The cinematic and mysterious sound of 21 years old producer Bastian Benjamin sends you to a surreal world. A mix of Electronica, Bass, Ambient, and Trip-Hop results in a unique blend that gives you strong feelings of melancholia. The sound draws inspiration from Clark, Forest Swords, Lorn, and Lusine.
The cinematic vibes are coming from Bastian’s childhood where he used to compose his music on the piano. His piano teacher taught him how to tell stories with only a couple of notes. It was because of his father that Bastian discovered making electronic music at a young age. In his teenage years, Bastian experimented with a lot of different styles and techniques. This mindset of constantly experimenting is now the starting point for every project. Bastian released his debut single Come Close at the age of 18. From there on his sound matured a lot in a very short amount of time.
One year later, Bastian got to participate in 'Popronde' a national festival that travels through 41 different cities in the Netherlands. This was the perfect way to do many hours of performing and to develop his live show. At that same time, his new project Artificial Heaven got released. This project marks an essential point in Bastian's life where he started to direct his own music videos. The video was made together with the motion artist 'Ibrah Silas Jackson' with whom Bastian also started working on another project shortly after that.
That project is called Mantra and it was shot together with 21 dancers in a church.
Bastian Benjamin released his debut album ‘Two Truths’ at the end of 2020. This transformative odyssey is created with one goal: to take its listeners on a journey of internal self-discovery and questioning your own preconceived “inner truths”.
“Finely balanced electronics with a sense of introspection, it's a drifting composition, one that carries a weight of emotion.”
- CLASH Magazine
“Bastian Benjamin warns against close-mindedness on dark and dubby production ‘Concrete’”
- COMPLEX
“It's experimental, brilliant, and scary.”
- Trax Magazine
"Utilising an array of found sounds and tribal vocals, Mantra delicately builds as the producer weaves ominous textures before the match-strike slam of the drop."
- Plastic Magazine