Hey everyone!
Today, I'll be kicking off a series of interviews with a host of local artists that will run throughout the summer. Today, we're checking in with Mike DeBenedicitis from Bourne, Massachusetts. Mike was an Artist Spotlight featured artist here on the blog a few months back and he very graciously took time out of his busy schedule to conduct this interview. We caught up on a host of topics including how he got his start to music and the genesis behind his debut release, "Environs". Here is the transcript from that interview:
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Mike DeBenedictis and I am from Bourne, Massachusetts.
When did you first become interested in music?
Well, I don't know if I can really pinpoint when my interest in music was first piqued, but I can tell you that I grew up in a household that was constantly filled with music. Nobody in my family was a musician per se, but music was always playing over the stereo. When I was young, my sisters and I would spend hours spinning through my parents' record collection. We all naturally gravitated toward The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and even Bob Seger. Thinking back on it now, The Beatles "Rubber Soul" was really the first album that truly grabbed me. I just remember how, even at a such a young age, the song "Run For Your Life" really resonated with me. I was convinced that song was the definition of rock and roll, which is sort of ironic, since Lennon fully denounced the song later in his career.
When did you first learn how to play a musical instrument and what instrument was it?
The first instrument I ever learned to play was the piano. My parents thought it would be a good musical foundation for me and my sisters, so we all took lessons for a year or two. My interest eventually shifted heavily towards the electric guitar, so I picked up an old Strat knockoff and a dusty 15-watt amp from an antique shop for sixty bucks. My friend's older brother showed me some basics, and then I took proper lessons at a shop for a while. I was very much into punk rock during those years (shit, I still am), so my focus was just on the raw, gritty, screaming sounds that I could get out of a pair of pickups and an amplifier. Over time, my interests expanded to different musical styles, and I bought an acoustic guitar to play during the hours when my family was sleeping.
Where and when did you learn how to write your own songs?
Learning to write my own songs was a rather transitional process. My friends and I started a punk band in seventh grade, but we only played covers. We would cram into my friends enclosed front porch and play covers of Rancid, NOFX, and Screeching Weasel songs after school. I eventually became curious about songwriting, so I penned some lyrics and arranged a chord progression, and even though the lyrics weren't great, the complete package felt right somehow. Later on, my friend Ned and I tried a couple of joint songwriting sessions. These were interesting, but subject matter was always a challenge. The lyrics in the covers that we were playing were about drugs, working class disillusionment, and relationships, and we were just a couple of 13-year-old kids trying to write lyrics about "life".
I wrote casually over the next several years, both in punk bands and for solo acoustic projects. I played bass in an alt-country band called Splinters & Sparrows for half a year in college, and although I didn't do any of the writing, I think the experience of recording and touring with that band helped to expand my perspective of music, lyrics, and their collective function. I only really started putting serious focus into my songwriting a couple of years ago when I decided it was time to make a proper solo album, which ended up as "Environs".
Where do you draw inspiration from to write your music?
Well, the inspiration for my lyrics and my music seems to come from this nebulous cloud of sounds, experiences, memories, and ambitions that storms around inside of my head. What I mean is that I seldom set out to write a song about just one specific thing, and even when I do, that subconscious stream of thought ultimately works its way into the songs in one way or another. I think that is one of the greatest things about lyricism in general; If lyrics left nothing to the imagination - if everything was explicit, linear, and clearly defined, their power and beauty would suffer immensely. It is for this exact reason that Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" is such a great album; I must have listened to it in full 68 times, and it still reveals something new and interesting to me every time. I feel very similarly about Joanna Newsom's "Milk-Eyed Mender", and probably about 183 other albums.
What genre of music do you consider your music to fall under?
I suppose it falls under the genre of folk rock. That's the classification term that I've heard the most. It's definitely not thrash metal - I can tell you that much.
What was the inspiration behind the title of your album "Environs"?
As I mentioned earlier, my songwriting is born largely from direct experience with people, places, and things. By definition, your environs are your physical surroundings. In a way though, I perceive it in a broader, more inclusive sense. Since I had personal experience with (and drew inspiration from) just about everything that I sing about on the album, I consider all of those things to be my "environs". In addition to that, I also feel a strong connection to the natural world and have a great respect for nature, and I think that is somewhat evident throughout the album as well.
What kind of music do you like to listen to on a daily basis, any favorite artists?
My musical taste is pretty eclectic, so it varies from day to day. Some artists that I listen to fairly often include Tom Waits, Neil Young, Fleet Foxes, Bjork, A Wilhelm Scream, Hot Water Music, Billy Bragg, The Band, and Bob Dylan. There are countless others that I really enjoy, many of which are bands and artists that I have played shows with or met in one way or another along the way. Everybody should go check these folks out: By Surprise, Antennae Wedding, The Front Bottoms, Greg Loftus, Fishing The Sky, Trunks & Tales, and The Only Ghost In Town. You probably won't regret it.
What are your future plans, do you plan on playing any shows sometime in the near future in the Boston area?
My plans and expectations right now are pretty reasonable, given my current circumstances. I just started a business, so a lot of my time and energy is currently dedicated to that. I do plan to keep playing shows and writing though. I don't have anything lined up in Boston as of right now, but I'll be setting up some shows around the area in the near future. If I can find a chunk of time off, I would like to tour again, but right now I've got to take it one step at a time.
What do you hope people take away from your music?
I don't really have hopes for how people perceive my music, but I'd be delighted to know that people connect with it in their own personal ways. Music has left (and continues to leave) a profound and indelible mark on my life, and I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for the true artists that continue to create great music, especially those who don't give a shit about "making it" or sacrificing their ideals for notoriety and a paycheck.
Thanks once again to Mike for taking some time out to do this interview! Mike truly is a very gifted and talented artist and I hope he has a very bright and successful future ahead of him. Keep checking in here on the blog for more interviews with local artists throughout the summer.
