Interview: The shimmer of BENE

Bursting onto the indie-pop scene in 2019 is New Zealand’s BENE. The Aucklander has gained recent traction with her latest song ‘Soaked’. It’s worth mentioning that the gripping bass-driven track is just her second single to date. Her emergence shouldn’t come as a surprise. Her discernible holistic music talent, married with her self-motivation and strong resolve to be limitless in her craft explains exactly why she’s making inroads in the music industry. We talk to her about navigating her new found success and the strategy behind concocting the many facets that form BENE.

It’s a Friday morning in the heart of Melbourne as I await BENE in the lounge of her hotel room. It’s not her first time in Melbourne, however there’s bound to be an added sentiment this time, considering she is embarking on her debut headline Australian shows. To commemorate, the musician indulged in getting a ‘crusty’ tattoo of a ‘floating ripped off head’. She continues, ‘my friend Tia who plays guitar with me, well [technically] for me at my live gigs, she drew it. It’s like our thing for our first international tour’.

Following a spilled coffee conundrum in the floor of her hotel room, she meets me downstairs, where funnily enough, her band and mum have also just arrived.

She briefly reunites with her mum and I ask her how long they’ve been apart, to which she laughs and replies “oh, like three days”. That tells you exactly what you need to know about the army surrounding BENE. Her team is tight-nit and their powerful cohesion allows her to blossom and remain her carefree self. One affectionate embrace and an “I’ve missed you darling” later, we head over to the park to dig deeper into the substance and grit of BENE.

Despite an early morning wake up and a gruelling morning schedule, BENE relishes in the Melbourne nature and scenery. It’s refreshingly clear just how new this is to the 19 year old musician, as she constantly contrasts Melbourne’s environment with that of her hometown New Zealand. ‘I feel like we don’t really make use of our parks… well they’re smaller’. With an unusual pang of excitement in her voice, she adds ‘ you guys have bats here! That’s the coolest thing of my life. We don’t have bats’. Her gleeful reaction to something as minimal as bats gives me a good grasp of her jovial and jaunty persona as we dive into conversation.

A1on1: What is it like being here? Does it feel like work at the moment?

BENE: I mean, kind of, but I’m having a lot of fun so I don’t feel like… it doesn’t really feel like I’m working. It’s kind of like I’m enjoying myself and it’s a distraction from the work side of it. Sometimes when it’s like interview after interview, it’s like ‘okay, I’ve actually gotta work’, but yeah, I’m enjoying myself so it’s not really feeling like work.

Do you think it’s because of your attitude or because you have your closest friends here?

I feel like, it’s just exciting. This whole thing, even just coming over here. Just, I love playing shows and meeting all of the people in the industry is awesome. Yeah, it’s a big mix. Now that my mum’s here, it’s like alright let’s have some fun. But, it was good before as well.

As a 2017 high school graduate, BENE is still in her infancy as an original musician. 

Do you think being out of school changed your music in a way or helped your craft? Was school restrictive?

I had released ‘Tough Guy’, my first single at the end of [2017] and applied for university and gone for two weeks, and then dropped out. And then, even just from dropping out of uni, that was kind of the point where I knew I wanted to pursue music as a career. Just having that time and the free kind of space to do music and not be confined to an educational system, it was just like, I have all of this space.

I have the time now to make this music and to work hard at making it. I guess, at school it was a lot more difficult because you had to worry about exams and studying, so there was a lot less time. I was working night shifts, making pizza and washing dishes [after graduating]. So, I had all this time during the day to make music then went to do that. So yeah, totally. Now, I feel like this is what I can focus on and work hard [on].

Were you doing originals during school or just the covers?

I have always used GarageBand and then moved to using Logic. It was kind of like, making bad beats. But, I still brought some of them to the studio with Josh Fountain, a producer that I’m working with. So yeah, it kind of has always been a thing, but I didn’t release any of it.

You had original ideas floating around before meeting Josh?

