In celebration of Into Light, his new album for German label Forwind, Norway’s Benjamin Finger gives us an epic mix of ambient, neo-classical and more.
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Hometown: Hamar, Norway (around 90 kilometres from Oslo, small place, around 31,000 inhabitants).
Current residence: Oslo, the part called Grünerløkka.
Home away from home: Lisbon, and Portugal in general.
Local record shop: Tiger, recent purchase was Supersilent’s 14.
The last great thing I read: Must be Flann O´Brien´s The Third Policeman. Made a huge impression on me. Boy, it really took me on a trip. So fresh and original in style! Also just read a book called Bak Fasaden i Osloskolen by my friend Simon Malkenes. It was a very educational reading (since I’ve been an assistance teacher many years ago) and written with a lot of heart. I would also recommend books by Thomas Pynchon (V), Witold Gombrowicz (Ferdydurke), Fernando Pessoa (The Book of Disquiet), Julio Cortàzar (Hopscotch), Robert Walser (Der Râuber) and Samuel Beckett (The Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable). And also Pond by Claire-Louise Bennet when it comes to contemporary literature.
A recent source of musical inspiration: Just saw Cindy Lee and Maja Ratkje (twice) live and must say they were really something else. Both of them really offer a highly private musical universe I find very inspirational.
Dream collaboration: Hm, hard to tell at this stage. In my current situation I must say that I found it very rewarding working with James Plotkin and Mia Zabelka. As a trio we have a record called Pleasure-Voltage coming out on Karlrecords in January 2019 (https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/finger-james-plotkin-mia-zabelka-benjamin-pleasure-voltage-lp/KR.061LP.html). There’s also an album called Vertical Blows that I recorded with James that will be released on Midira Records later next year.
Plans and goals for 2019: Seeing these records coming out, hopefully some live gigs and just to keep on recording new material the whole time. I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that my studio is an extension of my living room.
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Benjamin Finger’s Into Light is out now through German label Forwind. Watch the video for “A Glimpse” below.
Check out the rest of the album here, available in vinyl and digital form.
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