|
Written by psywise
|
Benza is joined by Andrew Till for the launch of his new album "If" later this month and took some time off to chat with Freshdisko.
He's been making groundbreaking electronic music since 1997 with a background in Jazz, Funk, R&B and Rock which has enabled him a unique sound, maintaining critical elements of melody and form while providing "ultra-butt-shaking" grooves.
His debut album, released in 2003, was met with worldwide critical acclaim and led to tours in Europe, Japan, the US, South America and Russia.
2 albums later and with further touring and studio time his music has seen a sift towards the "phatter and phunkier", an embrace of the waves of Electro and Tech House while still keeping to his Psychaedelic roots.
With the new album complete and a Hobart gig approaching, Benza was happy to answer some questions for us;
1. What kind of styles can we expect on the new album, and what has influenced your sound?
The new album is really a massive adventure in style for me. After i finished writing "Schwarze Now The Defender", i took 6 months off production just to absorb the sounds that were around. While i'd always been a fan of differing styles, as evidenced by some of the more electro-ish and breaksy stuff on "Schwarze", i started listening to a much broader range of electronica than i had been. I was discovering artists like Tiefschwarz, Trentemoller and Minilogue and was totally blown away. It really opened my eyes to how much more could be accomplished with less "sonic infrastructure". These guys were painting vivid and confronting psychedelic landscapes, using an absolute minimum of sound. From there, it was a matter of stripping back the elements in my tunes and focusing much harder on texture and tone than melody and great big "hands in the air" moments. Stylistically, i suppose "if" represents a shift to Psychedelic Tech-House, if i was to label it. (Of course, being a Benza album there's a bit of everything on there!)
You've made a number of visits to Tasmania, any gigs down here stand out in particular?
I've always loved playing in Tassie. There's a really open feeling among crowds and dancefloors down here that encourages a DJ to push a little further, to experiment a little and you guys have always been open to that.
I think my fondest memory of Tassie was a festival called Twin Tribes in 2003 (good god - that was 6 years ago!!!) Good times, great tunes, good mates and a whole lot of laughs.
Your previous album, "Copyright" was given away for free through your website. What were the reasons behind this and, in hindsight, was it beneficial as an artist?
"Copyright" was an interesting exercise for me. It was a collection of tunes that i'd written over a number of years really for my own tongue-in-cheek entertainment. They were never intended to make it on to an album, but were always fun to throw in a mix to shake up a dancefloor. People always have an "oh, i know that song!" moment when a pop remix is surreptitiously dropped on them. Never fails to make me smile.
Giving the album away for free wasn't so much an exercise in marketing as it was a desperate attempt to not be sued!! I've never attained copyright clearance for any of the samples on the record, so i figured giving it away would leave me free of the clutches of the major labels. It also drove some traffic through my website and bolstered my fledgling mailing list. All in all - everybody wins! (Except the people i remixed!! Sorry!!)
What else is going on in the world of Benza, and what does the future hold?
The world of Benza is a busy, busy place at the moment. I'm currently the General Manager of Obese Records, one of Australia's most successful independent labels. Between running the affairs of the label and touring with artists, it keeps me fully occupied. I'm also still playing some session work as a keyboard player and teaching a couple of students. All this while trying to maintain my international-megastar-producer-dj-superhero career!!
I'm loving life at the moment. I've taken a bit of a break from production to let the album settle and i've got a plethora of ideas for the next one already. I don't want to give anything away, but i'm thinking it might have a narrative... If it comes together the way i hope it will, it should be incredible.
Benza is joined by the legendary boss of Psyharmonics records, Andrew Till, as well as locals Psywise and Shammie on the 14th of November at The Brisbane Hotel. Tickets are $10 on the door.
 |
(4) Discuss Topic