Yeah! I’ve always been like a diary writer. I’ve always been writing and loved creative writing. I have piles of books in my room that are like weird thoughts and some songs. I used to play the guitar (badly), so I’d just write down notes and kind of try and build songs. But, I think with him, for me, working with him now for 2 and a bit years… it’s been like… it started off kind of not knowing exactly what I wanted my sound to be, but then kind of getting to know it over the year and then releasing ‘Soaked’.

By that point, it was kind of like, ‘ok this is what I want the music to sound like.’ I guess with him, learning the song craft properly was a big thing because he is like this wizard in the studio, and just kind of getting his knowledge and learning from him has now meant that I can go home and really make an okay song on Logic, so it’s cool beans.

Her beginnings as a SoundCloud artist ensued into the opportunity to form a partnership with Josh Fountain, who manages responsibilities at Joel Little’s (Lorde) Golden Age studios.

Later joining the BENE entourage was Fountain’s ‘LEISURE’ bandmate Djeisan Suskov, who is also involved in overseeing production. 

Him, and also Djeisan [helping you]?

Yeah, Djeisan Suskov! They’re the coolest, most genuine dudes ever and those two are both wizards. I’ve been working with Djeisan for a year. Josh introduced me to him and we worked on ‘Soaked’ together, the three of us. We’ve been working together pretty full on more recently. It’s been awesome. They’re both crazy talented so it’s been very cool. And I love their sound. I listen to [their band] LEISURE, so it’s awesome to listen to that sort of stuff and work with musicians that I admire.

Does that give you confidence?

Yeah totally! They understand what I like and we kind of have similar tastes in music as well. We get to all bring in our own little piece and mix it up. I think the whole thing with collaborating is the coolest thing to me. I just want to do more of it this year.

With just producers? Or even vocalists and songwriters?

I think for me, for this whole BENE project, I want to kind of mix medias. I want my visuals to be freaking awesome and I want there to be physical content as well as the music side. I think that will come with meeting as many creative people as possible that can help collaborate and make this bigger picture thing.

I’m going to be as soon as I get back having this meeting with a really cool artist called Shelley in Auckland who is this crazy painter. She’s going to be designing my new merch. So that’ll be exciting.

So then it is really coming together! You mention it as the BENE ‘project’. How intertwined is your real self with BENE? How interrelated do you want you and the moniker to be?

BENE for me is like, it’s like the confidence. This new found confidence. It’s like the artist. I feel like it’s good to kind of have a separation between my normal self and what I want to do [with music]. This kind of bigger picture what I want to do with my life. For me, it’s been this confidence that has come with it and just now getting the experience and building this Bene figure for me is awesome.

Do you think the music you listen to as an individual will see itself in BENE?

Yeah, I mean, I listen to quite a wide range of music. I love the idea of mixing genres. Like, taking elements from James Blake’s production.

We briefly praise the revolutionary album and it’s exemplary forward production, alongside the integration of electro-pop, hip-hop and RnB.  

Dude! I’ve also been obsessed with Travis Scott’s new album ‘Astroworld’. Mixing that kind of more.

And they show a really nice mix as well.

Like ‘Mile High’ was mean! Yeah, so those two and like, indie bands. There’s this place called Dunedin in New Zealand which has like beachy, indie bands. There’s this one called Marlon’s Dreaming, which you could check out. Even things like LEISURE and we have Fat Freddy’s Drop. They’re like a real big funky, kind of not reggae, but similar to LEISURE. That kind of funk vibe. I guess, taking elements from all different genres for me is important and what I like listening to. I’ve been obsessed with the Arab section on the discovery section on Spotify and I have been obsessed with this.

It’s sick. Also, Spotify is starting out in India. I’ve just found that out. Imagine collaborating with a Bollywood artist. I feel like that would be the coolest shit ever. I reckon just trying to work towards collaborating with as many kind of [people] and crossing genres and stuff and creating this Bene sound, for me is important.

