We had the pleasure of catching up with Benny to talk about the sounds that move him— from formative live moments to current listening habits — here’s what he had to say.

PHH— What new music are you listening to?

BC— Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of contemporary soul and jazz. Particularly Kokoroko’s new album ‘Tuff Times Never Last’, Local legend Setwun’s upcoming release ‘Visions in Venus’ on UK label Extra Soul Perception.

PHH— What is your go-to genre?

BC— Go to genres is a hard one. My taste is fairly broad and I do go through waves, I could be deep into Brazilian Fusion and MPB, Boogie & Funk or deep in the House and Deep House club sounds. But as close to ‘go to’ right now would be the gamut of Jazz and Soul I guess. Spanning from old favourites like Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers to modern day artists like Nubya Garcia, Nala Sinephro, Allysha Joy. Actually, I can always listen to RnB too. 90’s through to now. There’s actually just too much good music out there.

PHH— Favourite memory associated with sound/music?

BC— Favourite moments… I’d probably say 2 moments equally. One would be my first ever concert, seeing Janet Jackson in 1995 on her Velvet Rope tour. Big time performance, the energy, the sounds, the costumes, the show(wo)manship. It was a big wow moment for me at the ripe age of 7. The second moment would be not that long ago, opening night of ‘We Out Here‘ Festival in London 2022. Seeing Masters at Work take the stage and having the dance floor locked from start to finish. Pure euphoria with ages spanning multiple generations.

BC— A Love Supreme I started with brothers of mine Nick Chiu, Alex Intas and Paulie Marinos. Initially it started out as a small hangout to bring friends and extended friends together while pushing sounds that weren’t being well represented in our city (Brisbane). Over time it grew along with the community and went more and more into dance music and parties, though never losing touch with live music and the roots of it all.

PHH— What’s exciting you most about moving to Sydney?

BC— Over the years, Melbourne has seemingly taken the mantle of the more cultural city, but Sydney is still Australia’s world city. After the fallout of the lockout laws and COVID I feel that Sydney is starting to come back strong in that respect. Plenty of amazingly talented crew here in the music world, and also plenty of good people doing quality things outside of that world too, whether that’s in Fashion, Hospitality, Venues, etc. (PHH included!).

Listen to Benny Chiu’s full DJ MIX for PHH— GOLDEN

Or add a Spotify Playlist.

Check out Benny’s Soundcloud

With updates to our Hotel playlists soon, you’ll find all of these tracks playing throughout the Hotel lobby and Paramount Coffee Project, along with an extended listen into Alternative Hip Hop, Beats, Neo-Soul, Street Soul, R&B and surrounding sounds.

TRACKLIST:

Hugh B & Setwun – Yeah Definitely

Goya Gumbani ft. Yaya Bey & Fatima – Chase The Sunrise

Baro Sura, Silentjay – Good Morning –

The B.U.M.S. (Brothas Unda Madness) – Elevation (Free My Mind)

A Tribe Called Quest – Jazz (We’ve Got)

Eric B. & Rakim – Paid In Full (Seven Minutes Of Madness) (The Coldcut Remix)

Lord Finesse ft. Kid Capri – Hip 2 da Game

INQ. & Cabu ft. Gabby Nadia – Roots

Jazz Liberatorz ft. Tre Hardson, Fat Lip and Omni – Easy My Mind

Guru – Feel the Music

Potatohead People ft. T3, Illa J & Kapok – What It Feels Like

Bahamadia – UKNOWHOWWEDU

Cazeaux O.S.L.O – Lady

Oddisee – A Rare Thing

Gang Starr – Check The Technique (B-Side)

Nas – The World Is Yours

Onra ft. MC Melodee  – Love Tip

Fredfades & Ivan Ave – Honey Dip

Children Of Zeus – Rock You Internally

Ivan Ave – Triple Double Love

Talib Kweli – Never Been In Love

The Sindecut – Tell Me Why

C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock – Go With The Flow (Alternate Mix)

Mos Def – Travellin’ Man (DJ Honda)

Robert Glasper Experiment ft. Lupe Fiasco & Bilal – Always Shine