Lucas Benjamin

Lucas' first encounters with music started at an early age. As the son of a DJ and musician, he was automatically nourished with a broad selection of sounds. Although, his true passion for music evolved when he started b-boying (breakdancing) at the age of twelve. Unifying his mind, body and soul with tribal drum breaks, powerful horn sections and soulful vocals made him experience the true essence of jazz, soul and funk. Besides being a dancer, he also had a great interest in music and its history. And so he spent hours and hours in record stores, educating himself by analysing numerous LP's and CD's. He didn't buy them yet though, he only studied, since the little money he had gone to travelling expenses: he tried to attend every dance battle there was in The Netherlands. This dedication eventually led to victories on the dance-floor, which gave him some more financial possibilities. And so he could finally start his vinyl collection.Lucas debuted using the moniker 'DJ Lu-Chi'sz' and started to pursue miraculous melodies and challenging rhythms. He did this together with his friend Joey Lewing, also known as 'DJ Nobunaga'. As the DJ team 'Bomb-Collectors' their common goal was to discover hidden gems and play something out of the ordinary. Due to their unique sounds, their reputation was soon disseminated globally. And as part of the success of their b-boy crew Extraordinary Gentlemen (EXG) they soon got the chance to travel worldwide both as dancers and as DJs. This continued for a couple of years until there was a breaking point on the 24th of April 2011. On a b-boy battle in Bordeaux, Lucas made an unfortunate fall and dislocated his elbow. The accident resulted in a six-month recovery in which he couldn't dance at all. In the following hurtful period, Lucas found his comfort in music and got deeper into it than ever. During this time, his perspective changed and this made him decide to stop competing in dance battles. He is now fully focused on DJing. As an act of gratitude towards the first generation who were teaching him when he was a kid, he started teaching dance classes and workshops. Making it full circle and helping to keep the culture alive for generations to follow. In 2011, Lucas started an online mixtape-series called 'Music Is What Feelings Sound Like', where he played all kinds of songs that he had stories and experiences with. He aimed to touch people differently than he could do when he would play somewhere. He wanted to help people grow emotionally and spiritually, which made him receive many stories of people who were touched by his mixtapes. For the ones that became curious: they are still online. Besides dance events, Lucas started playing at various parties, festivals, and theatre shows. Which made him travel to places like Hawaii, Sydney, São Paulo, New York, Berlin, and London. In 2014, he lived in Japan for 3 months to discover the music scene and culture of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. After this inspirational journey, he decided it was time to change his DJ name from 'Lu-Chi'sz' to his real name 'Lucas Benjamin'. In 2014 Lucas was asked by the renowned Wicked Jazz Sounds-movement in Amsterdam to join them.
You could frequently see/hear him play at their weekly club nights in Amsterdam up till the arrival of the 2020 pandemic.In 2015, he became a curator for 22tracks where he filled up the "Funk/Soul/Jazz" playlist until they sadly had to quit their platform in 2017 due to various reasons. The playlist evolved into 'Tip44' and Lucas still curates this list with Phil Horneman on Spotify, and they update it weekly with the latest releases.In 2016 Lucas started the MORE BOUNCE — Collective with Lee Funksta, Rob Manga, and Dean High.
Their focus was highly on Funk music, old and new, because that sound wasn't being represented in the Amsterdam nightlife at the time. The party went on for 3,5 years.2017 marked the birth of a record label called Wicked Wax, which Lucas started together with DJ Leroy Rey and Ty Campbell. Many of the releases on their roster are rising new Dutch artists. In the same year he joined the Ghetto Funk Collective and together they started pushing Funk culture on a global level with frequent mixes, videos and events. The 2020 pandemic forced the world to pause, and this gave him the time and headspace to start something new for the scene. Lucas teamed up with Mo Wrights and founded Steppin' Into Tomorrow, a music platform based in Amsterdam that aims to unite various aspects of the music culture and bring the current Dutch scene to international ears. They expanded the team with a group of enthusiastic writers, DJs, musicians, photographers, videographers, and all-around musicologists. Through the years, Lucas gained a lot of knowledge and experience. Not only about music, but also how to connect with the audience and how to take them on an uplifting journey.