INTERVIEW: NEON PATTERN SUNDIAL (FKA BEN ALPINE) IS TAKING IT ALL IN HIS STRIDE
Gabby had a chat to Ben Alpine, all about his new release ‘All In Your Stride’, his creative process, influences, cover art, and his time in isolation - including his Top 10 Iso Tunes! Check it out >
![Ben Alpine - Press Shot 1 2020 [HI-RES].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d96cb88130d950f0cc37e46/1596438079331-EV7XSPLCWXJJTFN04YIZ/Ben+Alpine+-+Press+Shot+1+2020+%5BHI-RES%5D.jpg)
Hey there Ben! First off, a huge congrats on your debut single 'All In Your Stride'! How has the single been received so far? Any favourite critiques?
Thank you! Yeah the reception has been really great and to be honest a little overwhelming! I’m not sure what I’d expected, but I don’t think I realised I’d be spending the entire release day responding to messages from friends and reading blog posts about the song. It was so cool though, definitely very very stoked and thankful.
Ben Madden wrote a review on the song which was so cool to read. I just feel like he took from the song exactly what I want people to, especially saying that “you’ll feel positive about your day by the end of it”. Otherwise it’s just been so cool to hear from friends. I had shown it to a few people that I’m close with as we were making it, but tried to keep it under wraps for the most part. So it was awesome to now have people really dig into it and ask about the details in the artwork and things like that, which is exactly what I want people to do.
Tell us about your creative processes; how did 'All In Your Stride' come to be?
I don’t really think I can say that I have a definitive creative process as that sort of thing always changes. it’s sort of split up into two parts….
Firstly, I’ll create the demo mostly by myself. I’ll just work on it whenever; in my bedroom, on trains, at uni, mostly with headphones. I’ll just record everything really rough and try to not get too caught up in lyrics or synthesis or getting the right take.
Then I’ll bring the demo to my friend and producer/mixer Marc Scollo, and we’ll go through and flesh things out, tidy up the arrangement and basically re-record everything at a much higher quality. Marc is basically like 49% of the project if you ask me. This is where we replace the sample drums with a live kit, and start arranging vocal harmonies and all that stuff. Usually the song changes a lot during this process. I definitely rewrote some of the lyrics right before recording them...
All In Your Stride was in it’s ‘demo’ stage for over a year before Marc and I started on what became the final production. And I started it at a time that I wasn’t very inspired so it sat dormant for months and months before I picked it up again. I rewrote a lot of the lyrics at the last minute which seems to be pretty standard for me at the moment. I don’t really consider myself that great of a lyricist and feel like I have a lot to learn.
My friend Bek Nafiz was pretty important in the process, we did a session mid-2018 that basically got the entire foundation of the song down. It was her idea for all those funky guitar lines. I should also mention Alex Siderov who played drums on the track.
I'm very intrigued by the single's cover art, it's quite beautiful. Tell us about the concept and the images you've used.
Yeah! The artwork seems to be getting a lot of attention which is so awesome. It was basically all Jack Mackinnon. I just gave him a bunch of photos I had taken that reflected the aesthetic of the song to me. Which were mostly these vast landscape images that gave off this optimistic feeling, to me at least. He picked those ones and put them together that way and I loved it immediately. He absolutely killed it I reckon.
The photos are either from my travels or places that I’ve spent a lot of time and are all important to me. I picked up photography about 2 years ago, and I wanted the aesthetic of this project to be very rooted in reality and that sort of dreamy representation of it, so using those photos was a no-brainer.
Some of your influences include Hippo Campus and The Japanese House, how do these artists inspire you and your music?
Like everyone I listen to a lot of different music, especially electronic music and a lot of pop, but I feel like those two artists reflect the more ‘indie’ guitar-driven side of my sound, especially on All In Your Stride. I was listening to Bambi by Hippo Campus and Good at Falling by The Japanese House a lot during making this so the input was definitely there, both of those albums are some of my favourites. The Japanese House’s tuned and harmonised vocal arrangements were 100% a huge thing for me.
COVID-19 has had an extreme effect on the music industry, and I’m sure you’re missing festivals and gigs as much as me. What was the last gig you went to? Any events you were looking forward to that were cancelled/postponed?
The last show I went to was my friend Earnest Jackson’s single launch for his song Sweaty, which is a massive tune and their performance really went off. Before that I saw Golden Features who is always amazing. And I was getting really really excited to see Bon Iver and Tame Impala before they both got postponed!
Give us your Top 10 songs that are getting you through lockdown.
In no particular order! A real mix here of random stuff I’ve picked up and had on repeat...
Phone Numbers by Dominic Fike & Kenny Beats
Ego Death by Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye West, FKA twigs & Skrillex
Playing On My Mind by The 1975
SIR WINSTON’S POSITIVE BEATLES PLAYLIST
In all of this iso hubbub, Sir Winston is pulling through with the classics. He’s created a playlist of his fave beatles tracks to help him through iso, and we have a feeling all you Beatles fans out there will love it too. 2 hours full of Beatles boogie goodness coming your way! ->
Check out the press release for Sir Winston’s own latest release ‘Hollywood Hills’ HERE!
