We are all recycled: Music Monday

Minute Taker

Minute Taker is the new artist name of Manchester-based alternative songwriter/producer Ben McGarvey. In 2008 Ben released his debut album Too Busy Framing to critical acclaim. Primarily recorded in his parents’ basement using an old piano, a PC and various gadgets, the resulting album was described by Manchester Evening News as “bursting with beautiful acoustic melodies and hooks”, and was recently declared "an underrated hidden gem " by The 405.

With Minute Taker Ben adopts a more expansive, electronic-orientated approach that has been labelled as "digi-folk", incorporating elements of glitch, industrial and lo-fi, and drawing comparisons to James Blake, Bat For Lashes, Grimes, Björk and Thom Yorke. Minute Taker's sophomore album Last Things was released in April 2013. The album and it's 2 promo singles, Merge and Let It Go received critical acclaim and prompted a string of features in The 405, Notion, Red, Gay Times, Attitude and many others. Songs such as Merge, Alkali and Echo 2 are loaded with distorted beats, sweeping synthesisers and dense vocal layering. Conversely, on other tracks, live instruments occupy the foreground with stark piano and string arrangements - such as Tin Box and Somewhere Under Water, which garnered a short-listing for Mojo Magazine’s 2011 New Voice Award.

Minute Taker has written the music for a very dark musical theatre production Hoax: My Lonely Heart, a collaboration with award winning cross-media author Ravi Thornton and award winning director Benji Reid. Ben will be performing the music live on stage, looping voice, piano, synths, glockenspiel, beats, found-sounds and a loop pedal to accompany the actors. Hoax will be premiered at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre in June 2014. More information and tickets available on the Royal Exchange website.

Ben also writes and performs with Mancunian folktronic outfit The Spiels, which he formed in 2010 with Canadian singer-songwriter Ryan Lamey. The Spiels released their debut EP Nightvision Part 1 in February 2013.

Ten questions with Minute Taker

1 - Where did the name ‘Minute Taker’ come from?

Well I was looking for an artist name that had some kind of significance, either personal or conceptual. I was working as a Minute Taker at the time for the council, taking minutes for conferences. A lot of the ideas I was having for songs were based on quite mundane situations because I was spending so much time in offices having these daydreams to amuse myself, and I decided that I really liked the idea of making something artistic and magical out of quite mundane situations. It struck me that my job title Minute Taker would be a good name to use as, to me, it somehow sounds simultaneously mundane and fantastical; either a note taker in a meeting or an almighty time lord reaching down and stealing time, or the minutes of a song getting taken away as you listen.

2 - You have a very diverse sound that ranges from dark electronic to elegantly simplistic piano based songs, what creates such a variety in your compositions?

A lot of the artists I would feel inspired by while I was growing up and starting to write songs used a mixture of acoustic and electronic instruments, such as Bjork, Tori Amos, Kate Bush, Lamb, PJ Harvey, etc. Piano is my main instrument and most of my songs start as piano songs which then become more electronic during the production process. Sometimes they work better without the electronics so with those ones, such as Somewhere Under Water, I spend the time perfecting the piano arrangement rather than adding the layers of different instruments. I think the main thing ultimately is that the song captures the intended mood and portrays the right emotion/sentiment.

3 - Given your diversity in creating your music, have you got any particular influences that have a bearing on your sound?

I've always had a bit of a thing for alternative female singer-songwriters such as those mentioned above. I think my songs come from quite a melancholy place and I've really always felt drawn to music which comes from a similar place. My favourite recordings of all time are Billie Holiday's recordings of the 30's and early 40's. There's just so much there in her voice. I think she's inspired me and so many others with her unconventional and incredibly emotive approach to singing. In terms of modern influences, I think I've drawn inspiration from artists such as Bat for Lashes, Beach House, Empire of the Sun, Grimes & James Blake, all of whom use electronic instruments in a very emotive and interesting way.

4 - How do you create your songs, do you find structuring your music a difficult process or does it come about quite simply?

