Artist description Instrumental madness with no boundries!! Very eclectic arrangements varying from song-to-song, so you must listen to all of them. One minute he's Ravi Shankar, the next minute...Frank Zappa.

Music Style Eclectic

Musical Influences Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall, Buckethead, Praxis, David Torn, Steve Vai, NIN, Dweezil Zappa

Similar Artists Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall, Buckethead, Praxis, David Torn, Steve Vai, NIN, Dweezil Zappa

Artist History Project studio madness.

Group Members Benjy

Instruments guitar, bass, drum loops, organ and samples

Press Reviews From ESP magazine's September 4th, 2000 issue: Benjy Johnson has very little time to spare. He wears many hats: band member (he plays with the funky rock band Crushed Velvet Jones); solo artist (he's written and recorded a CD full of very infectious funk-pop tunes under the name of Benj-o-matic); studio owner (he owns, manages and runs Earthtones Recording Studio in Greensboro); record producer (he engineered, co-produced and mastered nearly every track on Will Rock For Food, Volume 1, a 17-track compilation CD showcasing band talent from three states). And in about six months, he'll be adding another big chapeau to his collection -- full-time dad. One might surmise that the more one has to do, all that energy sort of feeds itself, and that idea has worked its magic well so far for Johnson (at least until those 4 a.m. feedings come into play), who is showing no signs of slowing down. His original project, Benj-o-matic, which Benjy says started off as a way to test out the equipment in his new studio, has really taken off, and he says he's been toying with the idea of forming a band around the project. The compilation idea, Johnson says, came out of an idea that Crushed Velvet Jones (CVJ) bandmate Clay Howard came up with. "We had been on another compilation," explained Benjy, "and we thought that we could have up-to-par bands on something of our own. We wanted to put something together for our friends whom we'd played with. Every band paid $50 each to cover recording costs and time (averaging 4-5 hours per song), and they got a spot on the CD -- tracks were arranged by musical style."Clay took care of every bit of the graphics design stuff (with artist Brown Biggers) and handled all the printing and duplication -- the CD cover features a cool sepia-toned shot."I recorded all the bands, mixed the CD, mastered it and arranged it all."And if folks are interested in obtaining a copy?"We're offering them online (www.earthtonesrecording.com), and we've put them in local stores (Record Exchange, for example), and we've given 20 to each band to sell or give away at shows. It's basically a promotional tool for everyone involved."Musically, the CD is a melange and should satisfy that craving for something new. The first portion (Tracks 1-6) features pop music -- rockier stuff by Crushed Velvet Jones and Benj-o-matic, a rolling acoustic/harmonica-tinged number from solo artist Sam Hensley; and a poignant and rather disconsolate acoustic track from Alex Hall. Harder music highlights (tracks 7-11) include a fresh track from Bloom (the only female lead vocal) and a rather interesting and brash recitation/sonic soundtrack selection from Elvis X. The rest of Will Work... is somewhat eclectic -- "Little Dog Duncan" by Steve Weston is a wacky, fun, country ditty, and "Superstar" is a pleasant Donovan go-go throwback by C Spot Run.Besides the obvious exposure bonus for the bands involved, the CD serves as a real opportunity for Triad music lovers to audibly check out the bands whose names you've seen listed in the ESP Guide."On a community level," says Johnson, "I think it's made an impact because some of the bands are regular gigging bands that most people know, and some of them are just good musicians that we felt people should hear."And speaking of which, people should be hearing a lot more from Benjy Johnson, CVJ, Benj-o-matic and "Will Work..." in the coming months. Some of the bands featured on the compilation (CVJ, Haiz Rail, Shinkicker and Hotplate) will share the stage at Fuzzy Ducks on Saturday, September 16.And Johnson is nothing if not prolific. His own stuff is available for download at MP3.com, a still-underground medium Benjy says "is becoming what FM radio was in the 1960s."Johnson's solo material might be characterized as Southern-fried funk rock -- it's rock, but it's been beat up a bit, rolled around in the dirt and run through some funk PC. He does experimental things with his voice -- stuffing it, compressing it (let's see what happens when I push this button right here!) and has boatloads of fun. Johnson (who plays every instrument on his not-yet-released CD) writes conceptual, quirky lyrics that are a hundred miles away from the boy-meets-girl, woe-is-me, I'm-so-riddled-with-angst variety. It's refreshing. And radio would lay down and die for his pop funk grooves.Not bad for a guy who began "writing stuff just to see if I could do it."That is how some of the best music gets written -- when you're writing for yourself and the light in your head goes off and blinds you brilliant.

Location Greensboro, NC - USA

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