Gideon Bensen at Cosy Band Night ‘08
Gideon Bensen is a singer songwriter from Sydney. His Indie/Folk sound is reminiscent of the late sixties/early seventies with a delightful, and occasionally jaded, contemporary spin. He tells stories through his ballads that linger long after the song has finished.
I was lucky enough to catch him playing a set at Cosy Band Night ‘08, and bully him into a short interview afterwards. Gideon has even been generous enough to supply us with his track “The 8th Day” for you listen to!
Gideon Bensen - The 8th Day
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ThatIndieShop.com Interviews Gideon Bensen at Cosy Band Night ‘08
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You can find the transcript for the interview under the break!
Mitch (from thatIndieShop.com): It’s Mitch again, I’m here with another fantastic performer at Cosy Band Night ‘08. I’m here with Gideon: Hey Gideon!
Gideon (Bensen): Hi, nice to meet you.
Mitch: You just played a fantastic set, congratulations.
Gideon: Thank you very much, thank you very much.
Mitch: So, I’m just going to ask you a few questions mate. So, why don’t you tell us how you first got into music?
Gideon: Sort of just growing up. I mean, being at home, having nothing much to do, you know, sort of pick up a guitar. My grandpa was a jazz pianist, so, I sort of had all his records around and that sort of thing. So I just sorta picked up more guitar than piano, and just started playing. I used to play soccer and I gave that up, because I was enjoying this alot more. So, yeah. Over the years it just sort of developed, that’s all.
Mitch: Awesome. So, who are some of your inspirations? Who do you like musically?
Gideon: I love alot of bluegrass and folk. Nick Drake, Odetta, Bert Jansch; that sort of stuff. But I also like classic rock, like The Who, and I also like electronic bands like Battles, trip hop, that sort of stuff.
Mitch: what have you been getting upto recently? You just played a fantastic set; are you taking it anywhere?
Gideon: Yeah, I played The Hopetoun with a band, and in The Sando a few times, so I’m just sort of getting my name around there. Yeah, I’ll be doing…uh, can I plug or not plug?
Mitch: No, absoloutely, go plug!
Gideon: I’m doing a set with some guys at Macquarie Uni, a band named Ovell. We’re doing a night together at The Sando, September 20th, so if you want to look at that, come watch us then!
Mitch: Absoloutely! So where can people go to find out more about you?
Gideon: I’ve got a MySpace! Which is just myspace.com/gideonbensen.
Mitch: Do you have any words for any other indie artists that are looking to make their way, and start putting some tracks out and stuff like that?
Gideon: I guess just put all your effort into it. Because if you’re old and grey, and you’ll regret it…You will probably regret it that you didn’t try a bit harder, so I guess just put your all into it. But alot of it’s to do with luck, so you can work as hard as you want, but if noone’s there then, that’s a tough break, but, you know, you gave it your best shot.
Mitch: Awesome. Thanks alot for your time!
Gideon: Thank you!
Kudos to Gideon for giving us his time, and for putting on one hell of a show last Sunday. Thanks again!
Tags: Cosy Band Night '08, Folk, Gideon Bensen, Interview, The 8th Day