Festival Fodder: Temple Step Discusses the Joys of Playing the Festival Circuit

It’s easier said than done to get a whole room of people bouncing and moving, but for Temple Step, it’s his specialty. Temple Step is the stage name for Benjamin Last, a Melbourne, Australia-based DJ and producer. For over 30 years, he has been excelling as a globally touring DJ, conquering dancefloors around the world. Last is both dynamic and original in how he presents his music. A Temple Step set features Last, along with singer and ceremonialist Madhu Honey (Nectar). In addition to his DJing, he also uses live percussion, synths, and vocals to create a unique live experience. His roots lie in electronic dance music, but as a student of music, Last is also influenced by global music cultures. You can’t help but notice Middle Eastern, African, Brazilian, and Latin traditions within his sounds.

As the co-founder of Motiv Music and Motiv Records, Last has produced over 100 original releases. Both live and in studio, he is like a technician, and live, he commands the stage with that technical mastery and genuine charisma. Over the years, Last has become a fixture of the electronic touring and festival circuit. He has performed at festivals such as Texas Eclipse, High Vibe, Sonic Bloom, Beloved, Rainbow Serpent, Woodford Folk Festival, Transcendence Festival, and many more. Being on the road is a big part of his life, and he often tours all around the world.

With his long history of playing the festival circuit, Last makes for a perfect guest for our Festival Fodder interview. He discusses what types of festivals interest him, how to deliver a great set, what his performances are like, and much more.

What usually draws you to say yes to playing a festival?

Temple Step: “I always look for a festival that connects with my inventions as an artist. So, in the case of the Transcendence Festival 2024 in Palya De Carman, Mexico, this was a perfect fit. The themes of this festival were personal growth, transformation and connecting a communal movement. ‘Transcendence’ is not just an event. It’s a mirror, a movement, a universe.’

“My music is about the same themes, and so to play my own music in the center of the festival as the headlining artist felt like the perfect connection to an artist to a festival.”

How do you define the vibe or energy of a great festival experience?

“A great vibe or energy at a festival is created through the event curator’s storyline that connects the music, the workshops and layout of the stages. This carefully interwoven tapestry needs to be embedded into a storyline of transformation. That’s why they call it a transformational festival. In other words, it’s a growth phase for every participant who comes. Each music act, their placement in the order of artists playing, needs to reflect a part of this transnational journey.

“The same goes for the workshop and other offerings that occur at the event. The placement of when they happen is everything. It’s like a DJ set; the order of the songs is critical to the whole. A great DJ set tells a story through music, which keeps people present to the transmission of the music because the story has cohesion. Same in a festival lineup performance order. Cohesion is critical for attention; otherwise, people tap out and don’t commune with the music.”

Benjamin Last aka Temple Step at Cervantes, photo by Mark Davidson

How do you see my acts sound contributing to the overall atmosphere of a festival lineup?

“Temple Step Project’s music contributed to the overall atmosphere of the festival in a way that it brought its multicultural influences and reinforced the themes of global unity, peace and oneness. Each track shared, revelling in a different cultural influence, then brought into a dance music set, it revealed global unity as all the cultures were present as one. The audience danced through each track’s culture and then came to a place of the concept of global unity to close the set. Truly transformational experience.”

Are there specific themes or aesthetics you love seeing at festivals you’re part of?

“Indigenous cultural inclusion, a focus on wellness and respect for each other. Aspects that were more than just music. Transcendence included rituals and performance art by Ancient Mayan ceremonists…”

How does your approach to a festival set differ from a club or headlining show?

“At a festival like Transcendence, diversity is welcome, in clubs one needs to play to the event’s main genre more. This is because at a club, the sets are usually one straight after the other, and so your set should be a part of a larger arc of energy that rises and falls over the event. But at a festival like Transcendence, space was given in between the music sets for workshops, so each set worked better as a complete arc to itself. This allowed me to play more diversely and bring all my different favourite genres such as Bass, House, Drum n’ Bass and Downtempo to the set, and all was well received by the crowd.”

