Ben is an ambient/folk musician originally from The Wirral but now residing in Nottingham. He combines acoustic instruments with computer processing to create folk inspired soundscapes.

Ben has been writing music since his teens, with just a basic grasp of guitar and even more basic recording equipment. Over the years he’s picked up more instruments and slightly better recording gear, and is most often found in his home studio working on new stuff- but can occasionally be spotted live- see gig listings to the right.

Since 2016 Ben has released 9 albums and numerous eps. They are all available via Bandcamp.

An interview from the website Sonic Tapestries:

Hi Ben. It’s a pleasure to welcome you to Sonic Tapestries. Can you tell us a little about your work as an artist - what inspires you and what brought you to express your work specifically through sound?

Thanks! Music has had a huge impact on my life, especially when growing up, and got me through a lot of tough times. I ‘experimented’ with music, playing very basic guitar and manipulating with a Tascam 4 track.

I like other art forms but it was sound & music that spoke to me the most. I sometimes think of it like creating a world/space… I think sound can really help you immerse in a space (or perhaps more correctly a time)… and I find it comforting to organise sounds, to create a bit of order, whilst also letting parts run free). I’m fairly recently diagnosed as autistic and so yeah, having an element of life I can retreat to and create that is malleable in some way is really comforting.

Your current project - The Allotment Tapes - a series of releases that feature field recordings and conversations from St. Anns Allotment in Nottingham. Can you tell us about how this project came together/your inspirations for the project?

I’ve been making more traditional albums for a number of years and I wanted to try and present something slightly differently.

I came to these allotments, and St Anns in particular, via a rather wavy process… I think I wanted to do something connected to land use/nature as these are subjects that are important to me. What I love about allotments is the real DIY, non- conformist vibe that purveys them. Aesthetically, I think they’re lovely, all higgledy-piggledy, sheds made from old doors, nature re-claiming an old watering can. I think there’s something really positive and nourishing about this. It also comes across when talking to plot holders, some really lovely ‘plot-philosophy.’

So, originally I was thinking allotments in general, but then I spent a bit more time at St Anns and realised what an amazing space it is. Firstly, it’s huge and a bit mysterious — a lot of the plots are separated by high hedges, some of the alleys are like little warrens. It’s got a great and varied history as well (from Victorian leisure gardens to vital food supplies, a period of decay and crime and the regeneration of the last 30 years). It’s very much an inner city green space and there are a number of initiatives enabling access to the site and its nature and the opportunity to grow your own food for the local community.

Your work pulls inspiration from natural soundscapes & familiar environments close to you. What is your approach to field recording? Do you seek particular sounds out or do you record first then pick out what interests your ears when listening back in the studio?

Very much the latter.. apart from the recent allotment interviews, I’ve never really set out to record something in particular, I just take my little recorder out and see what’s wha!. Initially I started using field recordings as I felt some tracks just needed a bit more life in them!

Do you use a lot of digital processing when working with sound or do you prefer to keep things natural and organic?

I don’t really have one or the other.. it depends on what’s needed. I don’t have any purist ideas and will have bits of processing on every track. I guess I’d mostly try and keep instruments sounding fairly natural (unless I feel they need a load of delay and filters). I do like using a fair bit of creative tape effects (lets be honest, cheaper and quicker than the real thing!)

Do you have a particular non-musical practice that helps to put you into the creative mindset for composing or field recording?

Not really, but if I was more organised I probably should. One of the things I’m looking at doing more of down the site is looking into the Deep Listening practices of Pauline Oliveros. I do find the act of recording sounds quite mediative in itself, forces you to quieten down the background chatter and really listen in.