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Interview:
Rhian Benson: Singer / Songwriter September 28, 2003 Paramount Theater Oakland, California Watch Stealing My Peace of Mind Video now!
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Rhian Benson (RB): Well, through a pretty indirect path.I grew up in Ghana and West Africa and there were a lot of musicians inthe family. It started with my grandfather who taught himself how to read and write music, and he played various instruments and he passed that down to his children. So there was music all around. Regularly I would go watch my uncle's music festival or visit another uncle's recording studio. My father played guitar as well and there was always lots of music around the home. I started studying piano when I was about 9 and...
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RB: That's right, I wrote my first song at age 9. You know I could not tell you what it was about (laughs), something inane no doubt.
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RB: No I don't. I remember I just kinda wrote down the chords and some words underneath. And I had a little lead sheet, you know, I was so proud of myself. But that was the first time I put the pieces of the puzzle together, this is how it works. You have a verse, a chorus, a bridge and this is how you arrange it all! It just became a fun hobby of mine after that.
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RB: Yeah, you know what? I didn't go to it straight away because my parents were pretty strict. They wanted us (all) to complete our education and get safe jobs so we would not have to worry about paying the bills like they had to in the early days, so I did that.
Initially I wanted just those cameramen staring at each other ad nauseum, to drive the point home of what can be incredibly dull self-reflexive art, or ya know, self indulgent art and then to have the audience not really understand it and be bored by it.
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RB: Right, right. It was the London School of Economics, that's where I did my first degree, and I ended up with a Major in Econometrics which is about a million miles away from music. And I worked in an investment bank for a year thinking that was the road I was gonna take.
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But it took a year for me to realize, look, this is really not me, so I applied to Harvard. And I got in, I was going to do a diploma there in management, and three months into the program I had gotten news from London that my mother had fallen very ill. So I went to visit her thinking I would be there for a week or so, while I was there she was diagnosed with terminal illness. And so I stayed while she had to go through several bouts of really really aggressive therapies.
And it was during
that time that I found that, for the first time, that I actually needed
to write, I needed to find that space and just let the songs come out,
you know. It was the most therapeutic thing for me. One day I decided
I wanted to start performing. So I did some research and found an open
mic night in the area... and, visited a few times before I actually had
the guts to get on stage, but I did one day. It was the scariest thing
I'd ever done, but it was also the most fulfilling and I wanted to get
up again immediately, as soon as I got off stage, I wanted to go get up
there and do it again because I knew I could do it better. And I kept
doing it, that's how I met a couple of guys who put me in touch with DKG
Music, which is my label.
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So James came out and he brought some incredible musicians with him: Pino
Pallodino, Spanky and Brian Fraser-Moore. They would just jam for an hour,
over one song, and then they were ready to do a take and they'd get it
like that (snapping fingers). That's the level of musicianship we're talking
about with them, they were incredible. And with Bob it was just as quick,
we'd go in and talk about concepts for songs and the album, and he would
get it straight away, and he would go! Give him the ball and he would
go running with it and before you knew it you had these amazing tracks
that are on
the "Gold Coast" album.
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RB: Definitely, yes. I co-produced all the songs with those artists and with those producers. It was just a joy working with them, both of them. One of the reasons I chose them is because they had both worked with female artists a lot in the past. And it makes such a difference because, we kinda communicate slightly differently than men do and, they took the time to make sure we were always on the same page and I really appreciated that. It was a joy working with them, and I'll do it again!
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RB: On the album... most of the stuff I've been
going through the past couple of years while I have been working on the album are captured in the songs. There's a lot of message about the importance of spiritual growth because I was learning about that myself as I was working on the album.
Gold Coast, the name of the album, really came about because I was trying to come up with a title that would sum up the journey, emotionally and spiritually, that I've taken from the young girl growing up in Ghana, which used to be called the Gold Coast, to the woman in California who is chasing her dreams. And I thought it was a cute way of pulling it all together, cuz it really is just a record of who I am as an artist at this point in time
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RB: It's huge, it's huge. We're actually at the Paramount Theatre right now in Oakland, and we're about to do our show tonight and it's amazing on tour with Brian McKnight. I've toured for a while actually, this is my first major tour, but for the past year and a half I've gone out on the road very two or three weeks doing spot dates here and there and I've opened for artists like Raphael Saddiq, Floetry and Musiq and that's all been incredible.
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RB: Keep you sane as you travel? I would say music because it's always kept me sane (laughs). That's where I go to first when I need to calm this lot down. I have a little CD player and I brought a massive collection of CD's, so that's the first place. Also, we do have moments when we stop the tour bus and everybody gets off and we're able to wander around, and I'm taking in new scenery all the time.
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I'm seeing parts of
the country that I've never seen before and it's awe inspiring. I remember
one of the most amazing scenes... I took a picture of it, I hope it comes
out well, was when we were crossing the border from Canada coming back
into the States, the tour bus stopped to refuel, and we got out and it
was like we had just landed on the moon or something because there was
just darkness and just wide open space for miles. It really felt like
you were entering a new frontier or something, it was wild, it was really
crazy.
Interviewer: Evangeline Fabia
Camera: Von Ryan Victorio
Photos & Transcription: Lee Evans
Editor: Catherine Lee
© 2003 & 2004 Evans Media Group, Inc.
Related Links:
Rhian Benson Official Web Site
DKG Records