Ben Lorentzen

Ben Lorentzen is a Norwegian singer songwriter, born up north near
Tromsø, where the climate is harsh, the landscape is majestic, and the
sun is hidden 6 months out of the year.
He grew up in a family as the eldest of six children where music
was heard and practiced all the time. His parents were fans of Hank
Williams and Johnny Cash and the kids grew up listening to and learning
many of their songs. His mom remembers Ben as a different boy who
would beg her to sing sad songs that would make him cry. She could
see early on that her son was smitten by the music bug and thus
encouraged his singing and performing when family and friends gathered.
Ben wrote his first song when he was eleven years old. His song,
however, raised eyebrows of some teachers who were concerned for his
well-being. He (...) Mehr anzeigen learned later on that his teachers contemplated contacting the
social services. The themes of aging and dying were seen as too heavy and dark
for a little boy. Ben remember himself as "a serious 11 year old, often lost in
thought".
Growing up in a strict religious environment, Ben often felt confined
by it's rules and regulations. There were endless lists of do's and
don't's. Music, however, was a blank canvas for creativity and expression.
Music became his escape...a place of solace, a place where he could dream
and breathe. He recalls, "having written my first song I was literally high for
a week. It was something I had never experienced before. Over the years it
became my religion, my gateway to the unknown, to the mysterious and to the
spiritual.”
Ben Lorentzen’s first musical hero was Elvis Presley. Raw, energetic,
and a little dangerous, Elvis embodied what a rock star should be.
Ben was warned by his community, however, that Lucifer himself looked like
Elvis... Nevertheless, Ben learned to appreciate rock, gospel, folk
country & blues and developed a powerful appetite for everything american.
Cars were one of those joys. He says, "there is nothing better than driving and
listening to loud music. It is one of life’s ultimate high’s”.
Later on the discovery of Bob Dylan and his profound lyrical visions
became Ben's mainstay and laid the foundation for further discoveries
such as Paul Simon, Nick Cave, Soundgarden and Tool. Traces of these
artist can be found in Lorentzen’s music. Exploring the outer rims of
pleasure and pain, hope and despair, love and loss, Ben takes his dark
poetic sensibility and with a Nordic twist ads his distinct flavors of alternative americana.
Ben Lorentzen has toured the world since he formed his first band at
sixteen and played on all continents except Australia.
Lorentzen was first recognized as a songwriter, and has written songs
as a staff writer for EMI Publishing Norway. This led him to write and
record songs with critically acclaimed artists such as Martin Hagfors
(Homegroan, 1997) and Paal Flaata (Rain, 2006). He finally got a
taste of mainstream recognition as a founding band member of Brent
with a top 40 single “Need to Need you” (2002), off of their album
“Here & There” (S2, Universal)
In 2015, he released his first solo album called “America”
(Nordic Records), an acoustic album rooted in the indie-folk tradition.
Ben embraces the most enduring American musical influences and
weaves it all together with his haunting voice.
Lorentzen’s release “Pains & Pleasures of Intimacy” (2017) is
much like his earlier work in that it strives to strike a balance
between delicate reserve and brutal honesty. Difference is that now
it builds to explode with bluesy rock'n roll on occasion.
Ben Lorentzen is currently preparing for his third release, "King of Bitter Sorrow",
due February 2020. Lorentzen says he sees the songs as a conversation
between humanity and our collective conscience. Without each other both
becomes the Kings of Bitter Sorrow. It's dark, dusty, explosive, but also delicate,
haunting and beautiful.
He calls his music Suburban Noir.
Ben explains that Suburban Noir is taking the perfunctory in our daily life
of suburbia, and juxtaposing it with the inner realities of the ugly and the
beautiful, the fear and surrender, and the rage and compassion that races
in all of us.
“Music is my redemption," says Ben. "Music has been the divine footsteps
that I read in the darkest and in the brightest moments of my life. In
my songs, I want to celebrate topics that disturb as well as uplift.
I am singing about the beauty of death, how it frames our lives and gives
it meaning. Not in a destructive sense, but how it points out what is
really meaningful. I am singing about the importance of community, of
forgiveness and of love. I want to remind myself and my listeners that despite
the ugliness and difficulties of life, we need to stand together while we
welcome the light and the darkness equally."
Ben Lorentzen has made US his home since 2009 and currently resides in
New Jersey with his family. Weniger anzeigen