Where were you 15 years ago? If you were watching edits on YouTube, watching people stream their favourite game, or listening to the newest music, there is a big chance you came across ‘Beautiful Lies’ by B-Complex. Thanks to streaming platforms like YouTube, this song blew up to be a drum & bass anthem, with people giving the song their own meaning. “Music actually manages to be the language and communicates the emotion better than lyrics could ever be able to.”
Now celebrating the 15-year anniversary of this legendary tune, Hospital Records and B-Complex once again join hands and bring out the Beautiful Lies EP, featuring the original track, a 2023 edit, and remixes by Rameses B and Mandidextrous. This gives people another chance to cop the original track on vinyl, as well as discover some modern spins to the classic. We had the chance to chat with B-Complex, and talked about the past, present, and future.
Congratulations on 15 years of ‘Beautiful Lies’! Celebrating the 15th anniversary of the song, you’ve got your Beautiful Lies EP coming out. What’s the story behind this EP?
This whole thing happened when Rameses B commented on FB about his wish to remix the song. I really like his style, so I was happy for him to do it. And he’s one of my favourite artists out of the Liquicity community. The collaboration went really well, the remix was done in a few days. It was cool to see how he gave ‘Beautiful Lies’ a modern spin, with some 4×4 at the end. I love this happy hardcore style that he brings to drum & bass.
Then with Hospital Records, we figured we could make it into an EP, so we approached Mandidextrous and asked them to come up with another remix. We had already met before, and I really love what they are doing for the scene. I think they nailed the remix, because it sounds very positive and ravey. Again, I love how it is able to just be something different while being true to itself.
Amazing how both artists left their own mark on the original track, while still staying true to the original essence. You also made your own edit for the EP, right?
Absolutely, I love what they both did with the track! My edit on the EP is just a little bit of a refresh, really. The edit is all about focus, making the track a bit shorter, sharper and to the point. I also put the original track on there, because this way people who didn’t manage to buy the track in 2008, can now get it on vinyl again.
How do you feel looking back on the success of ‘Beautiful Lies’?
To me back then, it was kind of a breakup song. I was in love for the first time, and it was very emotional. When we called it quits after a short time, I went home and poured all my emotions into making music. On top of the fact that I wasn’t feeling well emotionally, I was also not in the best shape physically as I had the stomach flu. A little ironic actually that the song came out on Sick Music. Because of all these things I couldn’t sleep, so I stayed in my studio and kept working on the song. When I sent the first version of ‘Beautiful Lies’ to a DJ I knew, he decided to play it on his radio and people were loving it.
So many people responded well to the song, it was very well received from the beginning. At some point, it got picked up by Tony London Elektricity, and he played it in his podcast. Eventually, it went viral, with people making edits on YouTube, it showed up on game videos, anime… This song opened doors for me and made it possible for me to start playing internationally. When people were uploading videos using this track, they were using all kinds of collages and images. It was nice to see that people actually expressed what I was feeling, even if they had no idea of my story. Music actually manages to be the language and communicates the emotion better than lyrics could ever be able to.
How do you feel about the track now, 15 years later?
It’s my baby and it’s possibly my most successful baby, so I’m proud. I don’t want to sound braggy about this, but I think for many people it became a drum & bass anthem. To be able to say that is just so amazing. It allowed me to travel the world and got me my big international breakthrough. I got to play for Hospitality in London and a few months later I was playing in Australia and New Zealand, it really was that ‘Dream come true ’ story.
Thanks to this song I was DJ’ing so much that I was traveling every weekend to gigs. It felt like living in a Netflix-like documentary where you wake up in a different city every morning. Suddenly I was a star, and it was really interesting to see how people changed their perception of me. To suddenly get all this attention and have people adore me, even if I knew they didn’t really like me before, but at the same time, it surely boosted my confidence too.
One of the reasons why I was able to come out was because of this breakthrough and because of this confidence. At one point I realised that I was in a privileged position, and that I should share that privilege with my audience. I knew that some people would be hateful and homophobic about it, but yeah, this is me. I wanted to set an example for people to open their minds, and maybe be an inspiration to people who were afraid to come out themselves. Thanks to the fans and the privilege my music gave me, I was able to do it. I owe it to the success of ‘Beautiful Lies’.
That’s wonderful! What else did ‘Beautiful Lies’ do for you?
As I said it gave me a lot of confidence, but it also taught me a few things. Before I blew up with ‘Beautiful Lies’, I experienced a burnout. I had a couple of moments where I thought ‘this isn’t for me, maybe I’m just not going to make it’. I definitely had ups and downs, and that’s important to realise. You never progress linearly, there’s never a straight line from bottom to top.
