Ben Annand

[TROPICAL]

Internationally his credits include Wiggle at Fabric (London), Labyrinth Festival (Japan), Propaganda (Moscow), Festimad and Rave Goa (Madrid), Shambhalla (Canada) and the Aca World Sound Festival (Acapulco). On the West Coast USA he has played sets in all major cities and at noteworthy house/techno festivals such as Desert Hearts (Socal), Stilldream and Firefall (Norcal), Esthetic Evolution (Idaho), and Photosynthesis (WA State)

In his zone on vinyl, CDJs, or both, he pairs impeccably smooth mixing skills with a dynamic mixing style that keeps the music moving. His music is dreamy, atmospheric and deep, crossing the genres of house, tech-house and techno and defying categorization strictly in one

Buying his first records at 23rd Precinct in Edinburgh Scotland in the summer of 96, Ben returned to the States determined to learn how to mix records and was already thinking about the future, declaring his next trip to Europe would be when he was paid to dj there. He was a quick study and started playing out at parties in late 1997, had his first international gig in Quito, Ecuador in January 1999 and followed that with a summer 1999 Moontribe Tour in Canada. In 2000 he made 5 trips to Mexico City’s Club Rimel, 1 to Guadalajara, and closed out the Jazz stage of the Aca World Sound Festival in Acapulco. Within 5 years of first trying to match 2 beats together, Ben accomplished his Europe goal with pizazz in May 2001 with a 6-gig, 4-country tour that ranged from a small club in a 13th century building in Portugal, to the 20,000 person Festimad in Madrid, a 10-year running underground warehouse party in the UK, and finally ending at the now world-famous Propaganda Club in Moscow.

From 2001-2010 Ben became rather famous in Russia as one of the top-booked dis at Propaganda with 14 visits in those years, appearing on a one-hour show Russian National Television which aired to over 2 million people, and djing outside of Moscow in 9 other Russian cities spread across its 9 time zones - St.Petersburg, Murmansk, Ekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Magnitigorsk, Sakhalin, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov and Orenburg (where he was the first American dj ever).

In that time he also made several trips to Spain, playing in Madrid, La Coruna, Santiago de Campostela, Vigo, and Lloret de Mar. In 2007 he notched one of the world’s top honors for a tech-house dj, playing for in London for Nathan Coles at Wiggle at Fabric. His success was not confined to Europe; in both 2007 and 2008 he played the Labyrinth Festival in Japan, which many top djs consider the best house/techno festival in the world.

The past three years have seen a shift in focus for Ben from international touring to becoming rooted closer to home, establishing himself on the West Coast USA Festival circuit with peak-time appearances at Photosynthesis (WA), Esthetic Evolution (ID), and Desert Hearts (CA) among many others, while continuing his 16-year running residency with Moontribe, one of Southern California’s original outdoor events and one which has influenced most other outdoor parties on the West Coast. He also continues organizing his own nonprofit event, Tropical, which stands out amongst Socal parties for having given its participants extras like free smoothies and massage and in the early days, mixtapes, while over the years while also making a positive impact on the outside community with over $13,000 in charitable donations to date.