Ben Sun has been producing quality music for over a decade, putting out these sonic gems on some fine labels like Razor-N-Tape, Delusions of Grandeur, and Phonica Records. The Aussie transplant has now firmly planted his roots in the UK and from there he has been working on the deeper side of his musical mind. As comfortable playing four to the floor and electro, as he is in live ambient improvisation, Ben Sun’s new album ‘The Henge’ – hosted on Brooklyn label Razor-N-Tape – takes us on a pristine sonic journey through the many faces of Ben Sun. We had the chance to sit down with the artist to discuss all things album, inspiration, and who he’s got his eye on right now!

WWD: I’d love to hear about the initial idea for the album ‘The Henge.’ When did you first approach this concept and what was your original intention with this release?

The initial spark was less of an idea and more of just a happening or emerging – the kind of thing which eventually comes about when you just keep showing up to the studio and making stuff. 

I usually start with some sound design ideas – techniques that I want to use and felt I could make something emotive with. For example, it might be a way of creating irregular, intertwined melodies on a couple of synths, or using a compressor gate to chop up long chords or a drone into rhythmic patterns.

From there I build elements around it, usually with the intention of elevating and augmenting that initial idea – but sometimes it grows in a different direction and that first bit is more of a background or foundation element.

Overall concepts for the album come after the tracks are made and combined in a particular order, whereby you can start to see a narrative emerge that might give rise to certain words / visuals / stories.

WWD: What was most important for you to convey through this album? Do you feel that you were able to accomplish all of your intentions? 

The Henge ended up telling the story of a kind of gathering – a cosmic coming-together of people who were able to mutually help each other emerge from darker periods and find happiness… through being together we were all able to move closer to our true selves. Music played a big part in this – listening, sharing, mixing, dancing.

I wasn’t consciously aware of this when I was making the music, but it ended up being an impression of that experience. So again, it was less about an intention and more about capturing a bit of what happened. 

There is a track towards the end of the record called Living Things that features an excerpt of an interview with Bob Moog, where he talks about the role of music as mystical force that can benefit the people that come together to play it and experience it, as a communal group. He goes on to talk about the greater consciousness that connects us to the instruments we play and how it flows through us during these interactions. Which is exactly what I felt happened to us in the experience that inspired The Henge. Anyway, after the album promos went out to DJs and we got some feedback, Gareth

 (from the amazing label Athens Of The North), pointed out that this was what the record was all about, having never met me or heard any of the story. So to answer your question (eventually!) – I figure if even one person has heard and understood, then the transmission has been received.

WWD: What are you most proud of with ‘The Henge?’

Gareth’s feedback above! And any moment when someone tells me they felt something good listening to the music. It’s not so much pride as a sense of satisfaction that I was able to channel those cosmic vibrations into something cohesive or expressive.

WWD: What was the most challenging part of bringing this release together? 

Getting the tracks into a state where they are ready to be pressed to vinyl is a big challenge. You have the time restraints (18 mins per side), combined with making a consistent sonic palette that flows across each of the tracks after the order has been decided. Aaron and JKriv at Razor-N-Tape were fantastic in helping me with that. While Jared (at RNT) kept the project moving along. Amazing label to work with.

I also designed the sleeve artwork so that became a little project in itself. To capture some of those story concepts visually. It wanted it to have a bit of age-old mysticism, as well a technological feel, as the music is mostly electronic.

WWD: I guess this album marks some years in the music business, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how your creative / production process has changed and remained the same over the years. Do you approach anything differently now? 

Absolutely. When I started I really had no idea what I was doing, just cobbling stuff together on the MPC. As I went along I started to discover how to make particular sounds and styles that I had heard and admired as a DJ. So my technical understanding increased and that affected the process. How to effectively use synths, drum machines and effects and combine them all. The MPC is still at the core, but more as a sequencer and master clock now. I also love using the Beatstep to play mono synths, and the whole setup is connected via a patch bay which was a big step towards increasing flow in the process.

WWD: What drives you to continue creating music? 

I think it’s part of our natural state as humans to engage and contribute to creation; creativity is part of something universal that is beyond our subjective experience – it comes through us rather than from us. If we choose to tap into it… it’s a bit of a collaboration between the individual and the cosmos. I am often inspired to work by experiencing other people’s creative output: music, visuals, philosophy – or anything at all where you can feel that someone has entered into a flow and their process is being powered by a greater force. That could be skateboarding, or cooking, or writing a symphony. I see something magical happening and it makes me want to dive in too.

WWD: What has been one of your favorite moments from the past year?

I had the opportunity to play a few live shows, notably one at a club called Faith In Strangers, as part of the Margate Electronic series. Planning a live set really forces you to hone your ideas… I learnt a lot from that, in terms of what I need to work on as a live performer. But I loved it because I played with a couple of awesome musicians: Gilli.jpg was on vocals and we managed to pull of some cool experimental stuff, having written some new stuff especially for the night. Sergio Serra joined us on the cello. Amongst other things, Sergio is part of an incredible classical group called 12 Ensemble who have also just had a new album out. We share a love of Arthur Russell, and in some ways his improvisations reminded me of World of Echo.

WWD: Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music? 

I still love digging in the crates! There is an element of chance when you are going through second-hand record bins and so it feels like there is more room for that cosmic interaction I was talking about earlier. Obviously there’s the human element too: friends recommendations, radio, record store staff that give top tips.

WWD: Who do you think is making great music currently? 

There’s too many to mention but off the top of my head… I mentioned Athens Of The North before, and I love everything they put out. A lot of its reissued rare gems, but they also have a house band called East Coast Love Affair, who are truly fantastic. I love the (old) idea of a label having a ‘house band’ that does covers, originals, remixes of the catalogue. Those guys are so good. I also love Underground System and many of the other artists on Razor-N-Tape. Yuu Udagawa and Clive From Accounts. There’s definitely something to be said for a label that fosters great relationships with the music makers. I’m only a small part but I think they’ve had a stellar year as a label. 

WWD: What’s next for Ben Sun? 

I’m working on studio recordings of some of the live performances I mentioned above. I’m most excited about a project I’ve been developing with my sister Heidi Kenyon. She’s a conceptual artist that has recorded electromagnetic activity in mushrooms, and we’ve turned these into MIDI sequences to play the patterns on synths. Sergio has joined us on the cello, along with our friend Will Rixon (original member of the real-life Henge!) on trumpet. We are all interacting with the mushroom sounds, so it’s a human > fungi collaboration. I can’t wait to share that – we have a lots of nice recordings but just starting to look for a label to work with. 

WWD: Sibling love, sounds amazing! Thanks for the little chat 🙂

‘The Henge’ is available here