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 A year after his first interview with theMovementz, Ben G. has been a whirlwind of motion. Set to release his second album, tentatively titled Stories I Tell, he has a lot to say about the recording process.
“It seemed like it happened in, like, a minute,” he says. He talks about it like it was a busy, rapid blur of excitement: planning, writing, promoting, and then “all of a sudden” he was recording in Vancouver. “I guess two weeks is a period for a lot of indie bands to make an album, but it just seemed like so much.” He has taken it all in stride, though, and is incredibly connected with his music and where he wants to go with it.
Ben G. worked again with Dave Thompson (his previous producer, whom he affectionately refers to as a "real artist") for this album, and met and worked with a collection of other artists along the way. Promotion, while a lot of work, has also been a lot of fun - “just an adventure.” His music has continued to develop strongly. He says that it is, “definitely more mature this time around. It’s just kind of gone its own direction. This time the album just kind of happened; it’s just is what it is.”
His last EP gained him a lot of notice and support from the Aboriginal community. Ben G. says that his heritage definitely impacts his writing, even if simply as an aspect of identity and growing up. “I think that that’s in one way or another everyone’s kind of thing growing up, and it kind of relates to it like that, but it relates to it in such a way that you don’t have to be Metis or Aboriginal or anything to relate to the music.”
This is a great facet of Ben G’s music: his songs are relatable and easy to fall into. He offered a sneak peek of the first few songs of the album, and showed off some of his photography (one featured on the cover of London’s The Beat Magazine this month). His photography style is quite similar to his music – beautiful, striking, but pleasantly recognizable and approachable.
It has been an incredibly busy year for Ben G. After a lot of hard work, he has obtained a FACTOR grant. His album is lined up for March, with a single release, “Getaway”, sometime this month or early next. He is also working on a music video for that song, with Wreckless Productions, the same company that did his last music video. He is already lining up acts at summer festivals, and shows for London in the spring. His plan after the album is out: “just to promote it everywhere I can.”
Right now Ben G’s first EP Cut You In is available online at iTunes, Napster, and Puretracks, as well as at CD Plus. The new album will also be available at CD Plus, but Ben is considering – scandalous – leaving iTunes out of the mix! iTunes sales were one notorious factor: “iTunes can just discount things to whatever they want. [After the first album] I got to find out what was good and what works. [...] Napster and Puretracks were just better to me.” It’s kind of refreshing to be reminded that there are alternatives to the Steve Jobs empire.
Ben G. has some insightful ideas about music and downloading, and he tries to strike a balance between finding new music and budgeting. “If I like three songs, I buy the album,” he says simply. “It’s been my rule since like, grade eight.”
So, what next for Ben G? “The goal for the future is – and I need positive vibes for this – is a big ol’ record deal, the kind they make movies about.” Ben G. is a huge believer in the idea that “if you put positive vibes out there, good things will happen.” His accomplishments are definitely evidence of that. His FACTOR grant, his television appearances, his new album: all successes of a dedicated artist whose drive and confidence has pushed him to where he is now, and will continue to take him wherever he wants to go. Whatever his next step, theMovementz will be following along, sending out good thoughts the whole way.
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