Photo: Hedi Slimane
Ben Esser
By Ferrari Sheppard
If his 1950’s rock-a-billy
flattop ‘do, blue jeans, white T-shirt, and scuffed up Chuck Taylors
aren’t enough to steal your heart, perhaps witnessing Britain’s
newest pop sensation Ben Esser sweat it out onstage will get you mesmerized.
Playing multiple instruments, including the drums and keyboard, he makes
his way around the stage, belting out his heart. Currently on tour in
the UK with his band, Esser—in support of his debut album Braveheart—he’s
looking to create a new standard for what’s considered to be rock-n-roll
chic. We caught up with Esser on his recent U.S. tour, and this is what
was said:
StopBeingFamous: Are you into
astrology at all?
Ben Esser: [Laughing]
Not really. September 13th…what is that? I think I’m
a Virgo.
SBF: Is this your first time
visiting the U.S.?
BE: No, we performed at South
by Southwest in Austin, Texas back in March. This is the first big tour
we’ve done of the U.S., where we’re actually in New York, San Francisco,
and L.A. and stuff.
SBF: What are your first impressions
of the U.S., particularly New York City?
BE: Sgeez! It’s just vast.
It was intense. We walked through Times Square, and it was just mad.
There were Nintendo Super Mario Brothers-sized televisions like everywhere.
Signs, flashing lights everywhere. It’s amazing how many different
radio and TV stations there are in the U.S. There are so many different
ways to get your music out there, opposed to London, where if you’re
a band and you’re trying to get your music out there, there are only
a few places you can go. There are only a few magazines that are really
important. Over here, you’ve got tons of outlets.
SBF: How did the Esser project
begin?
BE: It started with me just
kind of messing around a bit. I always be into making music in different
ways, kind of production stuff─electronic stuff and playing drums
in bands. I was producing all of this stuff, and started writing songs
and singing. I never used to sing before. When I started singing, I
could play the drums, I could play guitar…it was like I couldn’t
stop myself.
SBF: Did you go to college?
BE: Yeah, I did the bid...
but I’ve always wanted to make music. I’ve done it because I enjoyed
it, because it’s fun; it’s never been about making a career or money.
I knew I wanted to make music, so when I left school I started playing
in bands. I went to college to keep my parents happy.
SBF: How have your family responded
to your emergence?
BE: Oh, it’s been good. My
dad’s a musician anyway; he plays and teaches. He’s really supportive
of what I do. It’s been great because I think for a lot of people
they find it hard to explain to their parents why they’re unemployed
and not making any money. And you’re in band.
SBF: When did things really
start to take off for you?
BE: I met someone from XL [Recordings].
He was in this bar, and we just talked about music and stuff. I told
him he should come and listen to my stuff. He came over to my house,
and played him some tracks. He really liked it. That’s how it works
in the music industry─as soon as one person hears about something,
it’s just out there, and everyone knows about it. There’s this weird
transition between people being interested and wanting to work with
you, and expecting you to do things full time, but at the same time
not giving you any money for it.
SBF: The classic story of a
starving artist. Can you tell us a bit about the town you come from?
BE: I grew up outside of London,
in East Anglia, near Essex. I grew up in a really small town; there
wasn’t much happening. Music for me was always a good way for me to
kind of get away from things.
SBF: What kind of music?
BE: The stuff I really got
passionate about was a lot of hip-hop coming out in London, like the
Cold Cuts. I wasn’t living very far from South End, which is more
culturally interesting than where I grew up. There are a lot of like
old skinheads and stuff that live down there, so there’s a few of
the older guys who put me on to music. I wasn’t far from London, so
I could get the train to London and [see] the kind of new bands there.
SBF: Who are three musicians,
dead or alive, that you’d like to work with?
BE: I’d love to work with
Terry Hall [lead singer of the Specials]. The Specials are a kind of
British ska band, they wrote amazing songs. They were conscience, but
not in the way of telling you what to do. They were mostly about having
a good time, which I think is the shit. I would love to work with Terry
Hall. Joe Meek as well, he was kind of 50’s veteran producer. He’s
a bit like an English Phil Spector. He produced like 50’s pop music,
but it was really weird and dark, and he’s a weird character himself.
He was into the occult, and going to graveyards with a recorder to see
if he could hear some sounds. At the same time, he was making these
simple pop records, and he was one of the first people to really do
stuff in the studio, which no one was doing. At that time, people who
worked in the studio were wearing lab coats, you know, and there were
all of these rules. Joe Meeks was the first to kind of do whatever,
so if he was alive─if he hadn’t killed himself and his landlady
[Laughing], I would have loved to work with him. The third person
I’d like to work with is Cee-Lo, who is actually singing on one of
my songs. I sent some stuff off to him for him to sing on, hopefully
I’ll get that back soon.
SBF: At the end of the day,
is there anything about Esser that you’d like the world to know?
BE: Well, I started writing
these songs, and I wanted them to be pop songs in the way that you could
sing along and relate to them, I wanted to keep everything simple. That
hasn’t changed, I still want people─everyone─to be able to listen
to my music and be able to relate. End of Interview.
