Ben Watt

• Genre: House
• Hometown: London
• Ben Watt Website

About

Beginning his musical career as half of Everything But the Girl (with wife Tracey Thorn), Ben Watt has gone on to become a producer, DJ and founder of Buzzin' Fly Records. The house stage of Watt's life began with Todd Terry's 1995 remix of Everything But the Girl's "Missing," which Watt then remixed under the pseudonym Little Joey before going on to dabble in drum 'n' bass with "Wrong," a UK Top 10 hit from the Walking Wounded album. Subsequent clubland success led to a partnership with KISS-FM's Jay Hannan and their formation of the U.K. club night Lazy Dog. The five-year event spawned two compilations and a number of remixes for Sade, Maxwell and Sunshine Anderson, among others, along with the breakout hit "Tracey in My Room," released on Astralwerks in 2000. Since ending Lazy Dog in 2003, Watt has turned his attentions to his deep-house label Buzzin' Fly and its pop offshoot, Feeling Strange, refining his own soulful sound with releases like "Lone Cat" and "A Stronger Man." In 2008, Buzzin' Fly -- which he describes as "replenishing music for the modern soul" -- released the anniversary compilation 5 Golden Years in the Wilderness.

- Philip Sherburne