As one of EDM’s newest rising stars makes the festival circuits in 2019, this 20-year-old knows exactly what he is up against. This year, Benda landed on the lineup for the world renown Electric Daisy Carnival – Las Vegas, reaching a milestone that most DJs and Producers will work their entire career for the coveted accomplishment. Today, he released his newest track “Yuh”, a riddim / dubstep influenced song that hits hard right from the beginning. The headbangers will certainly be adding this to their playlists once they hear the intensity and vibe of the track, which also incorporates a staple of the hip hop genre: the hype man. Throughout the track (and also as a reference to the name of the track), “Yuh” is also layered in as the final icing on the cake. I was honored to interview Benda on some of the present, past and future plans for music, and getting to know who he is beyond the stage and on a more personal level.
In a few bios and articles across the internet, 2018 was considered your breakout year. If you were to pinpoint the moment when you felt things were falling into place to have a successful career in music, when did this happen and how did you feel about it?
In my eyes, I still feel like I haven’t had that “breakout” moment yet. I’m still working everyday to get where I want with my career and I don’t see an issue getting there with a lot of hard work.
At what point did you realize it was time to move from Miami to LA? What do you miss about Miami?
Once I finished high school i felt like i wanted a change of scenery and a new environment to be able to work on music at. I started to get into the same production habits and new it was time to make the move. And as for what I miss the most from Miami, that has to be my dog. He’s the goodest boy in the world.
How did you link up with Boygore initially and how has he influenced you?
Borgore and I met through mutual friends and then just started to hang out more before i had moved out to LA. Once i had moved out there we started to hang out even more and just became super close friends to the point where we just hang out and not talk/work on music related stuff. He’s really influenced me with his work ethic, the dude is always working on music which motivates me to just put in more hours.
What was your happiest moment from your career this year?
Playing EDC Vegas definitely was definitely the coolest part of this year for me. I got to play a sunrise set which is something I had never done before, so it was a super cool experience.
What kind of pressure do you find hardest to deal with?
I’m not sure if i would call it pressure, but all I want is to make my parents proud so I just try to work as hard as possible to do that.
Do you have any traditions or superstitions that are part of your pre/post show or producing process?
Listening to Future – March Madness before every set has been a thing i started doing just naturally, so now it’s just become a pre show ritual.
Your new single ‘Yuh’ comes out Friday! What are you most proud of on this track?
I’m really happy with the sound design process I had in this song. I took a different approach then i normally do and i ended up with a cool result and a new workflow i started to implement into all my production. I highly encourage other producers to try “weird” approaches to their sound design.
How have your fans influenced you?
My fans just always support me for being me. They also are super supportive with whatever music I make which I think is super cool and makes me want to work harder to show them the vision I have for the Benda project.
Favorite movie?
My favorite movie has to be Toy Story.
Favorite band when you were 12?
12-year-old Benda was super into rap music rather then bands at the time so i’d have to say it was Gucci Mane, Speaker Knockerz and Drake.
Goals for the next year?
My goals for next year are just to put out ALOTTTT of different styles of music. I make so many song different styles of music ranging from rap to latin stuff to pop and I want to be able to put it out for everyone to hear.
Click the link below to check out ‘Yuh’ out on Buygore on multiple streaming platforms: