This is a story I would normally do in 2 parts but I am heading to the bush for the long weekend and will be out of range so this is Ben’s full story. Have a safe and happy long weekend humans. x Denise.
Ben Wilson – “ I was born in Brighton in the UK into a musical family. Both my parents are opera singers. They met at an opera society while at uni. My parents are separated now but my mum still sings and performs opera and my dad still sings as well. They both play piano and my sister is a great singer too. I sung from an early age because everyone around me was doing it and I always loved it.
My parents begged me to learn piano when I was young but I didn’t want to be like them because they were not cool. This was the 10 year old me. I wanted to learn guitar and be Kurt Cobain. My parents got me guitar lessons and I learnt trumpet at school as well. My parents listened exclusively to classical music so I didn’t know about The Beatles, Bob Dylan or any of those artists. At 16 – 18 I started to discover that music and it blew my mind. I was 18 when I discovered Bob Dylan so that was it. I was a folk singer, songwriter from that day. I wasn’t very good but that’s what I wanted to do. I listened to all the American folk singers, learnt finger picking and all the other stuff was self taught. I learnt the basics and my guitar teacher introduced me to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd so that was great.
I lived in Brighton until I was 18. I went to Cambridge uni (not The Cambridge) to study Audio Technology. I wished I’d taken a gap year but I didn’t and I dropped out in my second year. I realised I didn’t want to be an engineer, I wanted to go travelling.
I was home in Brighton for summer and met my now wife so that was it. Kate was Australian, she was backpacking and had been travelling around Europe. She was heading to Scotland, I dropped out of uni and went with her. I’d only known her a few weeks at that point and we went and lived in Edinburgh for 3 months of winter which was hard core. I had someone to hug though, new relationship and all that stuff.
We came back to Brighton in GFC time, the economy was pretty rubbish. Brighton is an amazing place to grow up. It’s very creative, lots of bands, lots of musicians, lots of artists but It’s hard to find work. The rent is the same as London but wages are lower. We thought, well Kate’s Australian, let’s go to Australia. I got my working holiday visa for the one year deal. We went to Cairns which is where Kate is from. It was a culture shock. Here I am, a skinny little English muso from Brighton in Cairns. There was no music scene for me there. We lived there for a year and it was ok. I saw the rainforest and the reef but I was just working bar jobs doing the hospo tourist thing which is all there is up there.
We returned to Brighton and lived there for 2 more years. We thought we would give it another go here so we moved to Port Douglas. We should have learned. I mean Port Douglas is beautiful if you have money and a boat but no good for a broke muso.
Kates mum had bought a farm in Numulgi in the Northern Rivers. We visited her and loved it here. We loved Lismore. The first time I ever came here I thought, so this is where all the creative people are, this is where my people are. I was in my early 20’s. I’m 29 now.
We moved to Lismore and it felt like Brighton again but better, a smaller, easier version. I walked into Dragonfly straight away and got a job as the Barista. I’m still there 6 years later. They have been like family to me and really welcomed me into the community. I’ve met so many people through that cafe. It’s such a supportive community. Everybody supports each other and not for money or favours but just because they want to help and keep the community going. I call it home now and I’ve really taken to it. I grew up in a place where you are anonymous. People don’t say hello to each other.
My first year in Lismore I entered into the Young Songwriters Competition which I love. It was 2013 and I was just a runner up and the song was called 5 years. The song is about doing your own thing and fulfilling your goals. I was playing at the City Bowlo for that completion and as I was doing my performance in walked Kevin Rudd. He watched my song and then leaves. That was cool but very random.
The year after I entered again with a song called Lonely One and I won the whole thing. They were announcing all the winners ion the categories first and they announced the runner up and winner in the Folk category which was my category and my name didn’t come up so I was disappointed and then they announced me as the overall winner for the song of the year. I had no idea and I was blown away. The prize was recording at SAE in Byron where I recorded my first EP.
In 2013 we had Fionn our son. He’s now 4 1/2. I just feel so blessed that we had a child here in such a good place to raise a child. Kate is doing Social Sciences and when she finishes her degree which is soon as she’s doing placement now, hopefully she will get work around here. I am open though if she gets work elsewhere. Lismore will always feel like home.
My Dad lives in France and Mum is in Brighton. We are going in July to visit them. My sister is in London, Grandma in Birmingham, friends in Nottingham and Norris, there’s a lot of getting around and seeing people. I come back feeling like I need a holiday.
