Ingenuity is the brain power that stimulates the growth of every body of music, with open-mindedness being the antenna that extrapolates inspiration in all its various forms. Singer-songwriter Ben September characterises these truths in his music, balancing the art of transforming inspiration into music with focused periods of rest that are equally as important as getting the work done.
Ben September talked about the creation process behind his single “Samba”, from staying in the zone through to the song’s completion, to pushing his creative ceiling in terms of penning longer songs.
“My memory of making ‘Samba’ is very vivid because I remember how locked in I was during the process. We had a chat about the type of sound we were aiming for with this song. We were trying to get R&B songs that people could dance to and use in their videos, basically something upbeat. A friend of mine told me to come to the studio and work on some things—it wasn’t necessarily going to be on this sound, but he told me that he’d play me some beats that I could pick from if I happened to like something.
Ben September | SUPPLIED
“He played me a few beats, and in came the one for ‘Samba’, and I was instantly interested. I’d already been working on some flows I could use for some songs, as well as melodies, but with ‘Samba’, I like the fact that it was a new pocket that I could explore. So I worked on the flows and the melodies with the intent that everything else would come after. Then I started writing the song seriously till it got to a point where I was just mumbling before realising how interesting it would be to do the same thing in my home language. The words came together for the first half of the song. The second half was trickier because I’ve grown used to recording songs with just one verse and a chorus before Shibo pushed me to make longer songs with at least two verses,” he said.
September elaborated on the theme of the song, citing his personal experiences in the dating life and the mismatch between words and action that is often the case.
“The song itself came from a collection of experiences I’ve had, and I saw about myself as a recurring theme is that the climate of today’s dating life isn’t something that can easily be explained. The experience of words not matching actions. People who speak to me always say that I speak poetically, and I tell them that I talk to myself a lot, so the things I say to people are things I’ve already spoken to myself about. So the inspiration of the song was taken from that—the words not matching the actions. Because I would say the sweetest things, but my actions, not necessarily evil, would not correlate. I might not promise you the world, but I can give you what I can. That would, in turn, birth an expectation of what I’m supposed to give. So while I think a bowl of dirt with a flower is sweet, that person might’ve expected that I would give them a bouquet instead,” he said.
Check out “Samba”:
The musician shared what fans could expect from the project, musically and from a visual perspective.
“We are trying to explore different things, and this one feels more colourful and less melancholic. We do explore the sad and slow side of traditional R&B as well as the new sounds. It’s not something that hasn’t been done already, but it’s me doing it my way, and at a level I’m doing it at. On the visual side of things, we are shooting more content to promote the songs on social media without me having to worry exclusively about music videos. The videos will normally get 50K views, but when I post the song itself, it will only get 3K, but I’m appreciative of the three thousand because that’s still a lot of people coming across my stuff on their For You Page. There will also be more sounds on the project and better visuals—and it won’t be just me working on these things but a collective of dedicated individuals,” he said.
The singer-songwriter talked about his feelings about the music journey.
“There are a lot of things I’d like to achieve, but I’m grateful for my journey so far. I do think that more work should and can be done. I’d like to be more than what I’m doing right now. I’d like to be remembered as a singer-songwriter who helped pioneer the modern R&B space in South Africa. I’m not trying to be the end-all and be-all, but I’d like to be part of the bigger picture. But nonetheless, it’s been a journey of growing pains and stumbling and learning from all these things and continuing to move forward after picking myself up,” he said.
Ben September | SUPPLIED
September shared what he did in his free time when not making music, citing sabbaths between studio sessions as being vital to his creative process.
“I believe in rest and prioritising it. You need rest in order to be able to carry on, and what you do during your rest time also matters. Sometimes I just go outside to do whatever I need to do that I consider a part of resting. Some days it means staying in bed all day while doing nothing. Sometimes it means taking myself out to the movies or hiking. On a blue moon, resting will be me, just recharging by going to the groove just for the vibes, because I’m not about alcohol. If not that, then it’s about learning about the business end of music, from reading contracts to understanding finances and spreadsheets. Resting for me can also mean going to the gym, leading a healthy lifestyle,” he said.
September, already an experimentalist by nature, touched on some sounds he wished to be active in the most in the future.
“Jazz is one sound I’d like to do something with in the future, off the top of my head. Neo-soul as well—I actually practise these things. I don’t just do piano. I’ve done afro, hip-hop, and old-school and contemporary R&B. We do a lot of experimenting in the studio; we’ve also dabbled in a bit of rock. We experiment a lot and take whatever sticks. I’d also like to try out a bit of bossa nova,” he said.
Ben September | SUPPLIED
