Young Benjamin

Young Benjamin
Self-Portrait of a Still-Life

Young Benjamin‘s creator and songwriter is Athens musician Matt Whitaker (Emergent Heart, The Premonitions, Electrophoria, Monahan). Matt started rotations as a Music Therapist at a local rehabilitation hospital in spring of 2011, where he worked with many patients in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. His interactions with these individuals, many of whom had little or no recollection of the life they had experienced, inspired Whitaker to explore writing about the nature of memory, illness, and death.

In June of 2011 Young Benjamin was born. Matt took the summer off to immerse himself fully in the project, focusing on the music he wrote and staying inspired by his experiences at the hospital. He bestowed upon the project a name given to him 10 years earlier by his great-grandfather while suffering in the hazy grips of dementia. Matt began playing shows using looping pedals to orchestrate dense, layered accompaniments, blurring the lines between chillwave and electro-acoustic music.

The marvelously enticing debut EP by Young Benjamin that emerged from Matt’s efforts is a surprisingly sagacious set, particularly for a 21-year-old songwriter. The songs were recorded at Popheart Productions in Athens, Georgia by Suny Lyons (Hope For Agoldensummer, pacificUV, Electrophoria) and chronicle a man’s diagnosis, escapism, and eventual death due to Alzheimer’s.

Young Benjamin is a Mazarine Records artist. Information on this dynamic new label available at www.mazarinerecords.com