‘Soaked’ gives listeners a snippet of the mix that BENE strives to achieve. She creates a multidimensional ambiance through the blend of RnB and indie pop, propelled through the tingly, chilling central guitar riff and sleek drum sounds. 

Would you say you’ve already started doing that? 

How has everyone surrounding you affirmed your ability to blend genres? 

I think going into it, I had this idea that I don’t want to be under one genre and that I don’t want to be this thing that is confined to one area of anything. I want a blank canvas that I can put weird things on, like a Jackson Pollock painting, you know just splattering different kind of materials on it and it not coming as a shock to people. Like, I can release a hip-hop track and people won’t be like ‘oh my gosh, what the heck, she was pop or indie’.

I don’t want to be letting people down with that as well, so I feel like just starting off by announcing to everyone that what you can expect from me, even in upcoming music is different and it’s not like one song is the same as the other one and I guess, I’m trying out new things with every session that I’m making music.

BENE is adamant on the idea of creating a whole project and experience, not just music for the ears. The first glimpse of BENE’s craftiness can be observed in the ‘Soaked’ visual. 

When I watched it, I thought I was watching the Truman Show. Was that intentional?

Everyone says that! I haven’t even watched the freakin’ Truman Show, but I looked it up and was like ‘oh yeah, I can kinda see’.

BENE’s wide array of exposure to culture and art gives her an added sense of credibility as a creative and signals exactly how powerful her sense of direction is on this path.

How does culture, film and art shape your music? Where does that come from?

I guess, my mum does acting on the side and I kind of got into acting when I was younger. I’ve always been into films and everything. I’m dyslexic, so I’m a visual learner. I love image and film and I guess when I’m writing a song, it will be a film in my head. So, it’s like taking inspiration from films, not just for my music but for my music videos I guess that’s a cool idea. Taking colours, storyline ideas and somehow intertwining them into what I’m making, I really just want to mix everything up. I think that television and everything has such a big influence on my sound.

Do you think it’s just sound wise or story wise?

I think it is story wise actually, in saying that. Yeah. Like, film festivals, the alt-y kind of weird, abstract storylines has meant that artists and musicians can have weird music videos and really abstract ideas. I feel like, that’s the coolest thing ever.

‘Soaked’ not only embodies BENE’s capacity to break barriers sonically, but reflects her abstract lyricism. The singer maturely challenges the notion of accountability and taking responsibility. There’s a potency of this concept as she sings, ‘I know what I did to you was wrong’ and ‘these words I’m trying to say get drenched and swept away that’s the truth’.

Can you talk about bringing that to life?

I don’t know! It wasn’t the first lovey songs I did, but I feel like with my songwriting I want to make it slightly more light and kind of fun and when I was writing the song in the studio there was this big artwork on the wall of this brain. Stuff like that, I looked at it and was like ‘how can I say that I can’t get words out to someone? Okay, they’re soaked up in my brain’. That kind of sparked the whole song. It’s fun to play with themes and bring in weird ways to convey what I’m trying to say.

And you use a lot of metaphor and references to water.

We weren’t intending to have a music video on the water! We were like is like too literal? Should we maybe [not]?

Was it calculated?

It wasn’t… It was… I worked with this guy called Taylor Mansfield who directed the video and this guy called Nick Chrisp who art directed the video. I had done the shoot because Taylor was in as photography at one of my gigs and we got along real well, he’s this super fun, bubbly dude. I was like ‘oh my god, do you want to make a video for ‘Soaked’? He was like, ‘I’d be super keen,’ and we had a meeting together and he kind of gave me a bunch of ideas and then… he said ‘I have this idea of you in a yellow rainsuit’. I had bought this yellow pair of rainpants from website called Trade Me which is like the eBay of New Zealand the week before because I was like ‘this would be so cool for a video or a gig or something.’

That instantly sparked this connection, kind of like ‘okay we’re on a similar level and I think this is kind of fate’. I guess from there it was like, how can we make this fun? We built this whole storyline and then realized this song is called ‘Soaked’ and now we’re filming it on the water. I guess it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like a video where I was with a partner and it wasn’t a romance video. It was a metaphorical kind of thing, where it was me battling with my own mind, so that’s what it was all about.

