Ben Westbeech is a British DJ and record producer originating from

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

who spent his formative musical years in Bristol. Trained as cellist and vocalist, his influences include

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, soul, jazz and hip hop.

Music career

Early career: 2007–08

Westbeech gave a CD containing his first single "So Good Today" to a friend in London. Two months later she played it to Gilles Peterson who snapped it up. This led to him being signed to Gilles Peterson's new label,

Brownswood Recordings Brownswood Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Gilles Peterson in 2006. The label has released an eclectic range of music, reflecting Peterson's diverse musical taste. The roster includes Ben Westbeech, Ghostpoe ...

. His debut album ''Welcome to the Best Years of Your Life'' was released in March 2007. He later appeared on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' alongside Paul McCartney and

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

. He also appeared on the track "Squeeze Me" on Kraak & Smaak's album ''Plastic People'', released in April 2008.

''There's More To Life Than This'': 2009–11

More recently, he appeared on the track "I Can See", which was the main single for Jazzanova's album titled ''Of All The Things'', released in January 2009 on Verve/Universal. Ben also sang on the song "Shame" for DJ Marky and Artificial Intelligence. Westbeech is working with

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

(producing for his new record),

Kutz Kutz (Kuts, Kuz, Coots) is a German surname with several origins. Some time ago it was considered that this word is derived from the Middle High German word "kötze" or “kütze”, which means a woven basket (Tragekorb) or a kind of a coarse woo ...

(Soul Jazz), Redlight (Lobster Boy) and Rusko (Mad Decent). He released his second album, ''There's More To Life Than This'' on

Strictly Rhythm Strictly Rhythm is an American house music record label. History Strictly Rhythm relaunched in 2007 after a five-year break, following a venture with Warner Music. The label made a number of its recordings available for digital download and sig ...

in September 2011. The record features collaborators including Soul Clap, Henrik Schwarz, MJ Cole, Motor City Drum Ensemble and Georg Levin. Westbeech described it as "house inspired, rather than straight up house music". Westbeech also produces and DJs under the moniker Breach. Under the "Breach" moniker, he produced the track "Fatherless" released on PTN in 2010. Breach has released music on Claude VonStroke's Dirtybird label and Pet's (Catz n Dogz' label). Westbeech also wrote the vocal for Redlight's Breakthrough hit " Get Out My Head" featuring Nicole Jackson. He also owns the record label "Naked Naked" which releases tracks from Breach, Midland, Dusky and Dark Sky.

2013–present: Breakthrough

In June 2013, Westbeech's remix of Maya Jane Coles' "Everything" featuring Karin Park was released through I/AM/ME. In July 2013, under the name "Breach" he released his first successful single on the UK Singles Chart, " Jack", peaking at 9. The follow up single, " Everything You Never Had (We Had It All)" featuring Andreya Triana, also peaked at 9. Breach teamed up with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer-songwriter Kelis on the track "The Key", which was released on 14 December 2014, the week of the UK Christmas singles chart race; the single however failed to chart.

Personal life

Westbeech was briefly engaged to actress Rachel Hurd-Wood.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other songs

*"Get Closer" (12") *"So Good Today" (12") *"So Good Today (Domu Remixes)" (12", Promo) *"So Good Today (Osunlade Remixes)" (12") *"So Good Today" / "Beauty" (12") *"Dance With Me (MJ Cole / Switch Remixes)" (12") *"Hang Around (Remixes)" (12") *"Hang Around" / "Pusherman" (7", Promo) *"Something for the Weekend" *"Falling" (Strictly Rhythm) *"Let's Get Hot" (2013) *"You Won't Find Love Again" (2013)

Samples

*"Get Silly" samples

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

's cover of

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's song Pastime Paradise *"Stop What You're Doing" samples

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

's Wives And Lovers *"Get Closer" samples Linda Williams' Elevate Your Mind *"Pusherman" samples Lover's Theme by Bob Cunningham