It’s strange trying to make sense of my musical route. Probably the one thing the tracks have in common is how they reflect – or maybe escape from? – the times I’ve been living through…

Media Form
“Beauty Report Three”
From Beauty Reports
(Suburbs Of Hell/Bandcamp) 1987–94

In the mid-1980s I found myself torn between a slightly embarrassing aspiring art pop career and experimenting with ambient music. Later, I decided to expand this 1987 vinyl release (originally put out under the artist name Douglas) as a compact disc edition, with additional tracks under the moniker Media Form. This functional ambient music was mostly inspired by Brian Eno’s On Land. Beauty Reports was striving to be total textural, almost like a contrived field recording, years before the concept of a chill out.

Si-{cut}.db featuring Russell Mael on answerphone
“Back In The Same”
From Various Just In Time For Too Late
(Suburbs Of Hell/Bandcamp) 1994

In the 1990s my music was in full electronica/techno mode under umpteen various monikers, the solo project Si-{cut}.db being the main one. One of the weird detours created by making my aforementioned pop music was that one pop album (yes, with me singing) which I hesitate to name even, came to the attention of Sparks, namely Ron and Russell Mael, who got in contact with me. We had a dream-like and totally fanboy (on my part) meeting while they were in London around 1994. Russell Mael kept in contact and would phone me when they visited the UK a couple of times, once leaving a message on my answering machine. I did warn Russell his voice message would end up on one of my electronica tracks, and this was it.

Pantunes Music
“Raft”
From In Search Of The Surface Noise
(Pantunes Music/Sprawl/Bandcamp) 1997

The mid-1990s saw a number of duo collaborations under my belt, one the most productive and longterm being with Doug Martin, who owned a professional recording studio in Fulham. Our main project, Phoenix Jig – with offshoots such as Strobe Flower and Bouncey Castle – eventually morphed into the label and act Pantunes Music. Our later recordings were much more drum ’n’ bass influenced. What I liked about working with the other Doug was his attitude of never using the same sound twice, so all samples and settings were erased after each track completion, so we never had a signature sound. “Raft” is a prime example. By this time I had also begun the Sprawl events with Iris Garrelfs, which ran from 1996 for around 15 years.

All the recordings I made up until around 2000 were in frankly costly professional studios, with the material being written on the fly, nothing prepared beforehand. Thank goodness for sympathetic engineers – the time and money pressure really goaded me into working quickly. I was financially subsidised by a well paid graphic design job (which I left in 1998).

Si-{cut}.db
“Assistance”
From Offices At Night – Volume 1
(Fallt/Bandcamp) 2004

The electronica that interested me further slid into the dub, glitch and micro house that resulted in several albums in this final Si-{cut}.db stage on the Bip Hop, Highpoint Lowlife, Background and other labels. Another change was the whole laptop composing ethic, which meant I didn’t have to record in a studio, but just within my own computer at home, which gave me space to let the music breathe a little. This also facilitated a lot of live work performing this way; live performance before the 2000s was always too difficult, but suddenly everything was portable. (I remember acts we had at Sprawl carrying in their whole desktop computer to play. Back breaking!)

Lina Lapelyte & Douglas Benford
“Live In Lithuania – 3”
From Lapelyte & Benford: Lithuanian Duos 2010
(Bandcamp) 2010

The late 2000s and 2010s saw a radical change in my approach to the music I was involved in. Feeling that the electronic angle was becoming less interesting, I moved towards a totally acoustic based and more physical path. I was also making more field recordings, a result of my collaborations with acoustic sculptor Rob Olins. The very scenic tour I took around Lithuania with Lina Lapelyte, playing at what seemed to be countryside art collectives, was near a turning point where I was mixing both the electronic and acoustic. But, it actually felt liberating to strive towards non-electronic sound generation – from children’s toys, harmonium, melodica, glockenspiel, even occasionally my bicycle (see photo). Given to me around 2006 by Robin Rimbaud, the bike is still a part of my current arsenal. Lina first performed at one or two of our Sprawl evenings.

John Edwards/Mandhira De Saram/Jennifer Allum/Douglas Benford
“Live Bobbery – Part 5”
From Bobbery Quartet
(Bandcamp) 2017

In the late 2000s I would be going to, and occasionally playing at, more and more improvisation events – the Bohman Brothers’ seminal Bonnington Centre nights, (which felt like a window into a surreal world), Adam’s Battersea Art Centre events, the Horse Club Improv nights. There I heard regular players such as John Edwards, Steve Noble, Adrian Northover, Angharad Davies etc, which led to attending early events at Cafe Oto. This has resulted in my involvement with the wonderful London Improvisers Orchestra, which I first attended as a punter. It took about three years before I summoned up the courage to play with LIO. It’s especially intimidating when you are surrounded by such great modern classical and jazz players (especially when I myself am untrained). It also led to me putting together regular sessions myself at the Hundred Years Gallery, where Bobbery Quartet debuted. I met Mandhira and Jennifer at various venues, having played alongside them both as part of Mark Wastell’s The Seen project.

Douglas Benford
“Dense Pastures”
From Doors In Ocean
(Hundred Years Gallery/Bandcamp) 2019

A solo piece for a fundraiser compilation album Doors Into Ocean issued by the Hundred Years Gallery. This was really an introduction to the series of pieces I have been recording during the pandemic – inspired and instigated by Emily Shapiro – with Lonely Impulse Collective. This a typical piece that avoids any effects or processing, the live performance being the essence, although I have layered audio tracks together.

Alan Wilkinson & Douglas Benford
“Carefree”
From Appointed Views
(Bandcamp) 2020

I used to have a blind spot when it came to saxophones, probably polluted by terrible 1980s songs with bad sax solos. An epiphany for me was the Auto Destruct event at the Beaconsfield Gallery, where I witnessed the first saxophone solo that I actually loved, by John Butcher. Of course, Rhodri Davies setting fire to his harp there was also an eye opener. After often hearing Alan Wilkinson with Steve Noble, John Edwards et al, Alan and I developed a great working relationship. As with John Edwards, his performance is so physical and, frankly, sweaty, I find myself always on my toes trying to keep up and be inventive, framing, or almost decorating what Alan is doing. Others I have often duetted with now include Clive Bell, Angharad Davies, Adam Bohman, Steve Beresford, Marjolaine Charbin and Sue Lynch. The 0 To 60 In 3 Moves event at Cafe Oto felt like a fantastic celebration of this journey.

Read a full page review of recent Bandcamp releases by Benford in The Wire 437. Subscribers can also read the article via the online archive.