Hailing from New Zealand, the adorable and quirky BENEE is using R&B, Pop, and Electronic influences to introduce music fans to a new, fresh sound. We sat down with BENEE ahead of her show in New York City to talk about how she started making music, her process in the studio, and her debut EP FIRE ON MARZZ, which is going to be released this Friday 6/28 via Republic Records.
BTS: Can you tell us how you got started making music?
BENEE: In 2017 I was in my last year of high school, and everyone was trying to figure out what they were going to do with their lives and I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had released a few covers on Soundcloud just for my mates and stuff, and I enrolled in University. I got in got in contact with Josh Fountain, who’s my producer now, and my manager Paul and the had me come into the studio so we could see what we could do, We eventually busted out my first song “Tough Guy,” so I released that at the end of that year and I was in University for two weeks and the response to the song was encouraging so I talked to Paul and I decided I just wanted to make music so I dropped out. I made pizzas and washed dishes at a little pizza shop all year and also wrote in the studio, and now we’re here!
BTS: Who are some of your biggest influences?
BENEE: The Internet, they definitely influenced “Tough Guy”. Steve Lacy, King Krule, Rex Orange County, those kind of artists. I think it’s constantly changing. On Spotify, I love the discover page, and I’ve found even Bollywood music and Arabic music is really cool and inspiring. Did I say Daniel Cesar and Kaytranada? I love them as well. I listen widely.
BTS: What did you grow up listening to?
BENEE: That would be what my parents listened to. They listened to a lot of Radiohead, and that kind of thing. They introduced me to this band called Beruit as well, who I love. Also Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, that kind of thing.
BTS: How would you describe your music for someone who hasn’t heard it before?
BENEE: I’d like to think it’s a bit of a mix, because when I’m making music I like to mix genres. I guess it’s kind of like Alternative-Indie Pop with an R&B twist.
BTS: What’s your writing and recording process like in the studio?
BENEE: So I’ve been working with Josh Fountain, and this guy called Jason Suskov, what usually happens is I’ll come to the studio with a bunch of notes and ideas. I’ll have dreams that I write out on the page and then we’ll write about the story. I’ll usually come in with an idea and then play them a bunch of songs that I’ve been listening to. For example, the day we wrote “Tough Guy” I played them some stuff by The Internet, as well as “Wild Thoughts” by Rihanna, and I loved the bass and the guitar twang in those songs. But usually once we do that, we’ll go from there.
BTS: Can you tell us about your two new singles “Want Me Back”?
BENEE: It’s a recent song that I made. I wrote it after a break up, it was a little while after a break up. I think I wrote it in November or December of 2018. It was kind of about that time after you’ve broken up with someone and they start hitting you up again and you’re just really confused. It’s the most vulnerable I’ve been with my music so far. Writing wise I just wrote with Josh and I went into the studio and just told him that I was really sad about the situation I was in, and I want to write a sad song. So he started working on this really nice, stripped back production. The first verse that’s in the track is the first take that we did, so it’s really emotional and sad.
BTS: Can you talk about the story behind “Evil Spider”?
BENEE: It’s about wanting someone who’s already taken, but I didn’t want to be that gal. So I made myself a spider that’s trying to lure someone into her web. It’s inspired by a black house spider I saw in my room.
BTS: What’s been the biggest challenge for you when it’s come to making music thus far?
BENEE: Probably just making stuff that I’m super happy with. I feel like I’m quite picky when it comes to that stuff, and I hear so many mixes, so the process of actually completing a song is quite long. It’s easy to get sick of a song through that part of the process. I just have a lot of really little things that tick me off. But getting songs to be perfect is really the hardest part for me.
BTS: They should be perfect though, especially since you’re going to be playing them live over and over again.
BENEE: Yes, exactly! That’s why I think it’s so important to me to really try and get everything just right, even though it can be really difficult some times.
BTS: You’ve been playing a number of shows across Europe and now in the U.S. – what’s that been like?
BENEE: It’s been pretty crazy. It’s my first proper tour. I’ve never been to Berlin, Amsterdam, and Stockholm, which was amazing. It’s been pretty crazy, and a lot more people have turned up to my shows then I expected which is crazy to me. I brought a group of my mates with me who are playing in my band, and I think for all of us we’re kind of just like “What the heck is going on?!: But it’s really exciting.
BTS: How have the shows been?
BENEE: They’ve been really cool and very fun. We’ve just been a lot of fun bouncing around on stage, and the audience just makes it really chill and fun.
BTS: What do you have going on for the rest of 2019?
BENEE: After this tour, I get home on the 27th of June, just in time for my EP FIRE ON MARZZ to come out. On that night, I have a gig in Auckland, which will be a lot of fun for celebrating the release. I’ve got that, and then I’ll be heading to Los Angeles to do some writing after that. Then I’ve got a bunch of summer festivals around New Zealand and Australia, which should be a blast!
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