And after it had become clear that ‘Beautiful Lies’ was a big hit, I struggled with the fact that I felt like Hospital Records wanted me to follow up with similar big hits. I didn’t feel like doing this stuff on queue. I followed up with tracks like ‘Blissful Ignorance’ and ‘It’s a Funny World’, and they still managed to get over a million plays on YouTube, and some old tunes like ‘Winter’ got recognition and same amount of views too, but I got the feeling Hospital wanted me to release something else. Eventually I burned out because I felt like I was trying to do something that wasn’t really what I enjoyed. After a while, I slowed down a bit, focused more on myself and my well-being.
Now I’m really healed and I have a different relationship with music. You have all these dreams and sometimes it’s worse when you actually fulfil the dreams because not everything is so awesome as you would expect. It definitely made me look at the whole experience from a different angle, and I think the music that I make now is better for it. It’s been a different experience than when I was just a kid making music, and chasing my dreams.
Of course I’m happy for ‘Beautiful Lies’ to exist, I’m happy about people interpreting the song and making it into a message of their own. They all have their own stories, their own experiences. Some people came back to me saying “I was in a really bad place myself and this helped me a lot.” What was very sad for me at the time, was very positive for other people, so the song really combines all kinds of emotions. There is sadness, but there is hope as well.
What advice would you give your younger self, now that you have learned and grown from your experiences?
If anybody is reading this, I would tell you to take a break. Just take a break. I was in the position – and a lot of artists are – where I didn’t know how long it was going to last. You manage to get some kind of success and you just go with it, touring non-stop, making music, DJ-ing, flying from place to place. Whenever you have the chance to play a nice gig, you say yes, even if you are exhausted. But if you don’t take a break and refresh your energy, you won’t even notice that you’re burned out already. That’s what happened to me. I was at a point where I still was maintaining the same quality of music and productions but wasn’t getting the same joy out of it as in the beginning. I was exhausted mentally, pushing myself constantly. Nobody was telling me to slow down, so I just kept going. But here I am telling you to really listen to yourself, go for what you want, and really enjoy everything. Stay true to yourself, and don’t rush it. It’s never too late to make music, you can start anytime, but don’t break your own heart.
The scene has become more open, talking about mental health lately. Do you agree?
I think in general, when it comes to LGBTQ+ people or psychological issues, the younger generation is more open-minded about it.
I think it’s now up to labels to consider the amount of pressure artists deal with and be aware of the fact that newer artists might sometimes take it too far and not look at their own mental health when trying to build their careers. If I ever started my own label I would definitely try to create a healthy environment with healthy motivation and competition. I think you need to have fun, and have the freedom to work on something to make it the best you can without being rushed. It doesn’t have to be perfect from the start.
You talk about maybe starting a label, is that a future plan?
Maybe not a label per se, but a community. I’ve been procrastinating it in all kinds of different ways, one of them is a project called “Dramababes”. This started as an ensemble of dancers, burlesque performers and drag queens. I would love it to extend this to a project welcoming and creating a safer space for people who need it, and together we would synergise and express ourselves through art. Maybe I could be a mentor for some people. I also have a lot of older music that was never released, and this project could become a home for it.
I already organised events, have got a nice network of people, and a distribution channel, so it’s easier than it was before. This project could possibly lead to some releases, but it wouldn’t go the same way as I was releasing music before. I don’t want to compete with established players, but I would like to make a platform for people to be able to express themselves and connect with each other.
Talking about community, you played Unorthodox on the 22nd of September, how was that?
I really love the guys around Nathan X! We met at Boomtown this Summer, but we were already in touch over social media for some time. They are doing in the UK what I have been trying to do in Slovakia for a few years now, but of course, because they are based in the UK they are able to reach a much bigger audience, which is amazing. I love how they are supporting each other. There is a bright future ahead of them.
LGBTQ+ people usually listen to house, techno, disco, those kind of genres, but there are definitely people who want drum & bass but just don’t have the space to go to a party like that. Now they do. I feel like they bring the rave culture back that got me into the scene when I started going out. Nobody really cared what I looked like, everyone was vibing with each other and just having a good time. Who cares that you look different? Rave is about love and acceptance, not hate and exclusivity.
Any final words?
Enjoy the parties, and always be yourself. My thoughts are with people in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. Hopefully one day we’ll live in a world of peace and harmony.
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