BEN LANDSHOFF (JAMIN)

( Everyday Inspirations ) - Friday 17th November 2023

Words by Theo Darvill. Photography by Isaac Jay Solanki.

Ben“jamin” Landshoff, also known as Jamin, is a twenty-year-old up and coming DJ, producer and lifelong friend of mine, originating from Cambridge. He’s currently mastering his trade at university in the northeast of England and beginning to make a name for himself as a DJ. I met Ben in nursery at the age of 3 and we’ve been friends ever since - he is and always has been determined, football mad, had a big passion (and immense talent) for making music and most of all, always loved what he does. As a DJ, Ben primarily mixes electronic dance with house music and has been heavily influenced by the likes of Solid Grooves and Defected. Despite the fact we don’t get to see each other as much anymore, he’s always someone who I’m massively inspired by and will always be a mate that I can call whenever - as a result, I jumped at the opportunity to support his journey by interviewing him for Slanky® Magazine.

Ben Landshoff fits perfectly into our Everyday Inspirations section because he’s recently made a number of difficult decisions in terms of his career and hasn’t been afraid to pursue what he wants to do rather than continuing down a path that he was not enjoying. He recently changed Uni courses and moved all the way to Newcastle after the realisation that his life in London was not what he originally thought it would be. If you ask Ben, he will tell you that it’s been best decision he has ever made and after talking to him, it's hard to disagree. Making a choice like this is no easy task when it's your future that you’re gambling with but there is nothing but admiration from Slanky® because it’s so clear to see that the risk has paid off. We love seeing Ben so happy and driven to succeed and we wish him nothing but the best moving forwards. He loves what he does and it helps that he's pretty damn good at it too!

Isaac and I have always known you as football/sport mad… how on earth did you end up here, as a DJ in Newcastle?

“So, I started at UCFB in London and the main thing I was excited about in terms of leaving sixth form was the idea of getting away from the academic stuff; the writing, the essays, etc. However, I was hit with about six essays in the first three months of my course and after Christmas, I dropped out and went into work for a year or so, which was the most fun and open eight months of my life. Whilst I was doing that, I was visiting all my friends at different universities in Birmingham, Bournemouth and Newcastle, which actually made me realise that I wanted to go back.

There were only a couple places doing the music production course that I wanted to do and the funny thing is that it was actually my mum who found it for me on the 29th page on the UCAS website. I was DJ’ing a little bit before found the course - I picked it up from my friend Matt and it became a passion for 2 years prior to starting. I'm now getting firsts in everything and it’s just because I’m now doing something that I love.”

So, when did you get your first set of decks? 

“It was in 2021, I got a DDJ-400 (Pioneer of course) that had to be linked up to a laptop with some speakers. It's all about progression, the kit I have now is like the equivalent of getting the pro-boots after playing in Sports Direct’s cheapest boots for 2 years - not that the football boots actually help your performance but in a contrasting way, this actually does. It's more versatile, you can use more effects and you can do better transitions, it's more visual in front of you and it's all in one rather than having your decks here and your laptop there. The new equipment is more widely used for professional DJ’ing too, so it helped me progress a lot.”

Moving forwards, what are your short-term and long-term career goals, both as a DJ and as a young creative individual?

“Interestingly, the other week I attended a live podcast recording at my university campus with a big house DJ called Patrick Topping. Luckily, the event was open to the public but not many people knew about it, so there were only about 10-15 of us listening in this big theatre and we got to ask questions, meet him after etc. He said to me in that moment, “have you got any music for me? I'll take it home on a memory stick," to which I said no… which made me realise that one of my short-term goals is to be making and regularly and putting out music of my own as soon as possible because in that position, I missed out on a big opportunity. I think if I'd have gotten my short-term goals in order a few months ago, I would have been in a position to progress and get in regular contact with Patrick, which would have obviously been huge for me. That’s definitely one of my short-term goals - to keep progressing, getting bigger sets and be putting out my own music.

Long-term wise I'd say I’d like to grow as big as I can; that means getting as close to the top as possible in terms of high amounts of traffic when it comes to streaming my songs, bigger sets in terms of performing and as a result, earning a bigger wage. Earning a wage of £30 an hour at the moment is good but I'm only playing for an hour or so at a time. The good thing though is that it feels like it’s not that far away.”

What would you say has been the biggest/hardest obstacle you’ve had to face/overcome so far?

“I can actually give you three! Number one was actually learning the decks. When I got my first controller, I remember looking at it daunted, thinking that there's so many buttons… where do I start? I think it took me about six or seven months to master the actual art of DJing - now I'm at a place with mixing where I want to be and I'm confident in playing out to anyone. That was a big obstacle to begin with, it's like learning to drive – anyone can do it, I even taught Isaac the basics in the studio the other week.

The second obstacle was learning the ways of Logic and Ableton which are what you actually make songs on. That is something that I still don’t think I am fully competent in just yet because learning how to use them was harder than leaning to DJ - on a set of decks, you can see everything you need to do in front of you, whereas on the software it feels endless. Getting over the stress of that was definitely one of my biggest obstacles to date.

The final one that every DJ faces is getting booked for sets, getting attention and trying to get your name wherever you can. The more networking you do and the more content you put out, the more attention you get, although it’s definitely all easier said than done. I struggle a lot with content - I often feel that whatever I put out has to be perfect but in reality, the content is about you and your followers want to see what you’re up to regularly, not every six months.” 

How did it make you feel when you played in front of your first crowd and how do you feel about playing live now, has anything changed? 

“Scared… the first crowd I played in front of was at an event called Butter Party, which was ran by one of my mates on the course called Harry Robson. He asked if I wanted to come on and I'm not gonna lie, I wasn’t the best DJ at that point, so I was probably quite dead but being that one person on the decks for the first time in front of people who have paid to be there was such a crazy feeling in my head. That feeling you get is euphoric and it makes me really happy that I can share my skills and music with people but I was obviously still really nervous. Now, I don’t get nervous because it’s almost become second nature to me, making the nerves turn into good nerves… alongside a lot of adrenaline - you don’t want to mess up or anything like that. I call it euphoria because it just makes you warm inside when you step back and take it all in.” 

Finally, what advice do you have for an upcoming DJ or what advice could you give to a young individual who may find themselves in a similar situation to yourself a year or so ago, stuck in between choosing career paths?

“Firstly, for an up-and-coming DJ, when you get a block (which will happen a lot at first), have a break and come back to it. Also watch a lot of tutorials - another thing that Patrick Topping said to me was that he didn’t watch a lot during his early DJing days and ended up spending hours and hours on something that could have just taken two minutes to master with the help of the internet. Don’t waste your time with trial and error when the internet is right there; watch tutorials in the breaks I mentioned before so that you are actively trying to learn and not wasting any of your time.

For people who are stuck between career paths, I think taking a step back and getting grounded or settled helps you realise what you want to do. Waiting for the right time is extremely vital. I truly believe that everybody’s path has already been chosen for them, whether they know it or not - I had no idea that I was gonna scroll to page 29 on UCAS clearing to find this course and end up here. If you have a passion for something, then you can work that right timing into your passion and if you keep it around in your life it will come up again. Talk to as many people as you can and find out their stories to help you feel better about your process - they would have been in similar situations, trust me. Don’t rush it, don’t force anything; relax and fix the things you can fix while you're working your way into a position where you are ready for anything.”