The visual is a lighthearted accompaniment to a more lyrically dense track. BENE showcases herself as both victim and attacker as she explores the intricate theme of self sabotage. 

Yeah, yeah totally! And that’s what it was. Even the line ‘I know what I did to you was wrong’, it’s like me sort of beating myself up about [the situation]. I feel like in a relationship you have a kind of vulnerable side, and then you have, well for me, I have this strong little voice in my head that’s like ‘girl don’t let him fuck you around, c’mon be a boss ass. You don’t want to be treated like this’. Or even like, ‘don’t lead him on’ and that kind of stuff. I feel like that was a very real thing for me even in the relationship which I wrote the song based off of. I felt like the video, when we came up with the idea of having me battling myself, [having] evil BENE and friendly BENE, it worked.

Do you think it’s easier for you to address your flaws or insecurities through songwriting?

Oh 100%. I feel like songwriting for me has been the most, the greatest kind of emotional outlet. It’s this space where I can write down my feelings, and they don’t have to be perfect because it’s art. I like to be honest with it and it’s allowed me to be honest with myself and it’s been great. It’s been good for my mental health. I think that songwriting and music in general is crazy for just relating and feeling okay with everything. It’s the best thing of life.

But then you have to go again and actually articulate those words and sing in the studio. Is that why you sing so sleek and nonchalantly to detach yourself?

I don’t know! Some of the music I’ve been working on really recently, it’s been trying to explore different ways that I can convey the message and use my voice as an instrument in different ways. It has meant in more sad songs I’m almost crying when I’m pushing out my words, but I feel like there’s so much emotion that’s being put out there, but it’s cool.

You aren’t afraid to pack in emotion in both lyrics and vocals?

I’ve been doing this thing where I’ll write down a bunch of lyrics, bring them into the studio, [Josh and Djeisan] will whip up a beat and then I’ll be like ‘okay dudes I’m going to try and freestyle’ and then I’ll see what comes out. It’s been crazy because I’ll go into this quiet studio and the guys will just let me do my little thing and I’ll try different melodies and stuff and walk back out and they’ll be like ‘okay wow, shit man. Okay, let’s see what we can do with this’. They’ll comp it up and create some kind of structure and this new method of making music for me has meant that I can sing in different ways and that’s pretty cool.

They’re very open and it’s fantastic that they give you that opportunity.

Oh totally! They’re so easy. I have the power in the studio and I think for me that’s the most important thing, because at the end of the day it’s my music. I think with anyone that I work with, I don’t ever want to feel like I don’t have the voice. I don’t want to be in the studio with someone who’s going to tell me what to sing or tell me how I should do something. Even for the other art I want to bring into Bene, how I dress and what I say, I don’t want to be controlled.

Does their familiarity with each other and industry experience challenge you? Especially when you’re bringing the female perspective to a male environment?

I feel like I got lucky with being in a space with these seriously, the nicest guys. They have genuine intentions. They’re not trying to sexualize me in any way, not trying to change what I’m singing and giving me this space to do what I want. They’re 100% supportive with any choice that I want to make. Working with these guys has been incredible.

How have they given you that added direction? Have you needed to be pulled back in line ever?

Not really… Sometimes I have little hiccups if I’m in the studio and I get quite frustrated with myself if I can’t finish a song. If I have a hiccup in my mind or I want to do something and I know what I want to make but I don’t know how to sing it or can’t find the right lyric and it’s ticking me off, they’re really good at calming me down and taking a step back and just being like, ‘look it’s fine, you do what you gotta do. We can sit on it for a bit and we can come back to it later’. I feel like I haven’t experienced anything too bad yet.

Have you scrapped songs completely or do you like always keeping things on the backburner?

