{"id":1792096,"date":"2026-02-25T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1792096"},"modified":"2026-02-25T13:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:40:00","slug":"these-photos-straddle-pre-and-post-iphone-london-nightlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1792096","title":{"rendered":"These photos straddle \u2018pre and post-iPhone\u2019 London nightlife"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-431-1653-1102\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438462.png&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/music\/article\/69724\/1\/deviation-benji-b-judah-afriyie-these-are-the-levels-photography\" data-article-id=\"69724\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.78\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"2126\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1280\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438462.png\" width=\"1653\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-25T13:40:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"25 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"25\">25,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - music\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/last-shot\">Last Shot<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/last-shot\">Last Shot<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>These photos straddle \u2018pre and post-iPhone\u2019 <span class=\"nowrap\">London nightlife<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Legendary DJ-producers and Deviation founders Benji B and Judah break down their five favourite images from their new photobook, featuring Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Virgil Abloh <span class=\"nowrap\">and more<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-25T13:40:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"25 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"25\">25,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-25T13:40:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"25 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"25\">25,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/solomonpacemccarrick\">Solomon Pace-McCarrick<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-29-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">These Are the <span class=\"nowrap\">Levels, Deviation<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/0\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251106_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_1-192_Black_MagnoVo\" class=\"img\" height=\"1999\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-156-2998-1999\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438460.png\" width=\"2998\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/1\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1102\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-404-1653-1102\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438461.png\" width=\"1653\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/2\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1063\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1594-1063\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438485.png\" width=\"1594\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/3\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1102\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-431-1653-1102\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438462.png\" width=\"1653\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/4\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1417\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-2126-1417\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438633.png\" width=\"2126\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/5\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1018\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1527-1018\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438632.png\" width=\"1527\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 29 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The preamble to an interview is usually pretty boring \u2013 \u2018How\u2019s your day?\u2019, \u2018What\u2019s the weather like?\u2019 and so on. Not with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/deviationmusic\/?hl=en\">Deviation<\/a> co-founders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/benjib\/?hl=en\">Benji B<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/judahlos_\/?hl=en\">Judah Afriyie<\/a>, though. Within minutes, the self-described \u201cmusical twins\u201d are knee-deep in a discussion about the philosophical implications of Gen Alpha using Chat GPT to do their homework. \u201cI say to my daughter, \u2018Sometimes those small grammatical mistakes are very, very human\u2019,\u201d says Judah. Benji B, who also hosts a weekly show on BBC Radio 1, agrees: \u201cI can tell within five minutes whether a guest mix has been made on Ableton or [with vinyl] \u2013 it\u2019s just so perfect that it\u2019s not human.