http://thehotwatermusic.blogspot.com/2012/04/interview-with-ben-levin-group-and-why.html

Check out this interview that took place in a public restroom:

For everyone in Ben Levin Group, the completion of our new album Invisible Paradise is an enormous accomplishment.  The album is another epic 40-minute piece and is closely connected to Pulse of a Nation in its concept.  I wrote the piece in 2010 when I was very happy.  I had just started dating my girlfriend Jessica after being really depressed and lonely for a long time.  I began worrying that this newfound happiness would disappear very suddenly, which is why Invisible Paradise focuses on change and the temporary nature of everything.  The music jolts around from idea to idea and never really finds a resting place.  I learned a lot from writing, performing, and recording this piece because so much happened and changed in my life and personality as we worked on it.

Leading Ben Levin Group is often really hard for me.  I worry about the band constantly, spend all of the money I have on it, do pretty much all of the promotion myself, book tours, and sometimes replace band members when they leave (which is my least favorite thing to do.)  It’s also hard to be a member of Ben Levin Group because there is an enormous three-hour repertoire and the music is really demanding/hard to memorize and honestly no one gets paid right now.  Even though the band is called “Ben Levin Group” the music doesn’t focus on me that much and is a lot more about the texture of the whole ensemble and the story behind the music. Contrary to what the name of the band suggests, my guitar playing isn’t what holds everything together.  This makes it extra tough for everyone in the band because there are very few vamps or relaxing moments in any of our sets.  Our new album Invisible Paradise is the ultimate example of why Ben Levin Group is a hard band to be in as it is the most challenging piece of music I have ever written.

Every step that lead to the album’s completion was difficult.  It took me forever to get a clear idea of the concept behind the music, we all struggled to learn and memorize our parts and the whole piece sounded like mud until the last rehearsal before we premiered it.  When we started recording it, tracking was pretty smooth but I stayed awake for about 48 hours and tracked guitar from 11pm to 10 am while I had a fever.  I learned that I shouldn’t approach tracking that way again because a few weeks later I realized that I had left a lot of parts out.  When we finally finished tracking, the mixing was tough for Vince because of the incredibly dense arrangements and I heard him start from scratch a few times.

But you know what?   The album sounds AMAZING and the band kicks ass.  I am so proud of what we have accomplished with this record.  I really want people to hear it.  I feel like it has the potential to bring a lot of joy to people and maybe even help them find beauty in the often-intimidating fact that the only predictable constant in life is that everything changes.

For me, making albums is the most important part of music.   I would do just about anything to turn my compositions into beautiful, emotional, and accurate recordings.

I hope the album makes you feel great!

-Ben

Click here for show info.

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