I think with the whole thing of me wanting to be experimental, I’ve made tracks where I’ve been like ‘okay, I want to make an upbeat [song]’. I went to a KAYTRANADA gig and that was I think the best gig I’ve ever been to in my life and I went to the studio the next day and I was like ‘okay, KAYTRANADA, next level stuff, maybe we should try something a little more upbeat’. The song that came out of it was not at all. I was like ‘holy, this does not work’. I have a bunch of songs that I’m never going to release that I hate. I feel like that’s with any artist because it’s all about experimenting and failing and creating stuff that you don’t like.

Any you’ve sat on that you loved and then as you’ve grown started to hate?

I think with making a song, you have to listen to them so many times because you don’t want to have something in it that you don’t end up liking. I think I get pretty sick of a lot of my songs. I made this one with ‘Tough Guy’ that I’ve now listened to so many times because there have been so many mixes of it and different versions of it. Now I’m listening to it and Paul’s like ‘it could be the next single’ and I’m like ‘Paul! No! I’m so sick of this damn song’. And just performing them at live shows, that can also be kind of tedious if I don’t like the song.

But how do you find that balance? What if you go live and the audience loves that song?

It’s funny because the one that I’m talking about, the feedback from my close friends is that it’s been one of their favourites so it’s kinda hard. I know that the guys, Josh actually, he just worked on this one did crazy production and I love the song deep down so I guess I just have to push past that and think ‘I loved it this much at the time and I have listened to it so many times’.

I feel like with live performances I can kind of add stuff to the song that I didn’t have in the studio and for a lot of the demos I had, it’s changed them a lot. It’s changed the dynamics a lot because I’ve added different parts to it and sang it in different ways, like projected it with stronger sections and stuff. The live shows have been crazy in adding to the music for me.

Are you seeing a difference between festivals and being a support versus your headline shows live? Can you make the changes in both instances?

I think already, like I did a support for Lily Allen and I did a tiny little festival in Auckland called ‘The Others Way’ and I think that every show is so different, and every crowd is so different. It’s quite interesting when you’re there. If someone is there for a headline show of yours it’s a very different to a crowd that’s there for the main act. For Lily, I found that not everyone was into it. I kind of had to be there for a minute and you’ve got to kind of remind yourself that they might not like your music. But, someone will out there and I feel like it is cool going to a show and having people love you and going to another and maybe having people who don’t. It gives you an [awareness] that ‘not everyone’s going to like your stuff’ and it’s awesome.

Does it give you thicker skin?

I feel like it does! I’m not that phased by it. I can acknowledge it and I can see, I know if someone doesn’t like my music. I’m not that phased by it because I know that some people do. And even if people don’t, they’re still listening to it and still taking it in and still finding out a little bit about me and learning what I’m about. Not everyone is going to be everyone else’s cup of tea, so it’s cool.  It’s also interesting how those smaller, more intimate gigs, how different they are to a festival. I found that with Laneway, with there being a lot more people than the 200 room fitting gigs. The atmosphere is so different and that also kind of changes the live set up and the sound.

Do you think there’s more of a connection?

I don’t know if it is… It is kind of more of a connection actually, yeah. Like you can’t avoid staring into someone’s eyes. Especially when they’re on the same level. This place called Whammy Backroom, it’s on this cool street called Karangahape Road in Auckland City and you’re on the same level as everyone and I quite like that. There’s something nice about it because you can see everyone and they’re there and really listening to it and in a room like that people aren’t dancing around and jumping.

It was more like for that gig, they were just standing there and taking it all in and enjoying it. They were all semi sober and that’s interesting compared to a festival like Laneway where everyone is off their fucking horses like drunk as heck. Which is still cool as heck. It’s still freaking awesome because they’re all having so much fun. Having such a crazy crowd where they’re screaming the lyrics to ‘Soaked’, it was the coolest thing ever. I feel like it’s awesome to have as many different experiences like that as possible.

I assure BENE that this is also the power of her live presence. She is able to construct ‘Soaked’ as emotionally jarring, yet still maintains its fluidity as a song that works in a more social, upbeat context.