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>None of this, of course, is directly relevant to the new book that has brought us all onto the same video call: <\/span><em><span>These Are The Levels<\/span><\/em><span>. But it does mean that, when the real interview eventually gets underway, I don\u2019t doubt Jonah for a second when he insists that the duo aren\u2019t promoters but rather creatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While <\/span><em><span>These Are The Levels <\/span><\/em><span>is composed of images from 18 storied years of Deviation club nights, it\u2019s not your standard club night retrospective. Not least of all was the decision to publish it on the platform\u2019s 18th birthday \u2013 because, for Benji and Judah, Deviation being old enough to enter a club itself seemed more significant than the standard 10 or 20-year milestones. The photos themselves, meanwhile, seem less concerned with highlighting the numerous high-profile names that have appeared on Deviation line-ups \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/travis-scott\">Travis Scott<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/asap-rocky\">A$AP Rocky<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/virgil-abloh\">Virgil Abloh<\/a>, to name just a few \u2013 and more concerned with documenting innocuous in-between moments on the dancefloor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"72acac0e-0332-49de-adfd-b3fa00f6ef30\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438478.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438478.png\" width=\"2155\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cNot only did we want to mark the key moments from Deviation\u2019s inception to now, but the book has also got to capture the tone of Deviation,\u201d Judah explains of this unique approach. \u201cIf our younger versions were to pick up this book, we wanted them to be able to look at it and be like, \u2018What?! This happened?\u2019 It\u2019s a time capsule \u2013 it has to reflect the economic climate, the technology, the style.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>True to this spirit, many of the resulting images capture moments where sound and time meet: a pre-smoking ban clubber lights up a cigarette indoors, DJ EZ plays with a CD in his mouth, a phone light and lighter are thrown up side-by-side in an intergenerational display of musical respect. But one evolution in particular forms a key focus of the book: the gradual flooding of London dancefloors with iPhones over the last 18 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe demand and rhythm of nightlife has changed,\u201d says Benji. Judah agrees: \u201cThe book captures the UK at a time where there was an abundance of clubs and less phones, people being in the moment in real-time.\u201d Benji jumps back in: \u201cWhy do you think there are now clubs where you have to put your phone in a locker or whatever? It\u2019s the old balance of being in the experience versus documenting it. One of the things that makes this book unique is that it straddles pre- and post-iPhone.\u201d Even in conversation, Benji and Judah go B2B, it seems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Read on for the untold stories behind some of Benji and Judah\u2019s favourite images featured in their new photobook, <\/span><em><span>These Are The Levels<\/span><\/em><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e990b4d3-9620-4532-b6a4-b3fa00f6e4d8\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438476.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438476.png\" width=\"2155\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span> This is one of the best in the book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B:<\/strong><span> What\u2019s significant about this picture is that it\u2019s the night when Kelela is performing at the club \u2013 possibly the first time. That is Bok Bok DJing and Kelela singing. <\/span>The<span> long story is I met Kelela when I was first working on <\/span><em><span>Yeezus<\/span><\/em><span> with Kanye in LA. I was in a studio with Hudson Mohawke at Westlake in LA, and in the other studio, there was Arca and Kelela. She played this song called \u2018Enemy\u2019, and it blew my head off!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Anyway, what matters here is that this is an amazing photo. It tells you, \u2018Oh, that was <\/span><em><span>that <\/span><\/em><span>era of iPhone\u2019. It is of someone taking a picture of Bok Bok and Kelela just as a message from Zainab Jama is arriving \u2013 and Zainab is the captain of the ship, she\u2019s been steering Deviation for many years. It\u2019s like a one in a million chance of that photo being taken at that exact time. I\u2019d love to know what the message said. Probably like, \u2018Water or incense to the DJ booth!\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"0f8174e5-dd8c-4111-9e73-b3fb00fab48d\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1527\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438632.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"2126\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438632.png\" width=\"1527\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Travis Scott<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>As<\/span><span> far as we\u2019re aware, this was Travis\u2019 first ever club show in the UK. I saw Travis last summer, and I pulled up the PDF on my phone. He was like, \u2018Oh man, I remember that night so clearly!\u2019 I\u2019d been DJing all night in XOYO and I couldn\u2019t really leave the booth. I remember Zainab coming up to me and going, \u2018We need to get on the Wi-Fi!&#8221; I was like, \u2018Why?\u2019 She said, \u2018Travis\u2019s DJ ain&#8217;t coming, and you&#8217;ve got to DJ for him\u2026 but he hasn\u2019t got any of his tunes, so he needs to get online to download them.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I remember going into the janitor\u2019s office or something in XOYO. They\u2019d plugged him into the Ethernet and he was on a computer downloading his own tunes off Datpiff!