UK production duo Billen Ted unveiled their debut single ‘Satisfied’, on 27th November via Black Butter.
Centred around a sample from the Chaka Khan 1984 classic ‘I Feel For You’, ‘Satisfied’ is an infectious dance-pop jam, combining feelgood piano chords, euphoric vocals and a deep, bumping bassline.
Operating out of Ealing Studios in West London, Billen Ted are a production-writing duo who have made the unlikely transition from death metal bands to the world of dance music. Working with a long list of artists from the club and pop scenes, they have previously written tracks for the likes of 220 Kid, Hugel, MNEK, Sleepwalkrs, Melanie C and many more.
Drawing inspiration from one of the most iconic tracks from the 1980s, ‘Satisfied’ is a floorfiller with serious crossover appeal.
We had a chat with the pair as part of our introducing series...
Hey Guys! Introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about you!
"Yoooooo! Thanks for having us here – we’re Billen Ted – we’re just a couple of guys blagging it to be honest and people seem to be buying it so making the most of it while we can!"
How did you meet and when did you start working together?
"So we actually met when our bands were touring together back in the day. We both got signed pretty young sort of 16-ish but would always be on our laptops on the back of the bus making beats, mostly dubstep actually back then! We’d always talked about doing something and then I rung Sam on the way back from Tomorrowland about 5 years ago and was like dude, we’ve got to give this a shot and it all went from there and we got signed a couple of months later!"
Is there a story or reason behind the name?
"Without landing ourselves in trouble. We’re big Keanu Reeves fans haha!"
You’ve recently released your debut single ‘Satisfied’. How has the reaction been so far?
"We’ve had AMAZING support so far from the likes of MistaJam, Dave Tracey and Radio 1 – they’ve been slamming it on Party / Dance anthems so it’s great to see, always a buzz when your record comes on radio!"
Tell us a little about it!
"The production came around quite quickly with the aim of keeping the vocal as the main focus point and then moulding the 80s with now, using a few 80's esq synths and drums but keeping the kick and bass more in that modern realm."
It’s centred around a sample from the Chaka Khan 1984 classic ‘I Feel For You’. What is it about that song that drew you in?
"We just wanted to make a feel good track that could get people dancing in what has been a pretty shitty year for the world and what better song than 'I Feel For You', it’s an incredible song and we hope we’ve done it justice!"
This is your first music release, but you guys have had massive success, working with many artists such as 220Kid and MNEK to name only a couple! What’s been your stand out moment so far?
"I think watching records come alive that you make in a small studio with essentially your mates is still crazy to get our heads around sometimes! It’s a shame in some ways that our most successful year has coincided with there being no live as normally that’s the biggest pay off is watching your songs being played out at all the festivals and watching people react to them, we’ve missed that but 2021 BABY COME ON!!!!"
What can we expect from you guys in the near future?
"We’ve got a lot of releases locked in for next year as Billen Ted, a lot of other records coming out that we’ve produced / written – it’s going to be busy but a lot of fun! And hopefully the music connects enough for us to get out on the live circuit and get into clubs again."
'Satisfied' is out now.
Listen HERE @billented
The Lowdown is an online blog & print entertainment platform for music discovery featuring the very best in both established and upcoming talent. Find the latest news, reviews, interviews with your favourite artists and grab tickets to upcoming gigs & tours.