How much of an advocate do you want to be for that brand? Do you gravitate to that with your friends?

Hahaha! Yeah yeah! I don’t know! I love listening to sad, sad stuff by myself in my room, I love that kind of music. But I also really love music you can go out and dance to. I think that’s going to come with the whole thing of mixing genres. I can release a real slow track and it’ll be cool and then also release an upbeat ‘let’s go party’ track. So I guess, I just want the space to do that.

Do you think you’ve planted small Easter eggs of what to expect in the future through ‘Tough Guy’ and ‘Soaked’ then?

Yeah. I feel like with ‘Tough Guy’ the influence was more RnB and with ‘Soaked’ it was more indie, indie pop. I guess those for me are just placing an egg in each genre. Yeah! I feel like they’re kind of paving the way. A little path, a little adventure!

Will it be as diverse as the palette you listen to?

I hope so, I really hope so. That’s the biggest thing for me, is just to not kind of go down one path, to have a bunch of doors open.

Do you think collaboration will help you with that?

100%. I do know the sounds that I like. I know the sounds I feel like I work well with for my own music. I feel like now, if I can go an collaborate with people, it’s gonna be cool. I’m excited for that.

Lastly, as Bene what’s the biggest achievement or stepping stone you’ve experienced? How does it motivate you?

I mean, I’m in the process of a record deal. So, I think for me, this kind of switch from having music as this kind of fantasy thing where I wish I could do it and now switching that into this is actually going to be a business and this is some serious stuff. I feel like that’s been the craziest thing. And now I’m so fueled up and ready and that for me has just changed everything. Now I know definitely what I’m doing with my life so that’s been the coolest thing ever.

Taking your friends along on the ride with you?

Oh yeah. Yeah. My band is made up of my best friends. 100%. And I want to use them. Well, not *use* them, that’s not the word. But, my friends are all creative in their own kind of way and they all are doing design or music and stuff, so I feel like working together with them. Like, my best friend Tia who plays guitar in my live band, she designed the graphics for my merch, for my first line of merch and for the ‘Tough Guy’ [album cover] art. Yeah, sticking with them is one of my goals.

It’ll help you not lose yourself in the midst of it all.

Oh, yeah totally. I feel like New Zealand, we’re all pretty grounded in that kind of area. I feel like I will be definitely sticking with them.

Also speaking of the visuals and art, who is that on the cover art? Is that you?

That is me. That is baby Bene.

What’s the significance of youth?

I mean, nothing. I was sitting in the studio one day and Paul was like ‘what are we going to do about the art?’ and I scrolled through my photos on my computer and found this baby picture of me and I bought it on to the photo editor where you can saturate the image and stuff and I did that and I sent it through to him and he was like ‘okay cool.’ It was chill, we didn’t think about it too much and I like that kind of thing for lots of my work. Like, just do it.

But it still links in nicely given ‘Soaked’ being that youthful anthem!

I guess leaving things open for anyone to interpret in their own kind of way is also the coolest thing about making art. So, if you took that away then cool, I’ve done my job. I like that.

Do you see that live as well? Can you tell though different faces and expressions people’s different interpretations?

Yeah 100%! I feel like with music especially, not knowing what the musician has actually written it about can actually sometimes be awesome because you can create your own kind of story and relate to it in your own way and make up your own idea of it in your head before. Sometimes I don’t like hearing the explanation, but it’s also cool to then compare what you though to what it was actually.

Do you see yourself going straight into an album or gradually building up to an EP?

I want this career to be long term and that will come with building up a body of work. So, maybe single, EP, album and then more.

BENE is only two singles into her ascent as a musician and it appears that she is ready for full flight. Her malleability as an artist and hankering to push boundaries and challenge musical convention is a refreshing sign of her longevity. It doesn’t hurt too that alongside her musical aptitude, she’s still a bundle of positivity, awkwardness and pure liveliness. 

BENE is the complete package, and with that, we are sure to see her climb the ranks and capitalise on her strengths to make music that moves people. 

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