\u00a0 He came out with a USB with totally unlabeled files and, of course, if you download stuff from DatPiff.com, they have  like \u2018<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/datpiff.com\"><span>DatPiff.com<\/span><\/a><span>!\u2019 or \u2018DJ Drama!\u2019 or whatever it is. I just remember the pressure that night\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When I started to DJ, I saw him take off his watch and give it to one of his boys. Then he took his chains off and put them on someone. I was like, \u2018What&#8217;s about to happen?\u2019 Then he took his shirt off and grabbed four massive water bottles. Instinctively, I took my top off and covered all the DJ stuff, and, sure enough, Travis sprayed water everywhere! I was holding the CDJs above my head! Wasn\u2019t that the one that A$AP Rocky came to?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span> Rocky. Skepta, Mos Def, JME, it was crazy. Absolutely rammed! Yasiin and Rocky pulled up on the fly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"b4fa25a1-525b-488f-9f73-b3fa00f6ea1e\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438477.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438477.png\" width=\"2155\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>This picture is quite meta, because what you\u2019re looking at is a USB stick that turned into the flyer for our 15th birthday night. The USB stick is hand-painted by the artist Jim Joe. He did all the [music media] formats \u2013 the 12-inch [vinyl], the CDs, the USB.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And that was the USB I used at the time, which were called Magnum USBs \u2013 the fastest USBs that you could use. There\u2019s actually a whole story about Virgil loving that USB because of its utilitarian vibe&#8230; But, anyway, this picture is the hand-drawn Jim Joe flyer on the USB, which is the lineup of Moody Man, me and Judah. I actually DJed the entire night with said USB. There you go, nerdy one for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"52e0e811-ea63-4541-96fa-b3fb00faf966\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438633.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.39\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1527\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438633.png\" width=\"2126\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Virgil Abloh grabs <span class=\"nowrap\">the mic<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span>This is a picture of Virgil Abloh MCing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>We just told you about the prelude to this picture. This image was actually one of those that held the book up because we just couldn\u2019t publish it without it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judah: <\/strong><span>You are never going to get a bigger advocate of Deviation than Virgil Abloh, God bless the dead. He was so in tune with what we were doing. I always laugh at this one because he\u2019s in full V mode, he\u2019s sitting on the desk, grabbing the microphone. He\u2019s in a place of pure euphoria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>In the back, you\u2019ve also got Ibn Jasper, who was an original member of Kanye West\u2019s creative team and squad. Him and Virgil were very close. There wouldn\u2019t be a single time when Virgil was in London, and he wouldn\u2019t attend Deviation. There aren\u2019t many people who could come to the club and just pick up a mic.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"70477608-ac00-41ee-a462-b3fa00f6aeca\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438467.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.39\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1527\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438467.png\" width=\"2126\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Deviation\u2019s fifth birthday<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>This is one<\/span><span> of, if not the, best nights we ever did: the fifth birthday. It\u2019s in a Sunday church in Hackney Wick, before Hackney Wick was demolished and turned into what it is now. Jude and I always say we wouldn\u2019t change a thing about that night because it was perfect. We had Moody Man there, of course; we had Dam Funk, Dillah\u2019s mum, Kode9, Hudson Mohawke\u2026 it was amazing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The<\/span><span> famous story at the end here is that I played the last set with Jude, obviously, and we played all the Deviation classics. I just remember tunes like \u2018Angola (Carl Craig remix)\u2019 going <\/span><em><span>off <\/span><\/em><span>in a different way. Then at the end of the night, like 6AM, we\u2019re doing our usual thing of just wanting to play one more tune, one more tune. The security came up to us and were like, \u2018You\u2019ve really got to end now because, in one hour, Sunday service starts and we\u2019ve only got an hour to clean up.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span> But <\/span><em><span>then<\/span><\/em><span> the pastor was up on the mezzanine looking down at us, and he done this motion: [Judah gestures for a reload]. So we played one more!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B:<\/strong><span>\u00a0He gave us both a massive bear hug and was like, \u2018The frequency was up tonight!\u2019 Yeah, we did alright.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! 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href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69724\/1\/deviation-benji-b-judah-afriyie-these-are-the-levels-photography\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-432-1652-1099\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438462.