Indie Interview June 2003

This interview originally appeared in June 2003 issue of The Indie, and is reprinted here by permission.

Benjammin Shines From the Inside

Benjammin fondly describes his “outside-the-box style” in rhyme: “Heartfelt and humorous, life re-examined / Acoustic and mystic: the songs of Benjammin.” He continues, “I occasionally touch on serious issues. But above all I love to entertain. My shows have plenty of humor, love songs and upbeat material, as well as a touch of the mystical. I like my audiences to go home with open hearts and big smiles.”
          Benjammin’s (or, Benjamin Bernstein) dynamic performances have earned smiles from the media, too. The Mountain Xpress called BenJammin "a clever songwriter, skilled guitarist, and highly entertaining solo acoustic performer." The Asheville Citizen-Times described him as “unique”, and praised his “rich baritone voice” and “humorous, intelligent bent toward life”.
          Song contest judges have also recognized Benjammin’s talents: he won First Place in the OSCA Songwriting Contest, and was a finalist in the Flatrock Music Festival’s competition.
          Originally a classical guitarist – he gave world premiere performances at two national guitar symposiums – Benjammin now uses his advanced fingerstyle technique on steel strings. He is currently recording a new CD, "Shining From Inside", for release early this summer. His website is www.BJBmusic.com. [Below is the Indie’s recent interview with Benjammin.] 

 TOPICAL SONGS. Your upcoming CD, Shining From Inside, includes several  topical songs. “Billions of Angels” addresses the environmental crisis, “Peaceful” deals with war, corporate greed and religious strife, and “We’re All One” deals with respect for diversity. However, you take a very different approach than most people in your topical songwriting. Could you describe your approach, and why you’ve chosen it?
        In the summer of 2000, I played a couple of my topical songs for Peter Mayer at the Planet Bluegrass Song School in Colorado. Peter is a wonderful songwriter out of Minnesota, and writes a lot of topical and philosophical songs. The songs I had written were dark, intense and a little angry. Peter said, "Why not set your song in the future, show the problem already having been solved, and, if you want, describe how the solution came about?" He went on to explain that dark, angry songs tended to alienate mature audiences, but they loved positive songs with hopeful messages. This made a lot of sense to me. I thought about Dan Fogelberg's environmental song, "Blind to the Truth" - it has an important message, but it's so angry that I hardly ever listen to it. So I have used Peter's suggestion in songs like "Billions of Angels" and "Peaceful", and they have become some of my most-requested songs.

           THE NEW CD. Your new CD, Shining From Inside, is not a typical acoustic or folk record. It includes not just your voice and acoustic guitar, but also tablas, talking drum, drum kit, soprano sax, blues harp and synthesizers. Why did you choose to include such a diverse range of instruments, and why did you choose to self-produce?
   Historically, artists do their best work when they don't worry about marketability and just follow their hearts. Think of k.d. lang's Ingenue album, or what the Beatles did starting with Sgt. Pepper! Of course, as an independent on my own label, I have no one else telling me what to do.
        I have struggled with the idea of what the "folk" or "acoustic" market will tolerate in terms of instrumentation, and finally decided to stop worrying and use whatever instruments I felt best served the song. It's a given that not everyone is going to love what I do no matter what, so my first responsibility is to follow my own musical vision. Those who vibe with that vision will enjoy the music; those who don't, won't. Self-producing was both an artistic and economic decision. Artistically, I want this CD to really express my musical vision, and I feel qualified to carry that through myself. After all, Shining From Inside is not my first album - I recorded and self-produced an all-synthesizer New Age album, The Beauty Within, back in 1994. (It's still available at www.BJBmusic.com.) I must have done something right, because it got a bunch of glowing reviews from the New Age media. And I've been learning about recording for 20 years through books, magazine articles, classes and hands-on experience.
        Also, the technology is now so powerful and affordable that anyone who educates themselves and has a good set of ears can now make a great-sounding CD. Even a modest set-up like mine - based around a few good mics, a good preamp, and Digital Performer running on a Mac - can make as clean a recording as a full-blown pro studio. Plus, I am so detail-oriented that it would be prohibitively expensive to hire an outside producer.

DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC. Your music is hard to categorize – as a singer/songwriter, you do topical songs, funny songs, love songs, metaphysical songs, and instrumentals. Then you’ve also done this New Age electronic CD called The Beauty Within. You cover a lot of musical ground, Benjammin - how would you describe what you do, in as few words as possible?
   I've considered and rejected several slogans to describe my music, including "Broadway Folk," "New Age Folk" and "metafolksical". Currently, I'm calling myself an "acoustic singer/songwriter" and describing myself with this couplet: “Heartfelt and humorous, life re-examined / Acoustic and mystic: the songs of Benjammin.” 

SPIRITUALITY. Spirituality is a thread that runs through a great deal of your music. What is your own spiritual background, and why do you choose to make it such a strong element in your songwriting?
    I was raised as an agnostic Jew in Oklahoma, then started following a guru-based spiritual path in my late teens - sort of an eclectic, one-of-a-kind path with strong Hindu and Christian influences. I did that for most of the next 20 years, then took up Vipassana Buddhism. I still use Vipassana meditation techniques, but am now tremendously influenced by the writings of spiritual philosopher Ken Wilber. I write songs about whatever strikes me as important, funny, or interesting, and spirituality is all that and more.
        I never preach in my songs, or tell people what they should believe - I just express spirituality as I perceive it. One thing that Ken Wilber's writings have clarified for me is that each human being evolves through many levels of consciousness during a lifetime. Different manifestations of religion and spirituality are important and necessary so that everyone can have a spirituality that they can relate to at their current level of development. Some of my songs deal with spirituality seriously, like "Visitation", and others deal with it humorously, such as "So Good For So Long." There is nothing more basic to human existence than spirituality - we are, I believe, spiritual beings having a human experience, and not the other way around. To me, spirituality is too inspiring and fascinating a subject not to include in my songwriting and performing.

MARRIAGE AND TOURING. You’re getting married in August. What does your fiancée think about you being out on the road so much, and how do you plan to avoid the relationship strains that touring musicians so often have to deal with?
    Deanna has known ever since we met that I would eventually be going on the road a lot. We're both independent people, with plenty of interests beyond each other. So when I'm gone, we miss each other -  but, as we say, "not too much". We both trust each other completely, so suspicion and jealousy aren't even issues. We have had an amazing connection ever since we met - as I describe in the songs "As One" and "Such Bliss" - and we both trust that our love will keep getting stronger even when I do have to be gone for weeks at a time.

FOLK TODAY. Most people are not that aware of the current state of the musical scene that you’re a part of – call it acoustic, folk or whatever. A lot of people still conjure up 60’s images of Dylan, Baez, and Peter, Paul & Mary – an impression that is reinforced by the new Christopher Guest film A Mighty Wind. Can you give us a brief description of this musical world as it really is today?
        Today, the folk/acoustic world is mostly made up of thousands of  independent musicians - mostly singer/songwriters - who tour as solo acts, release their CDs on their own labels, and get little or no radio play. "Folk" has become an umbrella genre, under which hundreds of subgenres thrive. If it's mostly acoustic and doesn't fit a major radio format, it can be called folk. A new book gives a great overview of this world: its called Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground by Scott Alarik. The best way to personally experience this scene is at the annual North American Folk Alliance conference, held every February. Or, closer to home, the premiere "folk" venue in Asheville is the Grey Eagle.

CD. You have a CD about to come out. Can you give us some details?
        Yes, it's called Shining From Inside. It's a fully produced singer/songwriter CD, with some world music and jazz touches. For example, River Guerguerian plays some tabla and talking drum, and Stuart Reinhardt plays his gorgeous soprano sax on a couple of cuts. And Joe Ebel laid down some amazing work on violin and electric guitar! Full info is on my website, www.BJBmusic.com.