Sacred-Bass Pioneer TEMPLE STEP PROJECT Blesses U.S. Summer/Fall 2025 [Feature/Interview]
cover photo: Temple Step
Temple Step Project is a Melbourne, AUS-based electronic producer and sound healer, crafting transformative music that bridges cultures and elevates consciousness.
In the sprawling landscape of global festival culture, where the neon-drenched colossi of main stages dominate algorithms and attention economy, there exists a subterranean current flowing in the opposite direction. Rooted in Ecstatic Dance culture, it’s a movement back toward the micro-fest and community-based exchange.
At the heart of this resonant shift is Temple Step Project, a subatomic sorcerer whose sterling reputation in sacred-bass soundscapes precedes him on the other side of the globe.
The world of electronic music is often defined by its divisions. For Ben Last, the Aussie visionary behind the pioneering Temple Step Project, these worlds aren’t just parallel; they are deeply interconnected.
A wide-ranging conversation conducted in the tailwind of kaleidoscopic escapades on U.S. shores, Ben revisits a profoundly pivotal tour of North America in 2025. We learn how it leveled up his art form, connections, profile, perspectives, and an already legendary career.
The celebrated producer/DJ from Down Under unpacks the divine synchronicity of the colossal, chaotic, but ultimately exhilarating Texas Eclipse Festival; how the values and ethos of the ecstatic dance floor are reshaping global festival culture.
Temple Step further salutes smaller intentional gatherings making village magic happen without all the sensory-overload bells n’ whistles; he humbly embraces a couple of lovely U.S. locations where Last feels cosmically-aligned despite being so far from home.
The Texas Eclipse
A Pivotal Career Moment
The tale of Ben’s recent tour begins with what he describes as a “pivotal career moment” at the Texas Eclipse Festival. Playing the Earth Stage, an intentionally-curated environment for his “ethnic sacred-based music fusion”, Ben found himself immersed in a lineup that felt like a homecoming, alongside scene stalwarts SOOHAN, Desert Dwellers, and Mah Ze Tar, among others.
On the long-term impact of such serendipity, Ben notes, “It’s funny how you don’t know that that’s going to happen until it happens. And it’s almost like you hear like the reverb or the delay occur like the next few years afterwards”.
While the festival was famously cut short due to safety/weather concerns just before the eclipse, Ben’s timing was “pure divinity.” Having played his set before the shutdown, he evaded the cancellation that sidelined several peers, good fortune that’s already propelled him into more prominent booking opportunities.
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Massive Rager vs. Intimate Shwirl
The transition from a stage of 15,000 people to a micro-fest campout of 250 requires unique artistic flexibility. For Ben, the heart of the experience lies in connection rather than spectacle.”
Temple Step isn’t just playing music; he’s dissecting the very energy of the exchange. He acknowledges the undeniable pull of the “huge main stage slot”; the thousands of souls, the high-octane production, and the sheer impact of reaching a massive frequency. But for this cosmic bass Jedi, that scale comes with a hidden tax.
“There’s a trade-off there,” he acknowledges, noting the disconnection that can manifest when an artist is elevated onto a platform of “fake position of power.” In the shadow of big decor and booming sound systems, the unified field we collectively seek can often be lost to a hierarchical spectacle where the DJ is a deity and the audience is a distant blob.
For Temple Step, the true potency of the art is found in the energetic connectivity of smaller, intentional gatherings. He champions micro-fest and ecstatic dance spaces, where the barrier between creator and participant dissolves into a humanistic mystic brew.
Central to his philosophy is the dissolution of the barrier between creator and participant, facilitated through collaborative Live Ritual Integration.
During his performances in the American West, he embodied a shamanic multi-instrumentalist. His music serves as an intimate ritual offering; an approach is rooted in a deep respect for the One Tribe ecosystem. This wider family of artists includes the likes of Geometrae, Poranguí, and Savej, among other like-minded artists who collectively prioritize intentionality and a shared vibration over commercial appeal.
Reflecting on his time at gatherings like High Vibe and Unison, Temple Step shared deep insights into the mechanics of a successful dance floor and the specific allure of the micro-festival campout. He observed that the most impactful gatherings are those curated by organizers who are themselves DJs and dancers, as they possess an innate understanding of energy arcs.
“I really do resonate with the ambitious diversity that they create because for me, I actually see myself as a multi-genre producer,” he explained. “People will say, oh, well, what’s your genre like? I’m able to say, look, mainly ethnic based.”
This refusal to be pigeonholed allows him to move seamlessly between sacred bass and sexy house, provided there is a through-line of authentic culture.
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He acknowledges the inherent trade-offs between scales. Ben thrives in smaller settings “because of the sense of energetic connectivity that I have with an audience where you can literally feel them like right next to you… you can feel them in your aura”.
In these evolved communities, Ben observes a higher level of respect. “Presence comes in a lot of ways. One, the respect to not stand and talk on the dance floor… when people are communing with the music, their ears are in that sensitive zone and if someone starts talking, it takes them out of their body”.
Temple Step describes a sense of meditation that occurs when a person truly commits to the sound system, moving into a space more intoxicating than any alcohol-fueled main stage.