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">These photos straddle \u2018pre and post-iPhone\u2019 London nightlife<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69738\/1\/dazed-mix-evissimax-milan-blade-black-vampy-sexy-dj\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lead Image 16x9 \u2013 10\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1624-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438661.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Listen to Evissimax\u2019s \u2018Black, vampy and sexy\u2019 Dazed mix<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69696\/1\/karoline-vitto-interview-aw26-newgen-pull-and-bear-bfc\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\">Pull&amp;Bear<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Karoline Vitto and Carlota Guerrero behind the sce\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-2008-1336\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438164.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Karoline Vitto: 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Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-29-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">These Are the <span class=\"nowrap\">Levels, Deviation<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/0\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251106_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_1-192_Black_MagnoVo\" class=\"img\" height=\"1999\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-156-2998-1999\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438460.png\" width=\"2998\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/1\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1102\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-404-1653-1102\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438461.png\" width=\"1653\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/2\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1063\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1594-1063\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438485.png\" width=\"1594\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/3\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"251022_BENJ_Deviation_Interior_353-400_4-4_Colour_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1102\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-431-1653-1102\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438462.png\" width=\"1653\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/4\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1417\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-2126-1417\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438633.png\" width=\"2126\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36730\/5\/these-are-the-levels-deviation\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1018\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1527-1018\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438632.png\" width=\"1527\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 29 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The preamble to an interview is usually pretty boring \u2013 \u2018How\u2019s your day?\u2019, \u2018What\u2019s the weather like?\u2019 and so on. Not with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/deviationmusic\/?hl=en\">Deviation<\/a> co-founders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/benjib\/?hl=en\">Benji B<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/judahlos_\/?hl=en\">Judah Afriyie<\/a>, though. Within minutes, the self-described \u201cmusical twins\u201d are knee-deep in a discussion about the philosophical implications of Gen Alpha using Chat GPT to do their homework. \u201cI say to my daughter, \u2018Sometimes those small grammatical mistakes are very, very human\u2019,\u201d says Judah. Benji B, who also hosts a weekly show on BBC Radio 1, agrees: \u201cI can tell within five minutes whether a guest mix has been made on Ableton or [with vinyl] \u2013 it\u2019s just so perfect that it\u2019s not human.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>None of this, of course, is directly relevant to the new book that has brought us all onto the same video call: <\/span><em><span>These Are The Levels<\/span><\/em><span>. But it does mean that, when the real interview eventually gets underway, I don\u2019t doubt Jonah for a second when he insists that the duo aren\u2019t promoters but rather creatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While <\/span><em><span>These Are The Levels <\/span><\/em><span>is composed of images from 18 storied years of Deviation club nights, it\u2019s not your standard club night retrospective. Not least of all was the decision to publish it on the platform\u2019s 18th birthday \u2013 because, for Benji and Judah, Deviation being old enough to enter a club itself seemed more significant than the standard 10 or 20-year milestones. The photos themselves, meanwhile, seem less concerned with highlighting the numerous high-profile names that have appeared on Deviation line-ups \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/travis-scott\">Travis Scott<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/asap-rocky\">A$AP Rocky<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/virgil-abloh\">Virgil Abloh<\/a>, to name just a few \u2013 and more concerned with documenting innocuous in-between moments on the dancefloor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"72acac0e-0332-49de-adfd-b3fa00f6ef30\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438478.