Interview: Times Radio

Interviewed by Carol Walker and Rebecca Toomey for Times Radio’s ‘Culture Hour’ show. We spoke about my recent piece for Manchester Collective, SERENITY 2.0, and the inspiration behind it. Aired on 28 November 2021.

Excerpt

Rebecca Toomey: Ben, first of all, with your track, I felt everything that I shouldn’t have done, but I did in an alarming way. It made me feel very aware of myself. Is that what you would like people to take away from it and what do you hear when you listen to it?

Ben Nobuto: It made you feel aware of yourself? That’s really interesting. I’ve never thought about my music doing that but I guess that’s a good thing?

RT: It’s definitely a good thing.

BN: I’m really interested in experiences where it’s a mixture of lots of different emotions together. So when you’re in a club and you’re surrounded by loads of people and it’s really hot and sweaty and there’s loud booming music, sometimes there’s a really thin line between having a really euphoric experience in that environment, and then that kind of suddenly switching to something quite anxious, you know? Something might happen and then the music suddenly feels very oppressive and you want to get out of there and get some fresh air. So I’m really interested in those experiences where you can’t quite tell what’s going on or whether you’re really having a good time. I guess ambivalence or ambiguity is something I’m interested in; there’s no one prescriptive you-need-to-feel-this-while-listening-to-this kind of thing. I guess everyone gets something different out of it.

. . .

RT: Do you function best in the chaos or the calm and neutral? Because you’re talking about all these things; you just likened it to a club and loving the moment and then needing to get outside for some air. Creatively, how do you work best?

BN: I have a really bad habit of starting pieces late, quite near the deadline. I really hate myself for doing it but I feel like there’s something about that sense of urgency where you just have to get it done.

RT: So chaos is where your creativity lies, it seems?

BN: I guess so. Part of what inspired this piece- so the way it’s structured is like a meditation, a series of guided meditations, and each time it comes back it gets abruptly interrupted. I try and meditate sometimes and recently I was finding that I was really struggling. My brain just felt like . . . I don’t know if you know but in Japan they have these Japanese versions of casinos, they’re called Pachinko parlours. When you walk in, they have these sound-proof doors and as they slide open you’re hit by this barrage of sound. All the hundreds of jingles just hit you at once and it’s the most crazy experience ever. I just felt like I was trying to meditate and at the same time there was this Pachinko parlour in my head and all these jingles happening, and I was thinking: this is crazy, something’s going on here. I really need to figure out how to have less chaos and more stability and peace, I guess. So maybe this piece is just a way of diagnosing myself and my brain.

SERENITY 2.0 was commissioned by Manchester Collective as part of their Heavy Metal tour in December 2021. The piece was premiered at Southbank Centre and later performed in Leeds, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool.