Chaos In The CBD

Chaos In The CBD are brothers Ben and Louis Helliker-Hales, originally from Devonport, a suburb on Auckland's North Shore, now living in South London. Born in 1989, they were brought up on their parents' rock records before moving through jazz and indie bands in their teens.

It was Louis's conversion from rock to house at a Melbourne rave that set the direction, with him guiding Ben's early production experiments toward the sound of Chicago. Ben, known as Beans, handles production; Louis focuses on the DJ side and the wider running of the project.

After touring Europe in 2011, they relocated to Peckham in 2012, drawn by better access to their audience. Their arrival in the neighbourhood, however accidental, was well timed: they met Bradley Zero the very week they landed. That chance encounter drew them into the Rhythm Section party series and led to the release of their landmark "Midnight in Peckham" EP on Rhythm Section International in 2015, a hypnotic, horn-driven record that established them as a serious presence in the UK underground.

In 2017 they co-founded their own imprint, In Dust We Trust, alongside collaborator Jon Sable, and it has been their primary home on record ever since. Alongside In Dust We Trust, they have built a relationship with Japan's Mule Musiq and Bradley Zero's Rhythm Section International.

Earlier label credits include Amadeus Records and ClekClekBoom. Their sound draws from the deep Chicago and Detroit continuum, weaving in jazz, acid, and a distinctly unhurried, beach-born warmth. A 2019 single for In Dust We Trust found them channelling classic trance and rave energy, pointing to a range that goes well beyond simple deep house classicism.

In 2023 they curated a mix for fabric's long-running "fabric presents" series, and their debut album "A Deeper Life" followed in May 2025 on In Dust We Trust. The album reached number 34 on the New Zealand albums chart and number 2 on the UK Dance Chart. The record features collaborators including New Zealand jazz flautist Nathan Haines and guitarist Alex Cosmo Blake, as well as pianist Cenk Esen, and reflects a wider shift toward a fully realised album sensibility, drawing in downtempo and Balearic threads alongside their core house palette. They have also remixed Alton Miller and Zebra Katz.

Following the release of "A Deeper Life" they played Parklife festival, and they have made multiple appearances for Boiler Room. After more than a decade in South London, Chaos In The CBD remain one of the most coherent acts to have come out of that scene: rooted in the history of the music, precise about where they stand in it, and still very much on the move.