Benjamin Dean Wilson - Dark turtlenecks and rotary phones

interview by Lorenzo Righetto

When I finished listening to "Small Talk" for the first time, I felt like the kid in "The Catcher in the Rye" — I wished I could know more about Benjamin Dean Wilson, that I could call him on the phone whenever I wanted. I knew I wouldn't forget those songs easily. Can you tell us something about your life and about yourself?

Right now I'm a math student. I have two cats. I like playing tennis and painting. I love fruit smoothies. Hmm... What else... I live in a house in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I've converted the guest room into my recording studio, and the guest bathroom into a darkroom. It's a really nice setup... Except when we have guests. Ha.

What comes across in your evocative bio on Tapete's page is that even they felt the need to explain to the casual listener who you were. I think that's also because "Small Talk" sounds like something a very seasoned singer-songwriter would write at the peak of their career, as their greatest artistic achievement. There's a mastery of the tools of songwriting that's hard even to fully grasp in a debut. What can you tell us about the genesis of the record, and of its songs?

Thanks for the kind words. Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing anything with this record other than putting it in a box or something, so I could listen to it again later. I know that sounds funny, but I've always preferred playing music as a hobby and have always focused more on screenwriting. But as time went on I realized I could bring "cinematic" elements into the music and that it might be interesting... So I recorded the record, showed it to some friends, who encouraged me to send it around.

I have a fairly banal, standard question, but it's hard not to bring it up. How do you write such complex songs? Do you piece together different parts, or build them progressively?

It depends. I like to discover what I'm writing as I write it. I don't make a draft, nothing like that. But I don't always work from beginning to end either. It's more like a process where melody and lyrics build up together until I think, "Okay, now something else needs to happen in the song..." But in the end I think it all comes down to the fact that the people I write about are complex. It's hard for me to do a character justice if I can only talk about them for three and a half minutes.

I also read that you listen to more classical and symphonic music than pop/singer-songwriter stuff. Do you think that plays a role in your songwriting? In a way your songs feel like singer-songwriter symphonies, both musically and lyrically.

I really think it carries weight. Before I knew how to play any instrument, I used to make up words to follow along with symphonic music, so I could sing it.

Was the demo you sent to Tapete actually the finished record?

Yes. I recorded every instrument and did all the production myself, so at the time I mostly thought of the tracks as demos... But I think Tapete liked that somewhat raw, direct approach - we never even talked about re-recording it.

There's a distinctly retro touch to your artistic expression - does that carry over into your recording gear and instruments?

I do actually record onto half-inch analog tape through a tube preamp... So yes, it's a bit retro. But at the same time, musically, I'm not a purist at all. I'll pull elements from any genre if it suits the story I'm telling.

What do you play live? And do you have any plans to put together a band for your next tour?

I did a short tour in Germany last November and I just played my acoustic guitar - we'd printed up some lyric booklets so the audience could really follow the stories. It was very engaging in that sense. As for the band... Logistically it wouldn't make much sense right now, but at some point it would definitely be fun. I watched a documentary about Frank Zappa recently, and I loved seeing how he performed and led his band during his shows.

When I thought about that Salinger reference, it also struck me that "Small Talk" felt more like a book than a record. It's rare for me to get as attached to lyrics as I do to music. Do you also see it as a multimedia work?

Yes. When I'm writing, I mostly think about the story and the lyrics. When I'm recording, I mostly think about the musical flow. When I'm mixing, I think about the technical side. When I step back and listen to it all as a whole, I'm really able to "enter" the song the way I would a book or a film... and that's when I can tell whether the track actually works.

In a way, he gave me tangible proof of why it was "right" to give the Nobel Prize to Bob Dylan. What do you think, by the way, about his reaction to that prize?

I wish I had a better answer to that. I was amused by Leonard Cohen's comment on the matter: "It's like pinning a medal on Everest for being the highest mountain." But to tell you the truth, I haven't really followed the whole story.

Thank you so much for your time. Can we hope to see you play in Europe again in the near future? Maybe in Italy...

I don't have any dates set yet, but I definitely have plans for 2017. I think I'd like to do another European tour and, yes, I'd particularly love to visit Italy.

Ride the wave of great music

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Lorenzo Righetto, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition