Name: Matthew Benjamin aka Bushwacka!
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, DJ, therapist
Current release: Bushwacka! and Carl Cox team up for "Music Is Life," featuring Chuck Roberts. The EP is out July 28th 2023 via Oblong.
Gear Recommendations: LALAL.AI; BLACK CORPORATION イセーニン

[Read our Carl Cox Interview]

If these thoughts by Bushwacka! piqued your interest, visit his official homepage or his profiles on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter. OWe also recommend our earlier Bushwacka! Interview about helping musicians heal.



The views of society towards technology are subject to constant change. How would you describe yours?

I embrace technology and believe that in most cases can compliment us or it can provide tools that, depending on how they are used, or abused, can enhance our workflow, and creativity.

This is subjective to the type of technology you are referring to, but in the context of this conversation, I would assume it is in the musical realm.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist/producer?

My first steps in music shortly followed my first steps as a toddler. I was making up tunes on my mother’s piano at the tender age of 3, so music has been an integral part of my life since pre-school.

Can one train? I believe you only get out of something what you put into it, including your journey as an artist. Even a musical genius, who makes everything look easy, spends thousands of hours playing their instrument, or working on productions.

The infamous “10,000 hour rule” is something I hold value in – there is a mastery at that level, that can rarely be reached without the due diligence.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and then becomes increasingly professionalised. How important is playfulness for you today and if it is important, how do, concretely, you retain it?  

I spent some years only playing, not recording much, and just being in the moment sitting at the piano keyboard – this was around 2016-2018, when I was in many ways relearning how to “do life”. Now, for me playfulness means jamming and tweaking, and really feeling it.

I set up my studio 2 years ago totally DAWless and recorded loads of jams with the machines synced up to each other, and no arranging, just on the fly. I am planning to release some of these in album format when I find the time. That will embrace the playfulness, parallel to refining the production.

Which other producers were important for your development and what did you learn from them?

Carl Craig always inspired me. The ultimate blend of dischords, dynamics, and heart-achingly moving compositions.

I feel I learned the value of manipulating strings and pads from Carl’s productions.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

Right now I have a dream setup, for me as a solo artist, aside from the room itself, which is pretty square, though I have been getting great results from the space I am in.

I recently went to a hybrid SSL setup of Analog desk and digital controllers, that are a pleasure to mix and track on. The Isla Instruments S2400 which is a copy of the Emu SP1200 has brought me full circle to how I used to use samplers to create beats and grooves. I love the rawnes.

My new Genelec monitoring system is sick too – so detailed.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly influenced, changed or questioned the way you make music?

AI. The way I am using it recently has brought a new dimension to my creavity, particularly around vocal manipulation.

What is the relation between innotative tools and "innovative music"?

The innovator is the link – neither of these things happen without the mind oft the creator  - at least for now!

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

I wonder what SOPHIE means by “limit themselves”? For me the only limitation is what one believes is OK or not – what is deemed “good, bad, usable, etc” – we limit ourselves with our fears of not fitting in, or not being good enough, or accepted.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow/process look like?

Recently, beats and grooves on the S2400, then sync it up with Ableton and play melodies and harmonies and textures on my analog / digital hybrid synths ..

Play and tweak for ages, and then procrastinate for an indefinite period of time, from days to several years, before arranging and mixing the track.

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to gear and production?

I dont know what other artists are doing as I am an introvert – I barely talk to most people in my industry, let alone know what they are up to – it is kind of embarrasing but I get social anxiety at times.

I am sampling some of my own old productions to make new beats and grooves now, to add to what I am working on – and I am sampling in 12 bit and mono a lot of the time – which I never used to do.

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. Do you feel these terms have a relationship to your own work of and approach towards sound? Do you find using presets lazy?

The “I have to change it if it’s a preset” thing is kind of like a musical wokeness – I like to think that if it sounds great, and it works, then you can be ok to use it …

I have a terrible habit of rarely using the same kick drum – which has cost me months of my life trying to find new ones that work. I don’t know why I do that – that is a “design fault” in my circuitry.

Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. Which of these have proven particularly fruitful in this regard?

I had this ipad app that would allow me to play chord structures that I would never have come up with unaided. I can't remember what it is called, as I was using it many years ago – but I loved it.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

I want it to arrange my tracks for me.

I have been around a while now, and if it analyses my back catalog, and my search engine history, it should be able to nail the arranges. And if it can't, I want a good explanation why not!

Technology has continually taken on more steps of the compositional process and "creative" tasks. From your point of view, where does "technology" end and "creativity" begin?

In our dreams (day or night).

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instruments you would like to see and hear?  

I spent a lot of time working on taking biofeedback and converting it into frequencies – from breath to pulse, brainwaves to temperature, mood to pupil dilation. I would like to see this become an option for all humanity to create their own music to share, from their body and mind.