I've always found songwriting relatively easy, probably partly because I never really try too hard to write songs. I'm lucky that ideas for songs come to me quite frequently so it's really just a case of making sure I record the ideas when they come. I used to carry a Dictaphone and a notepad around with me but now, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I just use my phone. I often record snippets of melodies or piano riffs or words and then completely forget about them. Then every now and then I go back through all the random recordings and they seem to quite easily piece together into songs. I do find the music easier than lyrics though. It's quite common for me to write a whole song in one go, just singing gibberish lyrics and then it takes me some time to write proper lyrics. A lot of the time, the gibberish lyrics I sing, when the song pops out, dictate what the song is going to be about. Certain words and phrases and vowel sounds just seem right so that kind of makes it difficult to write the full lyrics around these set ideas sometimes. I like to think that these ideas are my subconscious talking to me, so it seems right to roll with them and expand upon them.

5 - Having supported some critically acclaimed artists on tour, what has been your best experience as a support act so far, and why?

Well I supported Nerina Pallot at St. Pancras Old Church in London earlier this year. That was really special, not just because of the beautiful venue, but because Nerina mentioned me in her set saying that she'd heard my songs online prior to the gig and thought they were good but was really blown away by seeing me play live. That was a great honour from someone like her who's music and talent I admire so much.

6 - You’ve written the music for a very dark musical theatre production, how did this opportunity come about?

The writer of the musical, Ravi Thornton, is a friend of a friend and came to see me play a while back. She then asked to meet with me and said that she'd already heard my recorded music but was unsure if it would work in the same way in a live context due to it being quite multi-layered and obviously there only being one of me rather than a band to play all the parts. However, she said that when she saw me play and saw that I used looping techniques to create these layers live on stage, she thought it could work really work well for the musical, accompanying the cast live on stage. When she told me about the idea for the musical I was sold instantly and that was that!

7 - How much more work has the theatre involved for you rather than your normal process of playing live and recording?

Well it's been a really interesting process. I received the script, with all the song lyrics written by Ravi and had the task of then writing all the music around these lyrics, about 15 songs in all plus instrumental pieces to underscore the spoken parts. Like I said before, I actually find writing music easier than lyrics and I found that the music came together quite quickly. Sometimes it has been difficult to fit the pre-written lyrics into the ideas for melodies I had so I've rearranged some of the words slightly which Ravi will review when we get to the end of the process in the next few weeks. It's been a case really of recording lots of demo's and sending these to Ravi and the Director, Benji Reid, and then using their feedback to change the direction of the music where required. I spent a week with Benji earlier this year when I'd written all of the basic songs, going through the whole script and discussing the mood and intentions of each scene and looking at how the music could be adapted where necessary to support these ideas and Benji's intentions for the visual elements. So I've really had to keep myself open to changing the songs and trying different things, rather than working in isolation as I normally do. It's been challenging at times because I do get quite set ideas about how I want a song to sound, but all in all it has been a fantastic experience and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the finished show.

8 - If you could perform with any other act, living or dead, who would it be and why?

I think it would have to be Kate Bush, although I'd feel completely intimidated / terrified! I've been such a big fan of her music for so long and think she is a true musical genius

9 - What would be a necessity for you on your dream tour bus?

Well I very much like to retreat into nostalgia at bedtime so I think it would have to be 80's and 90's sitcom box sets, particularly Roseanne, Golden Girls and Cheers (I know right.... rock and roll!!).

10 - What can we expect next from Minute Taker?

I've written a concept album which I'm quite excited about. I'm hoping to get a chance to record it later this year after the musical. I've also written a whole host of other songs so maybe another album or a series of EP's too. I would like to make more music videos after teaching myself how to edit video recently and making my first music video for my last single Alkali. I also would like to do a little tour at some stage. Not sure where I'm going to find the time to do all these things but, to me, the most important thing is to keep creating really. I just love it. So I guess it depends on circumstances exactly what those creations will be. Perhaps just many more songs born of office daydreams (haha!).

Many thanks to Ben for taking the time to answer some questions for the blog and I wish him continuing success with all his many varied ventures. With songs that range to such diversity as his, there is always something for everyone to like.