Name: Benjy Johnson
Occupation: Producer, engineer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, label owner at Earthtones
Nationality: American
Current release: Benjy Johnson is joined by Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, The Stooges), Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple), and Scotty Irving (Clang Quartet) for the Spirit of Hamlet album Northwest Of Hamuretto. It is out now via Broken Sound Tapes.

[Read our Kawabata Makoto interview]
[Read our Kawabata Makoto interview about his creative process]
[Read our Mike Watt interview]
[Read our Scotty Irving interview]

If you enjoyed this Benjy Johnson interview and would like to know more about his work and music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?
 
Most of the time my inspiration for lyric creation is one of two things, a reaction or telling a story. I find that the first is more of an immediate inspiration. The second is more of a thoughtful introspective process as far as making sure I get all the parts of telling a story right.

As far as musical creation, sometimes it can be a new guitar in my hands or an amp or a pedal or just a sound or vibe that comes out when I pick up an instrument.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Sometimes the entire song or project or creative piece of work is completely and fully visualized as soon as I start.

Sometimes it comes in pieces but the pieces are so good I want to connect them with other pieces so they can be presented out into the universe.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?
 
In this day and age of digital recording, I very rarely do a demo or a pre-production version of a song. I just go ahead and set up the very first recording apparatus as if it is going to be the final version.

Aren’t the demos always the best ones anyway?
 
Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?
 
Now that I'm so busy working on various projects that are not my own, I find that time is my only enemy. So if I can find a few minutes alone and uninterrupted with an instrument in my hand sometimes that’s all it takes.

Funny enough, most of the time those moments are in the shower because I found that is where I am consistently the most uninterrupted … hahahaha!
 
What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?
 
I find that most of the time all it takes is the first line and then I’m off and running. For possibly a song title. Then if I can find the form of the song it’s almost like filling in the blanks at that point.

The worst ones are where you’re trying to hammer home an idea or force something that is just not meant to be in the universe. Those take forever - and sometimes by the time you’re done they are just not your best work.
 
When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?
 
A lot of times when I’m writing notes I like them to be based off of the vibe that the music is inspiring.

But sometimes if there is no music the lyrics will be in my head if it is a chorus line or the first line of a verse and I will hear the groove of the music along with it. Then it’s just up to me to get to an instrument and figure out what that music actually is.
 
What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

I’m a sucker for a really good hook. In other words a really great melody line sung over a really great chord progression. But sometimes a great story song that keeps me intrigued over the same repetitive cord progression is 100 times as effective also. That’s a very very subjective question and answer.

I don’t know that I have any ambitions or challenges per se in this department but I do like it when I write a song that means one thing but other people perceive it as something that applies to them personally. To me that is the ultimate goal in lyric writing.
 
Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?
 
With the Spirit of Hamlet project it was the most unique one I have ever done just because the parts came in one at a time. Scotty’s Drums, Watt's bass, and then Makoto’s guitars.

I have the luxury of putting my guitars and lyrics on last, so I ultimately knew what the finished song was going to sound like. I was in control of that part of the process. Much easier on my part.
 
Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?
 
This was such a unique project in that all of the other guys' parts were completely done by the time it got to me.

So in a sense I was completely out of control, but also in total control from my point on because I was the last one to go. Such an incredible way to create!!!
 
Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?
 
Again, this was such a unique project and that by the time I got it they were certain spaces that I felt like I needed filling musically and lyrically and certain spaces that were 100% complete in my eyes.

Again, I was the last of the four of us to add my parts so I knew that my process was the completion point of each song and essentially the record. That’s a pretty hefty responsibility when you think about it. But it was so creatively freeing!!
 
There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?
 
There is a total element of spirituality because we cannot pinpoint where inspiration comes from. We can just steer the ship when it arrives. To me it is incredibly spiritual and personal.

When it is night time and I am alone in an uninterrupted it is very meditative time. That is when I find I create the best.
 
Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?
 
I had all of that in mind as I was creating my parts. Am I putting in too much? Does it need more? What will everybody else think?

With this group of guys I knew that whatever I did would not be “too much“. And that in and of itself was incredibly creatively freeing.
 
Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practice?
 
Most of the time I am of the strike-while-the-iron-is-hot-mentality. Meaning I am going to be as creative as I can in that short inspirational immediate time.

Then, when I listen to everything back the next day or two, if I get the same feeling as when I was immediately creating it, then I feel it is done and it is serving its purpose.

If I feel like it needs more I will add it. If I try to add more and it doesn’t work and it doesn’t feel complete then sometimes I put it on the shelf.
 
What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?
 
Seeing how I was the wrangler of all the files I was very conscious of every part of that process. I recorded Scotty‘s drums myself so I was the very first one to go and I had to make sure that his drum sounded full enough but not filling up the whole picture so everyone else could not add their parts.

I am a producer and engineer. I actually have a Grammy nomination for a record that I worked on this past year. Not that awards matter but I do take that part of my job very serious. That’s why a project like this with legends like these guys was very important to me to get right.

Sometimes people take what you would consider punk, alternative, DIY type music not as serious when it comes to the production. Almost like they don’t care what it sounds like as long as the attitude jumps off the speakers. I think that that attitude needs to be preserved in the production so I don’t think music like this can sound too terribly polished or some of that attitude is polished out. It was a balancing act to not make things too pretty but to also let them be what they needed to be.

When that ship arrived all I had to do was just steer it. These guys made it very, very easy!
 
After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?
 
I think we are all ready for part two of this project and the emptiness for me comes in the creative process.

I very much enjoy the completed work being out into the world and even referencing it and listening to it myself afterwards. I love seeing the reactions from everyone when they hear it and I’m glad that it affects people the same way that it affects us.

The emptiness comes in missing the creative process with these guys. It’s like a small family that you just don’t get to see enough.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think the creativity is something that everyone has at least a little bit of. I found the creativity as one of our very individual aspects of our life that maybe we don’t pay attention to as much as we should.

I love making a good dinner and sometimes having to create that on the fly with the ingredients that you have not just the ones that were written on the recipe list. Sometimes I like to open the refrigerator and make dinner out of what I have not what I want.

And just like any good song sometimes that turns out incredible and sometimes not so much. Hahahaha!