BEN ELY’S RADIO 5
Ben Ely trips into the futureworld, inspired by a radio show 100 years ahead of our time… with his new solo album Transcending Reality. Garage rock with a twist of the future.
Ben Ely returns from the zone with new project Ben Ely’s Radio 5. A garage crazed transmission from the future worlds… emerging after his first broadcast at the Gallery of Modern Art’s Warhol Uplate in March. In between bouts of Regurgitator Ben recorded this solo album at his Studio Wow! in Sydney and Jonboyrock joined the melee to mix. Ben stands to attention, kickstarts the stand, revs the mic as Stephen Bourke and Marihuzkha Larenas shuffle their wares to the beat on a twin six string psych attack. Cheap, nasty and freaking dynamic!!!
The idea for this project came about in mid 2007 when Steve, Marihuzka and I were chatting after a show late one night at Spectrum joking around with the idea of starting a group with just the three of us doing a stripped back thing with a very small kit like Mo Tucker (from the Velvet Underground), an acoustic guitar and Steve playing electric. We were a little drunk just mucking around with the idea. Then months later when I came off tour on the BDO with Regurgitator I felt really inspired by all this amazing music I had soaked up over that trip though I didn’t have any plans to make any music. I actually had my heart set on the idea of doing an art exhibition so I set those wheels in motion, but as I started painting in the silent space of a spare room in my house songs came to me. In the silence they came… one after the other. I would put down my brushes sing the riffs, melody and lyrics into my dictaphone saving them up, storing them for something down the track without wasting time on elaborate demos. Then I ran into Marihuzka and Steve out again one night in March 2008 and the idea came up again. They had some free time and we decided to get together at a local rehearsal space. I brought long my dictaphone and translated some of these rough sketches to the other guys. We all had a total blast with what came out. Our 4 hour rehearsals seemed to fly by with each of us so rapped up in what we were doing. It was raw exciting and fresh. We started with a bunch of instruments – synths, basses, acoustic guitars – then stripped the sound back to just stand up kick and snare with tamborine and two electric guitars. Anything else was just cluttering up the sound. We pieced all the songs together and before we knew it we had enough material for 2 albums so we went to a friends studio and put Transcending Reality together. Four months after our first rehearsal we had the mastered version of our album in our hot sweaty little paws. It was so easy. No epic struggle with the songs. Not too many hours wasted on production. Isn’t the best music made this way?
After shows with Peaches, single of the week for I’m Psyched on iTunes, and a few album launch shows prior to the Regurgitator Asia tour… Ben Ely hits the road with Children Collide on their upcoming album release tour…
FRI 14 NOV – REVOLVER UPSTAIRS Melbourne with Children Collide and Sailors & Swine
SAT 15 NOV – PRODUCERS BAR Adelaide with Children Collide
THUR 20 NOV – ALHAMBRA LOUNGE Brisbane with Children Collide
FRI 21 NOV – ANNANDALE HOTEL Sydney with Children Collide and Traps
Straight through the future on the crest of a garage rock fury…
TRANSCENDING REALITY out now on Valve/MGM – featuring I’m Psyched, get on the Mic and Ride it like a Bike and way more than the head can hold… roar! For interviews, images and more contact brian@rishrecords.com or consume1@ozemail.com.au www.myspace.com/benelysradio5