Party Ben

The Green Day vs. Oasis vs. Travis vs. Aerosmith (by way of an Eminem sample) mash-up is affectionately called “Boulevard of Broken Songs,” and is the creation of DJ Party Ben. Boulevard made its debut on San Francisco’s Live 105 on October 1st of last year, the song “seemed like an instant phenomenon,” according to its creator. It has since enjoyed airplay around the world and on XM satellite radio. But who is the man behind the mash? We scored an interview with the DJ who took a pair of modern rock classics, threw in some additional ingredients and whipped up a “new” song that has achieved seemingly instant popularity. Party Ben gives us a short history of mash-up’s, where "Boulevard" came from, what Green Day thinks about it and his thoughts on the latest city-based music scene.

G4: What was your inspiration for putting the four songs together in Boulevard of Broken Songs?

Party Ben: Since I do a weekly mix show already (the Sixx Mixx Fridays at 6 pm on Live 105, San Francisco), I always have to come up with interesting remixes or weird segues. One week in late September I was listening to the Green Day original and it seemed strangely familiar. After a few days of mulling it over, I realized the song I was thinking of was Oasis "Wonderwall". I just started putting them together and it worked. The Travis and Eminem just sort of popped in there randomly, although, I wanted the Aerosmith original, but it wasn't on iTunes, and I was making the mix at like 5 pm on Friday and didn't have time to go to the record store. Then I remembered the Eminem track that samples Aerosmith. So, there wasn't really any "inspiration" as much as there just was "desperation" to finish my show--there's nothing like a deadline to get you in gear.

G4: Tell us a little about you as an on-air guy and club spinner.

PB: I'm the Creative Director at LIVE 105 which means I write copy, do voice-over, do audio production, think of wacky ideas for the station to get in trouble with, etc. So, it's cool that messing around with audio is kind of my job. That's how I learned the programs that I use to make mash-ups. As far as DJing in clubs, I've always been eclectic and weird--I love stomping techno and classic rock and don't see a problem mixing them together. Spinning mash-ups is just an extension of that.

G4: Mash-ups aren't exactly new, but for the uninitiated, give us a little about their history.

PB: Like all musical movements, it's tough to pinpoint when they started, but the one that seems to be a flash-point for today's style is the Freelance Hellraiser's Strokes vs. Christina Aguilera "Stroke of Genie-us". It's so well-produced and surprising, and the two songs flow beautifully together. There were mash-ups before then, and bootleg remixes before that, so I hate to say it's the "first". But after that, lots of great producers got the idea in their head and it really seemed to explode. There was a British #1 song that was basically a mash-up--Richard X had put together Gary Numan and Adina Howard as a bootleg, and then Gary Numan authorized it--but Adina Howard didn't, so they got Sugababes to re-sing the vocal. It was a smash. America has been a little slow on the uptake, but LIVE 105 here in SF has been playing mash-ups since 2001, with mixes like the Inhumanz mash-up of 50 Cent with Nine Inch Nails, and my own Eminem "Without Me" techno mix.

G4: Are you surprised that "Boulevard" is being picked up by radio stations around the world? And what do Green Day or the other bands think?

PB: I think I just had good timing--the Green Day original is really popular right now, so I got lucky. Green Day, I just heard in an MTV News segment, apparently like it. Apparently Fran from Travis posted to a message board that he likes it too. As far as Liam, Noel, or Steven, or Eminem, I have no idea.

G4: What equipment do you need to be able to create a good mash-up?

PB: Not much--technically, you don't even need a computer, if you're good enough to mix an a cappella and an original live. But it helps to have any digital audio software like Cool Edit or Ableton Live.

G4: Is there an artistic challenge to making a good mash?

PB: I think you need to have some musical knowledge, so you can structure the songs correctly and know if they flow together. Or you should have a sense of humor!

G4: If you could do something on the level of The Grey Album or Jay-Z vs. Linkin Park, who would be the source material?

PB: An album-length project hasn't really interested me...I get bored too easily!

G4: Tell us about the SF mash scene.

PB: The SF scene is actually really exciting. Not to be pretentious, but it feels like a truly vibrant musical community, like the Omaha indie rock scene or dare I say it, Seattle in the "grunge" era. There are so many quality producers and people interested in "bastard pop" in many different forms, and we all learn from each other and influence each other. There's Adrian and Mysterious D, the SF Weekly-award nominated DJs who started Club Bootie, and who make mash-ups as well--plus Adrian leads "Smash-Up Derby", the all-mash-up live band. DJ Earworm is the real artist of the scene, making epic, complex mash-ups out of four or five songs, and using some serious software and technology to really push boundaries. Appropriately, he's been featured at gigs at the SF Museum Of Modern Art. DJ Tripp out of Santa Cruz is incredibly prolific and attentive to new music, and is usually the first one out with a mash-up of a new song. Matt Hite runs a website called www.beatmixed.com that is a clearinghouse for all things remix-oriented, plus makes some mash-ups himself. Local synth-pop musician Tristan Shout has taken his signature techno style to his Kraftwerk and Moby-sampling mash-ups, and DJ Mei-Lwun has brought a crowd-pleasing attitude to his hugely popular mash-ups like Lynyrd Skynyrd vs. Nelly. DJ Jay-R spins at the Castro club The Cafe, and many of his bootlegs aim towards the campy side. Add LIVE 105's support of the mash-up scene and you've got a very interesting situation. I wish more media outlets would pay attention, but for now, it's all still pretty underground.

G4: Ever thought about mashing up a popular song with a piece of music from a video game soundtrack album?

PB: Somebody beat me to it--there's a couple examples of corny Pac-Man style music behind rap tracks, for example cry.on.my.console's "M.I.A. vs. Super Mario Brothers".

G4: Who is going to get the next Party Ben treatment?

PB: Well since I have to produce a half-hour show every week, I always have to come up with a couple surprising juxtapositions. Just last week I married The Killers to The Clash and New Order, and I'm working on a more rock 'n' roll version of "Drop It Like It's Hot", although I just love the original of that so it's hard to improve it. But I just hope I haven't reached my peak with "Boulevard of Broken Songs", although I guess it'd be a good track to go out on.