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438478.png\" width=\"2155\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cNot only did we want to mark the key moments from Deviation\u2019s inception to now, but the book has also got to capture the tone of Deviation,\u201d Judah explains of this unique approach. \u201cIf our younger versions were to pick up this book, we wanted them to be able to look at it and be like, \u2018What?! This happened?\u2019 It\u2019s a time capsule \u2013 it has to reflect the economic climate, the technology, the style.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>True to this spirit, many of the resulting images capture moments where sound and time meet: a pre-smoking ban clubber lights up a cigarette indoors, DJ EZ plays with a CD in his mouth, a phone light and lighter are thrown up side-by-side in an intergenerational display of musical respect. But one evolution in particular forms a key focus of the book: the gradual flooding of London dancefloors with iPhones over the last 18 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe demand and rhythm of nightlife has changed,\u201d says Benji. Judah agrees: \u201cThe book captures the UK at a time where there was an abundance of clubs and less phones, people being in the moment in real-time.\u201d Benji jumps back in: \u201cWhy do you think there are now clubs where you have to put your phone in a locker or whatever? It\u2019s the old balance of being in the experience versus documenting it. One of the things that makes this book unique is that it straddles pre- and post-iPhone.\u201d Even in conversation, Benji and Judah go B2B, it seems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Read on for the untold stories behind some of Benji and Judah\u2019s favourite images featured in their new photobook, <\/span><em><span>These Are The Levels<\/span><\/em><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e990b4d3-9620-4532-b6a4-b3fa00f6e4d8\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438476.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438476.png\" width=\"2155\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span> This is one of the best in the book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B:<\/strong><span> What\u2019s significant about this picture is that it\u2019s the night when Kelela is performing at the club \u2013 possibly the first time. That is Bok Bok DJing and Kelela singing. <\/span>The<span> long story is I met Kelela when I was first working on <\/span><em><span>Yeezus<\/span><\/em><span> with Kanye in LA. I was in a studio with Hudson Mohawke at Westlake in LA, and in the other studio, there was Arca and Kelela. She played this song called \u2018Enemy\u2019, and it blew my head off!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Anyway, what matters here is that this is an amazing photo. It tells you, \u2018Oh, that was <\/span><em><span>that <\/span><\/em><span>era of iPhone\u2019. It is of someone taking a picture of Bok Bok and Kelela just as a message from Zainab Jama is arriving \u2013 and Zainab is the captain of the ship, she\u2019s been steering Deviation for many years. It\u2019s like a one in a million chance of that photo being taken at that exact time. I\u2019d love to know what the message said. Probably like, \u2018Water or incense to the DJ booth!\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"0f8174e5-dd8c-4111-9e73-b3fb00fab48d\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1527\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438632.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"2126\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438632.png\" width=\"1527\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Travis Scott<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>As<\/span><span> far as we\u2019re aware, this was Travis\u2019 first ever club show in the UK. I saw Travis last summer, and I pulled up the PDF on my phone. He was like, \u2018Oh man, I remember that night so clearly!\u2019 I\u2019d been DJing all night in XOYO and I couldn\u2019t really leave the booth. I remember Zainab coming up to me and going, \u2018We need to get on the Wi-Fi!&#8221; I was like, \u2018Why?\u2019 She said, \u2018Travis\u2019s DJ ain&#8217;t coming, and you&#8217;ve got to DJ for him\u2026 but he hasn\u2019t got any of his tunes, so he needs to get online to download them.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I remember going into the janitor\u2019s office or something in XOYO. They\u2019d plugged him into the Ethernet and he was on a computer downloading his own tunes off Datpiff!\u00a0 He came out with a USB with totally unlabeled files and, of course, if you download stuff from DatPiff.com, they have  like \u2018<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/datpiff.com\"><span>DatPiff.com<\/span><\/a><span>!\u2019 or \u2018DJ Drama!\u2019 or whatever it is. I just remember the pressure that night\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When I started to DJ, I saw him take off his watch and give it to one of his boys. Then he took his chains off and put them on someone. I was like, \u2018What&#8217;s about to happen?\u2019 Then he took his shirt off and grabbed four massive water bottles. Instinctively, I took my top off and covered all the DJ stuff, and, sure enough, Travis sprayed water everywhere! I was holding the CDJs above my head! Wasn\u2019t that the one that A$AP Rocky came to?