I went to a gig about 4 years ago at Sphinx Rock in Nimbin to see a musician play called Andrew Morris who lives in Billinudgel He is a great artist in his own right and he plays with the Wilson Pickers. He also plays guitar in Bernard Fannings band. We got talking, he asked me to play a few songs with him and we got on really well. He asked me if I wanted to record an album with him as he had just bought this old church he was converting into a family home come studio. We started tracking then he had his first kid, had a break then we got back into it. Then I had my son, hiatus, then he had another kid, hiatus. It’s been a long process with re-recordings and lots of different musicians. It’s been full of highs and lows and times when I wanted to abandon the project. We finally finished. We recorded in the converted church with amazing acoustics. We tracked the band tracks live so half the album is just me, half has drums, bass, violin, full folk sound with drums. It’s got a really raw, live sound to it. Mixing was difficult because it all bleeds into different microphones. It’s a bit rough around the edges, not a beautifully polished studio album but that’s what I wanted. It’s got a really nice vintage sound. We used a lot of vintage gear. I wrote all the songs over the course of the last 5 years.
The first Lismore launch function sold out really fast. That’s what I mean about the way people support artists in this community is amazing. I am having a Lismore launch at The Quad which I love as a new venue on the 28th of June. Tonight I am playing at Club Mullum with Diamond Duck who are friends from Melbourne. Tomorrow which is the 9th June I will be playing in Miami Night Markets. After that we head to Armidale then Bellingen.
The Button Collective feature on the album. We have Brodie on Mandolin and Violin. I don’t let him sing because he has a horrible voice. One gig at the Button Collective, we finished and this lovely old lady came up to Brodie and said, ‘Love your band, love your music but absolutely horrendous voice.’ We all laughed and we still pay him out for that. We have Jake Pember who plays Double Bass. He is absolutely amazing and I would be lost without him. He does all my design and technical stuff. He’s a clever boy and is studying Astronomy in Sydney. He is amazing and he’s my rock at gigs. Isaac Vincent is a local busker and he plays violin. He’s awesome. I had 2 different drummers, Joe McDermott and Matt Akerst who is from an awesome Mullum band called Walrus and the Carpenter. I also had Julian Smith play some Double Bass. Bobby Dazzler played violin too. The album credits are a bit complicated.
The album is called ‘Give me that Hammer’ and it’s about doing what I want, achieving my goals, becoming a father. It’s also the conflict about being a musician, being on the road and being at home with your family. It’s 2 very different sides of your brain. Alex Clarke is another very clever person who I am so lucky to have on board. He offered to do the album cover. We went out and did a photo shoot and he said it has to be on vinyl if we’re going to do it. I said ‘Yep, lets do it’. We went out to Bentley, took a bunch of photos which I’ve used for press and promo. He’s a Lismore legend.”
Ben Wilson – “ I was born in Brighton in the UK into a musical family. Both my parents are opera singers. They met at an opera society while at uni. My parents are separated now but my mum still sings and performs opera and my dad still sings as well. They both play piano and my sister is a great singer too. I sung from an early age because everyone around me was doing it and I always loved it.
My parents begged me to learn piano when I was young but I didn’t want to be like them because they were not cool. This was the 10 year old me. I wanted to learn guitar and be Kurt Cobain. My parents got me guitar lessons and I learnt trumpet at school as well. My parents listened exclusively to classical music so I didn’t know about The Beatles, Bob Dylan or any of those artists. At 16 – 18 I started to discover that music and it blew my mind. I was 18 when I discovered Bob Dylan so that was it. I was a folk singer, songwriter from that day. I wasn’t very good but that’s what I wanted to do. I listened to all the American folk singers, learnt finger picking and all the other stuff was self taught. I learnt the basics and my guitar teacher introduced me to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd so that was great.
I lived in Brighton until I was 18. I went to Cambridge uni (not The Cambridge) to study Audio Technology. I wished I’d taken a gap year but I didn’t and I dropped out in my second year. I realised I didn’t want to be an engineer, I wanted to go travelling.
I was home in Brighton for summer and met my now wife so that was it. Kate was Australian, she was backpacking and had been travelling around Europe. She was heading to Scotland, I dropped out of uni and went with her. I’d only known her a few weeks at that point and we went and lived in Edinburgh for 3 months of winter which was hard core. I had someone to hug though, new relationship and all that stuff.
We came back to Brighton in GFC time, the economy was pretty rubbish. Brighton is an amazing place to grow up. It’s very creative, lots of bands, lots of musicians, lots of artists but It’s hard to find work. The rent is the same as London but wages are lower. We thought, well Kate’s Australian, let’s go to Australia. I got my working holiday visa for the one year deal. We went to Cairns which is where Kate is from. It was a culture shock. Here I am, a skinny little English muso from Brighton in Cairns. There was no music scene for me there. We lived there for a year and it was ok. I saw the rainforest and the reef but I was just working bar jobs doing the hospo tourist thing which is all there is up there.
We returned to Brighton and lived there for 2 more years. We thought we would give it another go here so we moved to Port Douglas. We should have learned. I mean Port Douglas is beautiful if you have money and a boat but no good for a broke muso.
