Endowed
with highly prominent
influences and unmistakable
musical ingenuity, it is no
small wonder that Benji
Candelario has sustained his
presence as one of the
foremost recording artists
ever to grace the club
scene.
Benji
Candelario's signature
soulful house/garage sound
is the embodiment of his
Manhattan upbringing during
the culturally vibrant 70's
and 80's, capturing the
essence of the era and
distinguishing him as a
quintessential DJ, producer,
remixer, and musician. His
exposure to music began at
an early age, spending his
golden days club-hopping at
the legendary Studio 54 and
Paradise Garage. Such
influences cemented his
roots in dance music and
paved the way for a
successful career to come.
As
Benji began to recognize his
affinity to music, he became
increasingly eager to
cultivate his musings
professionally. Little did
he know that a chance
encounter while sitting in
on editing session with
close friend Aldo Marin
would be responsible for
launching his career and
landing him side by side
with one of the biggest
producers of the time:
Arthur Baker. Aldo, who was
then editing records for
Arthur Baker, taught Benji
the basics of editing/arrangement
and often let him help out
in the studio. It was only a
matter of time before Baker,
finding Candelario to be a
natural, brought him aboard
as his new protégé.
Editing
records for Arthur proved
successful for Candelario,
who soon found himself
working with some of the
biggest icons of the era:
Grace Jones, The Bee Gees,
Evelyn King, New Order, and
Thomas Dolby to name a few.
Aldo, who by then had
started his own label,
Cutting Records, brought
Benji aboard, together
producing freestyle records
that soon became overnight
classics, including Nitro
Deluxe 'Let's Get Brutal'
and Hashim 'Al Naafiysh/The
Soul'.
Prior
to graduating high school,
Benji Candelario had already
made a strong impression as
an upcoming DJ and producer.
After college, Candelario
landed his first job at
Capitol Records in the
promotions department,
working with major artists
like MC Hammer and Grace
Jones. Most importantly, it
was there that he met Des
O'Neal, a promoter for
London's Choice FM, who
landed Benji a gig as the
weekly mix-show DJ. The show
generated such an
international buzz that
Benji soon found himself in
high demand, DJ'ing at top
international venues like
Ministry of Sound, Pacha,
and Angels of Love.
Aside
from his newfound success as
a DJ, Benji Candelario's
professional career was
prospering as well. In 1991,
Candelario left Capitol for
an A&R position at AM:PM
Entertainment, where he
would end up discovering and
signing dance superstar
Crystal Waters. However,
Candelario's real passion
lay in production and DJ'ing,
which eventually prompted
him to leave AM:PM to start
his own production company,
2nd Colour Entertainment.
Over
the years, Benji Candelario
has dominated the club
scene, developing an
impeccable reputation as an
internationally celebrated
DJ and visionary producer/remixer
for some of biggest artists
in the industry. Since
January, Candelario has
released three smash hits-IA
'Heading in the Right
Direction', BC 'Switch It',
and Arnold Jarvis 'You've
Let Love Slip Away'-the
latter two reaching #2 on
Billboard's Breakout Chart,
reaffirming Candelario's
lasting presence as a true
dance music connoisseur |