SOUND OF THE WEEK PT. 50: BEC

a seismic shift representing more than just personal evolution. It marks the genesis of a new era, one where her musical identity transcends boundaries, mirroring authenticity and unrestrained creativity. This rebirth signals a departure from conforming to a specific techno sub-genre, a realization that emerged after years of artistic exploration and self-discovery.

Last month  you announced Bec 2.0 – the altered and new version of yourself. Where does it come from and what is it aimed at?
BEC 2.0 is the authentic, aligned re-birth of myself as an artist. I had quite an epiphany the past few months as I realized that for years, I’ve been putting myself in a box, and trying to conform to a specific sub genre within techno that hasn’t been wholeheartedly me. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change my journey for anything and feel that every experience I’ve had and every track I’ve put out I don’t regret. It’s all part of the puzzle to allow me to arrive where I’m at right now. I’m more creative and experimental in my true essence, and that’s not really come through yet or seen the light of day in the music that I’ve released to the world.

So you would agree that during your years being in the industry you feel that you have come to a point where everything you are doing now is aligned with the most authentic version of yourself?
Yes! And it feels amazing. It came hand in hand with my personal development as well. I feel like I’ve come to a point I’m happy with. In this present day, I feel it’s sometimes difficult to connect to your authenticity. There are so many intense trends going around for all parts of our lives. It’s hard to quiet the outer noise and tune into our inner worlds enough to know what we truly want, from our own hearts.

How has this affected your music and sound? 
I’m just doing what I’m doing with absolutely no worries about it all sounding the same or needing to be within the same niche! I’ve finally finished working on two versions of a live set. I started to feel like I wanted to do more with my hands when behind the decks.I spent so much time in the studio that it felt like a natural progression to me, to bring my machines onto the stage. One of the live sets is faster paced, more dancefloor orientated like most of my existing material but it has a new twist (The authentic me, twist ;)). Then, believe it or not, the second is a live ambient set! I’ve always been inspired by labels like R&S, and artists such as Aphex Twin who have been pioneers of electronic music, who weren’t afraid from the start to truly experiment. Not to be cheesy, but I do like to live along the lines of “variety is the spice of life”, so flowing with my creativity and not limiting myself has worked wonders for me. There are barely any days where I’m blocked now, and that must be a good sign I’m on the right path! I do believe that we are channels, and when we connect with our authentic selves more, we have the ability to create music that is really purposeful and is an artwork capturing the energy the producer is feeling in the moment. I’ve felt like I’ve been able to connect more, and have had goosebumps in the studio quite often, that’s when I know what I’m making is meant to get out into the world. Music has a phenomenal power to heal and to transcend emotions.

You describe yourself as a “tech geek and a bit nerdy”. You spend your free time diving into AI and technological advancements. Is this something you want to bring closer into your musical journey too? 
Yes, yes and yes! I’m really passionate about bringing all my loves together right now which, if you missed it, are; music, technology and design. It’s really exciting to me and also how I feel I can bring a uniqueness to my work. Just to leak some very exciting news, 2024 will see the launch of a new concept label by me and I have extremely special artwork and a strong creative concept behind it. I love futurism, surrealism and technological advancements to be at the heart of everything the label puts out. But of course, at its core, it’s going to be epic musical collaborations ;). 

Telekom Electronic Beats and A Better Mistake just launched their collection “Altered Egos” which refers to an array of personalities that exist within an individual. Do you feel like you’re also tapping into different versions of “Bec” regularly – if so, when and why?
Honestly, no. My work the past few years has been tying together the different versions of myself. Before, yes definitely. But I think this comes with maturity and really understanding all the layers of yourself. I believe slightly different personalities can co-exist but if we really know who we are at the core, these should all be one! Hard to describe, but hopefully you know what I mean.

So you’re agreeing that individuals should embrace their complexities within a world of evolving expressions?
I think everyone should find a way to “be” their authentic selves via their social media, artform and online presence. Our true human nature is extremely complex, nothing is ever black and white. So embracing this and owning all of our sides, and not only that but finding a comfortable way to portray it online is a hard task but an important one.

Anything else in the journey of Bec / Bec 2.0 we can get excited about already? 
For NYE I’m heading back to the states, I’ll be playing at Countdown SoCal in San Bernardino on Dec 30th, followed by more dates TBA by my great new agency for the Americas, Liaison. Next year I’ll be back touring Australia as well as the usual European dates. There’s some super thrilling musical announcements to make too, on some new labels I’ve not released on before (too early for me to say which), but I’m sure it will leave people feeling surprised!

Interview by ANGELIQUE HOUBEN