Benjamin Last aka Temple Step at Cervantes, photo by Mark Davidson

What do you consider the most important factor in delivering a strong set at a festival?

“My embodiment and expression of how much I love the music I’m sharing. This is key because when you are playing music, the dancers are looking to the DJ for the cues of how to respond. So the more I’m dancing, the more they dance. The more I’m sharing how much I love the music through facial expressions and dance, the more they love it.”

What’s your routine for getting into the right headspace before a festival performance?

“I always do two things: meditation and connecting my energy body to my DJ gear, the stage, the PA. Meditation clears my mind and allows me to focus on the performance without thinking about other things that don’t matter when you’re performing. That means I don’t get distracted and focus purely on the music.

“Second is a ritual that I do, which is a visualization that connects me to my performance equipment, the stage and PA. I imagine an energetic current running through my gear, the PA and the stage so that it become a part of me, an extension of me.”

What’s it like sharing the stage or lineup with artists you look up to?

“Absolutely! So many times I have been able to meet artists that I admire backstage at many festivals I have played around the globe. This is one of my favourite parts of being an artist because you realize that even the artists that you admire are just humans also.”

Have you ever formed friendships or creative partnerships as a result of playing at a festival?

“One-hundred percent! From this human connection and sharing your admiration of their music, creative connections that usually result in musical collaborations are often formed. Following up and making music together across the globe is one of my favourite things to do as an artist because it brings down borders between cultures, allows you to learn music production skills through collaborating on music creation projects, and so much more.”

Do you make time to watch other sets while at a festival, or do you stay behind the scenes?

“I love watching my favourite artists play at festivals because I learn so much about performing just by communing with their music. Staying behind the scenes also has a place before you perform because you don’t want your head caught up in being a punter before a show. You want your mind to be empty and focused, ready to lead the crowd with your capacity to be 100 percent present.”

Benjamin Last aka Temple Step at Elements, photo by Spinferno

How do you use visuals, lighting, or other elements to enhance your festival performance?

“I sometimes perform with my partner, Madhu Honey, who is a live vocalist/performance artist/dancer. This brings such great energy to the stage with new live elements being added in the moment, which makes each set unique to the moment. As a performance artist, her vocals are a divine feminine energy to the set and with her dance, a visual element that gives a visual focus to the specific tracks she dances to.”

What’s your favourite kind of moment to create during a festival performance?

“The peak. It takes work to get there, but it has the best payoff. The trick to a good peak in a setup is the buildup of the tracks beforehand. You have to ‘pick up’ the dancers where they are at and slowly raise the energy of each track to execute a good peak moment. It rises from within them if you have got their attention in the earlier tracks and if your set builds in energy your setting yourself up for success to have the best moment of your life, the moment the crowd goes wild!”

Benjamin Last aka Temple Step, photo by Harrison Baker

Have festivals helped you gain long-term fans, press, or opportunities?

“One-hundred percent! At all festivals I play now, I get photographers and videographers to capture my performances because using these press shots is the key to getting better shows, better festivals and events. The most important shot is the one from behind the DJ’s desk facing the crowd. Having shots of yourself playing big festival crowds sells the impression that you’re loved by many fans, which only makes it easier to get more gigs later down the track. Having great performance shots for your EPK is also very important for your social media, as a good photo draws the audience into the post and fuels engagement.”

Would you ever want to curate your own stage, showcase, or mini-festival?

“Yes, I thought about it a lot and would definitely be interested in doing so. My partner runs the Ecstatic Dance in Melbourne, Australia, and we are talking about doing a mini-festival soon, so this could be a great opportunity to make a lineup and offer it to my community. Choosing a good event line-up is similar to DJing because curating the flow of artists in a line-up needs cohesion in the direction you’re guiding the crowd to over the flow of the event.”