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span> Rocky. Skepta, Mos Def, JME, it was crazy. Absolutely rammed! Yasiin and Rocky pulled up on the fly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"b4fa25a1-525b-488f-9f73-b3fa00f6ea1e\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438477.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438477.png\" width=\"2155\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>This picture is quite meta, because what you\u2019re looking at is a USB stick that turned into the flyer for our 15th birthday night. The USB stick is hand-painted by the artist Jim Joe. He did all the [music media] formats \u2013 the 12-inch [vinyl], the CDs, the USB.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And that was the USB I used at the time, which were called Magnum USBs \u2013 the fastest USBs that you could use. There\u2019s actually a whole story about Virgil loving that USB because of its utilitarian vibe&#8230; But, anyway, this picture is the hand-drawn Jim Joe flyer on the USB, which is the lineup of Moody Man, me and Judah. I actually DJed the entire night with said USB. There you go, nerdy one for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"52e0e811-ea63-4541-96fa-b3fb00faf966\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438633.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.39\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1527\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438633.png\" width=\"2126\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Virgil Abloh grabs <span class=\"nowrap\">the mic<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span>This is a picture of Virgil Abloh MCing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>We just told you about the prelude to this picture. This image was actually one of those that held the book up because we just couldn\u2019t publish it without it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judah: <\/strong><span>You are never going to get a bigger advocate of Deviation than Virgil Abloh, God bless the dead. He was so in tune with what we were doing. I always laugh at this one because he\u2019s in full V mode, he\u2019s sitting on the desk, grabbing the microphone. He\u2019s in a place of pure euphoria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>In the back, you\u2019ve also got Ibn Jasper, who was an original member of Kanye West\u2019s creative team and squad. Him and Virgil were very close. There wouldn\u2019t be a single time when Virgil was in London, and he wouldn\u2019t attend Deviation. There aren\u2019t many people who could come to the club and just pick up a mic.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"70477608-ac00-41ee-a462-b3fa00f6aeca\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438467.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.39\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These Are The Levels\" class=\"img\" height=\"1527\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438467.png\" width=\"2126\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Deviation\u2019s fifth birthday<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Deviation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Benji B: <\/strong><span>This is one<\/span><span> of, if not the, best nights we ever did: the fifth birthday. It\u2019s in a Sunday church in Hackney Wick, before Hackney Wick was demolished and turned into what it is now. Jude and I always say we wouldn\u2019t change a thing about that night because it was perfect. We had Moody Man there, of course; we had Dam Funk, Dillah\u2019s mum, Kode9, Hudson Mohawke\u2026 it was amazing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The<\/span><span> famous story at the end here is that I played the last set with Jude, obviously, and we played all the Deviation classics. I just remember tunes like \u2018Angola (Carl Craig remix)\u2019 going <\/span><em><span>off <\/span><\/em><span>in a different way. Then at the end of the night, like 6AM, we\u2019re doing our usual thing of just wanting to play one more tune, one more tune. The security came up to us and were like, \u2018You\u2019ve really got to end now because, in one hour, Sunday service starts and we\u2019ve only got an hour to clean up.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judah:<\/strong><span> But <\/span><em><span>then<\/span><\/em><span> the pastor was up on the mezzanine looking down at us, and he done this motion: [Judah gestures for a reload]. So we played one more!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benji B:<\/strong><span>\u00a0He gave us both a massive bear hug and was like, \u2018The frequency was up tonight!\u2019 Yeah, we did alright.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69724\/1\/deviation-benji-b-judah-afriyie-these-are-the-levels-photography&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-431-1653-1102\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438462.png&#8221;] Courtesy of Deviation February\u00a0 25,\u00a0 2026 Music \/ Last Shot Music \/ Last Shot These photos straddle \u2018pre and post-iPhone\u2019 London nightlife Legendary DJ-producers and Deviation founders Benji B and Judah break down their five favourite images from their new photobook, featuring Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Virgil Abloh and more February\u00a0 25,\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1792096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1792096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1792096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1792096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1792096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}