following his 2003 club anthem Satisfaction has been noticeable to say the least. Italian born and bred, Benassi will return to Australia for his second national tour in April. ITM caught up with the enigmatic DJ and producer to ply him with a few questions, like what exactly he thought of that beer ad?

Hi Benny, what have you been up to of late?

I’ve been touring…. Great festival in Saint Petersburg…. Great gig in Athens, Greece and in Istanbul in Turkey…. I’ve been mixing a new compilation with Tall Paul to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the London club The Gallery.

What is happening in the Italian scene right now?

There’s a small but thriving electronic scene and a much wider ranging general house scene…

I’ve read that you were a nightclub freak from a young age, when did you officially start your professional partying career?

All I ever wanted to be was a DJ, and now I produce records too… although most of the credit should go to Alle, my cousin and studio partner…. He’s a genius. So I started when I was a teenager playing wherever they would let me and pestering older DJs to learn some of their tricks.

You’ve been DJing for quite some time now, but it seems production came a lot later for you. When did you start out at both?

As I said, I started DJing when I was a teenager and now I’m… er… past 35… I started producing on a very occasional basis about ten years ago and seriously with Alle about five years ago.

How would you define your own production sound and the style of records you play?

My taste when I DJ is for electronic tunes, a lot of instrumental stuff, it depends on the club and the crowd… I like to generate a hypnotic frenzy. What I produce has been variously describes as hypno-tech, house-tech, electro-tech, pure genius and absolute rubbish!

What inspires you, musically and otherwise?

Musically I am very open-minded. If I like a track I don’t stop to ask what genre it is, I just get into it and I have a lot of influences from 80s electropop onwards. My inspiration… my inspiration… if only I knew where it came from..!

You could be called the remix king, having remixed everyone from Outkast to Goldfrapp to Tomcraft. What’s been your favourite collaboration to date and why?

To be honest, I haven’t done that many remixes. I prefer to be really selective. I only remix tracks if I really like them, if I like the artist and if I am sure I can do a great job. I don’t know what the best collaboration has been so far… They’ve all left their mark on me and I’ve done my best to leave my mark on them.

You work with two vocalists known as The Biz – how did you begin to work with them, and are you using other vocalists at all?

They used to come to the studio (Off Limits studios in Reggio Emilia, Italy) and we started collaborating in a really natural manner. On the Benassi Bros. project we feature other vocalists: Dhany, Sandy and others.

Would I be right in saying you seem to really like the Mac voice?! What is it about it that voice?

I like everything Mac.

How did you feel about Satisfaction being used for a beer advertisement in Australia?

It was a really funny advertisement. Good choice!

Who would you like to remix if you could? Who would you like to remix you?

I’d like to remix some of the new rock bands coming out of UK right now, It’s a really interesting scene. I’d like to be remixed by lots of people.

What are you working on in terms of production at the moment? What is your next release?

With Alle, we’ve just finished the new Benassi Bros. album, the second one, called PHOBIA… I don’t know when it’s due for release in Australia…. Soon I hope! I’m also working on a remix for a cool electronic band.

Which other producers and DJs do you admire at the moment?

There are lots of really talented people out there. I don’t want to name anyone as I don’t want to exclude anyone… There’s good stuff coming out of Berlin right now.

Where do you think DJing, and in a broader sense dance music, is heading?

I can only tell you where I’m heading! I’m working with a really talented young VJ, a manipulator and creator of images and in the second half of this year I’ll be presenting a Benassi audiovisual experience.

Be sure to check out Benny Benassi at one of his Australia tour dates listed below:

Wed Apr 20 – Cairns
Thu Apr 21 – Noosa
Fri Apr 22 – Gold Coast
Sat Apr 23 – Sydney, 360 (BUY TICKETS)
Sun Apr 24 - Perth, 360 (BUY TICKETS)