Kates mum had bought a farm in Numulgi in the Northern Rivers. We visited her and loved it here. We loved Lismore. The first time I ever came here I thought, so this is where all the creative people are, this is where my people are. I was in my early 20’s. I’m 29 now.
We moved to Lismore and it felt like Brighton again but better, a smaller, easier version. I walked into Dragonfly straight away and got a job as the Barista. I’m still there 6 years later. They have been like family to me and really welcomed me into the community. I’ve met so many people through that cafe. It’s such a supportive community. Everybody supports each other and not for money or favours but just because they want to help and keep the community going. I call it home now and I’ve really taken to it. I grew up in a place where you are anonymous. People don’t say hello to each other.
My first year in Lismore I entered into the Young Songwriters Competition which I love. It was 2013 and I was just a runner up and the song was called 5 years. The song is about doing your own thing and fulfilling your goals. I was playing at the City Bowlo for that completion and as I was doing my performance in walked Kevin Rudd. He watched my song and then leaves. That was cool but very random.
The year after I entered again with a song called Lonely One and I won the whole thing. They were announcing all the winners ion the categories first and they announced the runner up and winner in the Folk category which was my category and my name didn’t come up so I was disappointed and then they announced me as the overall winner for the song of the year. I had no idea and I was blown away. The prize was recording at SAE in Byron where I recorded my first EP.
In 2013 we had Fionn our son. He’s now 4 1/2. I just feel so blessed that we had a child here in such a good place to raise a child. Kate is doing Social Sciences and when she finishes her degree which is soon as she’s doing placement now, hopefully she will get work around here. I am open though if she gets work elsewhere. Lismore will always feel like home.
My Dad lives in France and Mum is in Brighton. We are going in July to visit them. My sister is in London, Grandma in Birmingham, friends in Nottingham and Norris, there’s a lot of getting around and seeing people. I come back feeling like I need a holiday.
I went to a gig about 4 years ago at Sphinx Rock in Nimbin to see a musician play called Andrew Morris who lives in Billinudgel He is a great artist in his own right and he plays with the Wilson Pickers. He also plays guitar in Bernard Fannings band. We got talking, he asked me to play a few songs with him and we got on really well. He asked me if I wanted to record an album with him as he had just bought this old church he was converting into a family home come studio. We started tracking then he had his first kid, had a break then we got back into it. Then I had my son, hiatus, then he had another kid, hiatus. It’s been a long process with re-recordings and lots of different musicians. It’s been full of highs and lows and times when I wanted to abandon the project. We finally finished. We recorded in the converted church with amazing acoustics. We tracked the band tracks live so half the album is just me, half has drums, bass, violin, full folk sound with drums. It’s got a really raw, live sound to it. Mixing was difficult because it all bleeds into different microphones. It’s a bit rough around the edges, not a beautifully polished studio album but that’s what I wanted. It’s got a really nice vintage sound. We used a lot of vintage gear. I wrote all the songs over the course of the last 5 years.
The first Lismore launch function sold out really fast. That’s what I mean about the way people support artists in this community is amazing. I am having a Lismore launch at The Quad which I love as a new venue on the 28th of June. Tonight I am playing at Club Mullum with Diamond Duck who are friends from Melbourne. Tomorrow which is the 9th June I will be playing in Miami Night Markets. After that we head to Armidale then Bellingen.
The Button Collective feature on the album. We have Brodie on Mandolin and Violin. I don’t let him sing because he has a horrible voice. One gig at the Button Collective, we finished and this lovely old lady came up to Brodie and said, ‘Love your band, love your music but absolutely horrendous voice.’ We all laughed and we still pay him out for that. We have Jake Pember who plays Double Bass. He is absolutely amazing and I would be lost without him. He does all my design and technical stuff. He’s a clever boy and is studying Astronomy in Sydney. He is amazing and he’s my rock at gigs. Isaac Vincent is a local busker and he plays violin. He’s awesome. I had 2 different drummers, Joe McDermott and Matt Akerst who is from an awesome Mullum band called Walrus and the Carpenter. I also had Julian Smith play some Double Bass. Bobby Dazzler played violin too. The album credits are a bit complicated.
The album is called ‘Give me that Hammer’ and it’s about doing what I want, achieving my goals, becoming a father. It’s also the conflict about being a musician, being on the road and being at home with your family. It’s 2 very different sides of your brain. Alex Clarke is another very clever person who I am so lucky to have on board. He offered to do the album cover. We went out and did a photo shoot and he said it has to be on vinyl if we’re going to do it. I said ‘Yep, lets do it’. We went out to Bentley, took a bunch of photos which I’ve used for press and promo. He’s a Lismore legend.”