Get to know: 7XINS

We chat to London based, live electronic producer on the rise...

7XINS is a London based, live electronic producer on the rise. A lot can happen in four years and in the case of 7XINS, the up-and-coming artist already has a wealth of experience behind him in the music industry. Working as a sound technician in some of the cities longest running establishments has paid off and as a result, 7XINS - otherwise known as Ben Short - has meticulously tuned his ears and approach to sound to the nth degree, building a studio from scratch to lay the foundations for a rich, analogue sound he’s gradually gaining recognition for.

With a healthy amount of hardware to construct the rich layers behind each production, a deeply emotive aesthetic with a strong sense of space and depth is emerging as his signature sound, but his recent collaborations with Luther Vine (some yet to be released) show that Short is far from being pigeonholed to one genre.

After the recent release of his EP ‘In My Mind’ on Egg LDN’s ‘What Came First’ imprint, 7XINS’s is set to grow throughout the year with more work in the studio to hone his live show set up, and further releases on UK based labels in the bag.

With this in mind, we caught up with the man himself to see what else is in store and how - in his own words - the dance music scene has evolved in recent years…

For those that haven’t encountered 7XINS before, can you describe your sound and what’s on the new EP?

The sound on the EP I would describe is spacious, atmospheric and somewhat emotive. I have always gravitated towards music with a sense of space and atmosphere, these traits are a must for me and therefore naturally found its way into my productions.

You can always expect to hear this from me. I also use a fair bit of hardware, have a few nice synths and some Eurorack modular so rich analogue tones are something you will always hear in my work.

How did you break into music production and what have been the most game-changing moments to date?

Haha, strange one this really, having listened to electronic and dance music all my life I basically turned around one day and came to wonder how this music is actually made, I had a lot of time on my hands at the time as I was off from work with an injury. Had no idea about the rabbit hole I was about to go down though haha!

I was an auto technician at the time so the transition into processing and audio electronics were a natural one and something I really enjoyed learning about, I always been quite geeky in that way. It didn’t take me long to get hooked. My career and life soon changed thereafter… The game-changing moment was moving from South Wales to London… definitely no regrets there.

Can you share some of your influences with us?

I can definitely put my influences down to my older sister who was an avid clubber, I used to record her hard dance CD’s to tape and listen on my Walkman at like 13/14 years old. I used to love all the hard house and dance music back in the day. Like I said I was young so used to listen to a lot of questionable dance music, it was always quite dark and atmospheric though and I think that is something I have always been hooked on.

The Electronic music scene has never been healthier, do you agree?

Yeah definitely agree there, it’s pretty incredible, to be honest. I mean no matter who you are and what your tastes are if you’re into electronic music there’s always a deep hole for you to go down if you wish to do so.

You can either keep it simple and enjoy some easy listening or you can indulge in some really underground niche scenes, there really is something for everyone especially here in London, we really are super lucky here the scene is so vibrant.

To add to that, I think the ability for almost anyone to actually try and make music and be creative is really simple now with so many different platforms to record on or just even play. I mean you just need an iPad and a lite version of a DAW essentially and you’re away - however crazy that sounds.

What’s on the horizon for 7XINS this year?

I still have lots of unfinished music, too much actually I am sure most other producers can relate haha. The most important thing at the moment is getting my Live set up and running though, something I have been working on for a while now.

I spend so much time in the studio, it’s just time to get it all together and make a live performance out of it I think. So yeah live performance, finish more music and look to the next release. It’s always constant that’s for sure.

Finally, leave us with emerging artists that are on your radar at the moment?  

Definitely Woo York, Architectural, Blind Observatory and Etapp Kyle. Not so much emerging but really digging these guy’s music at the moment purely for the amount of depth and atmosphere they bring. Really looking forward to welcoming Woo York and their amazing live set to Egg on the 28th April, will be a great night for sure.


7XINS - In My Mind EP (Inc. Luther Vine Remix) [What Came First]