Last is particularly vocal about a phenomenon he calls genre fatigue, which he believes is the greatest threat to a festival’s vitality. “I see so often, if you have a dance floor and you have like, bass artist after bass artist after bass artist… by the fourth producer DJ and the tenth hundreds drop, it’s fucking boring,” he remarked with characteristic bluntness. “It doesn’t matter that it’s even if it’s Dimond Saints at the right at the end, everyone’s so used to the same beat, structure, tempo and sound design that it loses its flavor.”
To combat this, he champions festivals that manage a through-line while constantly changing the vibration, ensuring that the audience remains engaged and fresh throughout the experience.
He credits the rise of ecstatic dance culture for liberating the festival scene from these rigid structures. This culture allows him the freedom to be a rule-breaker. “If we don’t have rule breakers in the scene, we don’t have new music. We just have the same repeat that gets boring after a while”.
The Influence of Ecstatic Dance Culture
He credits the rise of ecstatic dance culture for liberating the festival scene from these rigid structures. This culture allows him the freedom to be a rule-breaker. “If we don’t have rule breakers in the scene, we don’t have new music. We just have the same repeat that gets boring after a while”.
He believes this freedom is essential for the artist’s soul: “Every artist, if they’re going to feel stuck, they’re going to stop creating great art… we as receivers of music, we want to hear the rules broken”.
The campouts themselves offer a unique container for this work, particularly at venues like Tico Time River Resort for Unison Festival. These spaces allow for a more expansive experience than a standard venue show, offering “ambient explorations” and “family energy” alongside main stage performances.
Temple Step appreciated how these environments encourage participants to “release and realign” through a mix of high-vibe music and sacred healing workshops. The intentionality of the camping experience—staying by the Animas River, participating in cacao ceremonies, and engaging in “brave space” councils—creates a foundation of mutual respect that deepens the musical impact.
His reflections on the Unison Festival highlighted this mastership of programming, where the diversity of the lineup served as a remedy for the boredom of repetition. “What they’re focusing on is music. It’s not about genre and it’s not about cool kids. It’s not about happy versus sad. It’s about music and it’s about culture,” he noted. He found great value in the mini arcs created across multiple stages, which allowed participants to curate their own emotional expedition through the soundwaves.
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Finding Community & A Look Toward The Future
During his US tours, certain regions have become creative homes for Temple Step. He describes Nevada City as “an amazing hub of some of the most amazing artists in the US… probably the most fruitful area of artists across the United States for my genres”. Similarly, Boulder, Colorado holds a special place: “Boulder is just like an absolute home for me… the demographic of the community there really understand myself as a multi-genre artist”.
Upcoming Temple Step projects include: Motive Records: His fortified independent label where he is “releasing all through my own record label… and a lot of people from the scene in the US are now remixing my music”.
A 13-track project that brings his ten-year journey full circle, blending sacred world instrumentation with contemporary dancefloor energies.
From the sacred ground of Oregon ceremonies and blissed-out Nor Cal campouts; to the massive stages of Texas mega-fests; to historic ecstatic dances on Hawaiian islands, Temple Step Project continues to blaze a brilliant, righteous trail. Proof that when a DJ/producer/artist is free to break the abritrary rules and follow their intentional muse, they can lead the dancefloor seekers into elevated consciouness and a deeper state of meditation, unleashing the unquestionable healing power of music.
words: B.Getz
Temple Step Project
Selections: U.S. Tour 2025
“An epic Ecstatic Dance in Portland Oregon USA after the Medicina Campout, sharing the stage with dear friend and awesome DJ, Dar. Such a joy to play for this amazing community thats brought together by Sheena Medicina.”
“Such an honour to play Kalani Ecstatic Dance. The birthplace of the Ecstatic Dance Movement. Its been a bucket list experience to play this dance after hearing about it for so many years. Giving thanks to all the people that keep this linage strong sharing the original vision of the creator, Max Fathom.”
“Step into the Sonic Sanctuary — This is not just a bass set, it’s a ceremony of sound and soul. Crafted with intention, we have bought together the highest quality sound designers, Dance, connect, and to remember what it feels like to be moved—truly moved—by rhythm, by beauty, by each other.
This event included Savej – a Louisiana-born artist blending ancestral wisdom with modern bass, known for his “Ancient Future” sound.”
“Few nights come close to this night as far as quality of event production, crowd into it factor, all star music producer community that Nevada City Ecstatic Dance holds so high. Not to mention the 8 subs and mid highs speakers that just rumble when the bass hits.”\
“An unforgettable evening of music and connection at Hawaiian Sanctuary Retreat Center. We immersed ourselves in a mesmerizing fusion of sounds, as Temple Step Project, Chris Berry and Jämi Deva transported us to a world of sonic bliss. With Opening Cacao Ceremony guided by Madhu Honey, the music guided us on a journey of self-discovery and togetherness as we explored the Magic of the 5 Elements.”
Previous coverage:
- Temple Step at the Earth Frequency festival in 2023.
- B.Getz profiled Temple Step’s tremendous Tribe LP in 2021.