Acclaimed producer and music artist DJ Bill Bennett is set to drop his fantastic new album, DILF Part 1, on Saturday, February 14. Throughout the new collection, Bennett delivers deeply human lyrics about his own experiences in love and loss, rich tribal rhythms, soaring vocals, a very relatable perspective as a gay man who’s lived some life, and, of course, top-shelf production.
Bill began his music career in the 1990s as a much-in-demand DJ in Detroit. Then Warner Brothers came calling – and Bill handled DJ duties for part of Madonna’s Drowned World Tour, which led to producing official remixes for “Frozen” and “Erotica.” It was only onward and upwards for Bill since then.
In an exclusive interview with Instinct Magazine, Bennett says the inspiration for the new album came as he was coming out of a dark period following a toxic relationship. “I was really just in a bad place, and I started writing.”
“My goal was to write a book to help guys who’ve been through what I’ve been through, because I had no one to lead me out,” says Bennett. “I never had a gay man say, ‘I’ve been through this. You can get through this.’ And I was totally alone.” But after a close friend read some draft ideas, a new idea emerged. “He’s like, Bill, these are songs. And I’m like, I know.”
He adds that the title of the album (“obviously we know what that means”) was intended to grab the audience’s attention. “But my goal was, once they got in, it’s kind of a bitch slap because you’re expecting ‘put your hands in the air, wave and don’t care’ DJ Bill Bennett — and next thing you know, you’re crying.”
The new songs and music videos span a range of musical and visual textures – from uptempo tracks chronicling Bennett’s adventures in dating in these modern times (“DILF,” “Sexting”) to haunting ballads (“Soul Mate”). Check out the music video for the title track, “DILF.” The thirst is real…
On the other end of the spectrum, “Soul Mate” is a meditation on believing you’ve found a connection with someone even when you know they’re bad for you.
“You want to help them and you want to fix them,” Bennett shares. “And unfortunately, sometimes they’re hot. There’s this voice in your head saying, ‘run.’ But you keep going back.”
By the time the project was finished, Bennett found that the creative journey “brought me closure – the closure I never was able to get from my partner. And I got to see it in a different way. It’s the best therapy I ever had.”
Related: DJ Bill Bennett’s Powerful New Video ‘Upside Down World’
Hit the play button below to listen to the full interview with the oh-so-talented DJ Bill Bennett. DILF Part 1 is set for release via Apple Music. on February 14 (yep, that would be Valentine’s Day). You can find Bill’s official Facebook here, his Spotify channel here, and much more eye-candy on Bill’s YouTube channel here.