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OLY SHERMAN’S ULTIMATE ISOLATION PLAYLIST
We’ve already heard the sort of vibes Sydney songwriter Oly Sherman has been working with for 2020 on his January release, ‘Madness’, and now we’re getting more insights into this talented musician’s building stock of work. Releasing his new single ‘Homeboy’ this month, Sherman swathes polished songwriting in slick production and indie influences. Another strong step forward for Sherman, ‘Homeboy’ is one of his most intimate offerings yet.
That in mind, check out his top 10 tracks for getting you through to remaining iso times!
We’ve already heard the sort of vibes Sydney songwriter Oly Sherman has been working with for 2020 on his January release, ‘Madness’, and now we’re getting more insights into this talented musician’s building stock of work. Releasing his new single ‘Homeboy’ this month, Sherman swathes polished songwriting in slick production and indie influences. Another strong step forward for Sherman, ‘Homeboy’ is one of his most intimate offerings yet.
That in mind, check out his top 10 tracks for getting you through to remaining iso times!
I knew of the band a fair while ago but have just recently got back into their sound. What particularly grabs me about their music, is how clean their drum grooves are.
Again, another song which I’ve known for a while. I remember listening to this song in my bed on holidays with my family. I feel like this stuff from John is super underrated, and his song writing, especially within this track, really influences my own.
Completely out of the realm in regard to the music I release, but I love this band. It really doesn’t get more psyche rock than these guys at the moment, and they are always constantly releasing music.
A band I discovered whilst on tour. I fell in love with the Hablot boys music so quickly. They are super vast musicians, and they know how to make a beat. I’ve pretty much vibed with most of their songs in the last month or so.
The man can write no wrong. SG is always my go to guy for a vibe. As soon as I heard the synth hook on this song I was completely sold, and could not stop telling anyone about it.
She Don’t Have to Know by John Legend
Again, I’ve been going back into the archives a lot recently, and this song is always stuck on my mind. Probably something that I didn’t notice or admit much at first, By John Legend would also have to be one of my biggest influences.
I had actually heard this bands name floating around for a while now but never actually managed to listen to any of their music. I heard this song on the radio, and loooved the ending. The rest of the song with the lyrics made the rest of my mind up.
Another recent discovery, I really love how Charli’s vocals fold into each other, and blend so easily, without sounding like she’s trying at all. Big ups on this song.
Love this song for its super 70’s feel. I always chuck this band on when I’m doing chores.
CHECK OUT THE FULL PLAYLIST ON OUR PLAYLIST PROFILE BELOW!
GRETA STANLEY’S ULTIMATE ISOLATION PLAYLIST
We’ve been in chats with Greta in talks about her most recent release ‘Soak Into This’, and she’s also given us her top 10 tracks for her ‘Ultimate Isolation Playlist’.
We’ve been in chats with Greta in talks about her most recent release ‘Soak Into This’, and she’s also given us her top 10 tracks for her ‘Ultimate Isolation Playlist’.
Check out the press release for ‘Soak Into This’ HERE and check out the playlist below!
“These are just a bunch of songs I love, that I never get sick of. Some make me sad, some make me happy, some make me think of the people I love, some just make me think! A few of them are by some of my incredibly wonderful friends, so they're a bit extra special.”
Daggyman - What You Desire
Pasta - Angie Mcmahon
Garden Song - Phoebe Bridgers
Rosemary Mushrooms - Jack Davies and The Bush Chooks
Sunday News - Colie
Rare Hearts - The Growlers
Easy Easy - King Krule
With The Fire - Tayla Young
Exactly How You Are - Ball Park Music
Good For You - Alana Wilkinson
ICYMI: BackBeat’s Spotify Playlist - Full Of Local Goodies
In case you missed it; the BackBeat has put together a playlist to end all Aussie playlists (…maybe). We think it’s pretty cool anyway. Tunes from artists like Tonight Alive, Tame Impala, Spacey Jane, Stella Donnelly, The Kite String Tangle, Ocean Grove, and of course, The Veronicas, all the way to more local lesser-knowns (but still just as eargasm-ous) such as Velvet Bloom, Mia Ro…
Ecca Vandal
In case you missed it; the BackBeat has put together a playlist to end all Aussie playlists (…maybe). We think it’s pretty cool anyway.
Featuring both well-knowns and a bunch of unearthed gems, ‘The Back Beat’ includes a mix of releases we’ve covered in our News Updates, as well as a bunch of local artists that we’re just personally diggin’ at the moment! Tunes from artists like Tonight Alive, Tame Impala, Spacey Jane, Stella Donnelly, The Kite String Tangle, Ocean Grove, and of course, The Veronicas, all the way to more local lesser-knowns (but still just as eargasm-ous) such as Velvet Bloom, Mia Rodriguez, Redferrie, Forever Renter, Astronaughty, Nothing Really, and Barefoot Bowls Club - and the list goes on!
Ocean Grove - Photo Credit: Bree Wallace
With already over 130 tracks added since it was initially pulled together in the first week of Feb, we know that there are plenty more to be included, so we’d love y’all to put your hand in and suggest some amazing local Australian (and maybe some cheeky NZ) artists and their tracks to add. Whether they’re super well known or totally new to the scene, if they’re Australian, we wanna hear about it! Hit. Us. Up.
In the meantime, get ya boogie on and give it a listen, pop it on shuffle and who knows, you might find your next favourite Aussie act - can confirm we already have!
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