Today we’d like to introduce you to Will Benoit.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Well, it’s been a journey. Growing up, I always knew I’d be involved in music. When a band mate got a 4-track tape recorder in high school that was it, I was hooked. I was constantly recording and trying to get better at all things music – playing drums, guitar, singing, learning how to use microphones and programming drum machines and synthesizers… so after high school it was only natural for me to pursue music recording. I went to Emerson College and graduated with a degree in Visual and Media Arts with a concentration in Audio / Radio. I also took classes at Berklee during that time and started playing in bands around Boston, mostly as a guitarist.
I worked at a couple record labels as a street team rep, and then got involved at Hydra Head Records. This was back when Hydra Head, Big Wheel Rec, Bridge 9, Doghouse, Wonder drug, and Black and White PR were all under the same roof – and there were also a bunch of recording studios in the same facility in Fenway, New Alliance among them. It was a crazy and inspiring time for sure.
Being immersed in that world inspired to start a record label and tour as much as possible. So along with my good friend Mike Repasch-Nieves (of Junius) we started Radar Recordings in 2003 as a way to help out our friends’ bands and also promote our own projects. My band Constants released 2 records through that label, and by the time we threw in the towel we had released and publicized about 20 albums from bands like The Cancer Conspiracy, Seneca, Adai and Baby Boy H.
Throughout those days, Constants was touring pretty steadily. In 2006, we converted a 66-passenger school bus to run on vegetable oil and toured for 10 months straight that year. We continued touring the US in that bus until 2010 at which point we were mostly touring in Europe. Constants released 5 albums, toured the world, got to work with labels like The Mylene Sheath and Science of Silence in the US, Make My Day Records in Germany, as well as Stiff Slack Records in Japan. Justin Broadrick from Godflesh produced one of our records and we got to play and tour with a ton of fantastic bands like The Appleseed Cast, Comeback Kid, Russian Circles and so many more. I have amazing memories of being on the road with some of our closest friends like Caspian, and Junius – both of which I’ve also been lucky enough to be a touring member of. It’s kind of crazy to think about it all actually.
Eventually my wife and I relocated to Clinton, CT which is a small, quiet beach town. My family is from here, so when it came time to build a studio – something I’ve always known I would do – I had a lot of favors and connections I could call in. It’s a solar powered facility called The Radar Studio and after about 8 years of work, it’s been doing really well.
At this point, I wear a few different hats, but I’ve managed to make music my full-time job. Here at the studio I record and mix albums along with my studio partner Daryl Rabidoux. We work on a lot of cool records with a lot of great bands – this year alone I’ve been working on records for bands like These Wild Plains, Gifts from Enola, and Intercourse. I have an electronic project called Living Phantoms that has released a couple of albums, and a new rock band called SOM that is in the process of releasing our first record and has started playing shows.
Primarily these days, I write and produce music for TV, film and advertising. I’ve worked on documentaries, feature films, and had music featured in a lot of TV shows and done work for brands like VICE, Sony, eBay, Disney and more. I’m always looking for scoring work because I’m super passionate about film and television and the soundtracks that accompany them, so that world has become my focus. And finally, I still tour! This spring I did 2 months in the US, Canada and across Europe playing bass with Rosetta, and before that I’ve been touring more as a Front of House Engineer for bands like Junius, If These Trees Could Talk and Drift off.
Please tell us about your art.
I’ve just realized that as a musician, I’m first and foremost a communicator. I need to be able to clearly and succinctly communicate an idea or emotion or whatever it is I’m trying to get across. As I said, I wear different hats, so it’s hard to nail down one specific message that I’m communicating; sometimes I’m working with other musicians to capture their message, sometimes I’m working with a brand to capture whatever emotion they’re trying to convey and sometimes I’m just exploring something I’m feeling or I’m experiencing.
But I think the path is to 1) be aware of the message 2) figure out how to best articulate that message 3) make it sound good. Of course, that’s an over simplification, but the longer I do this, the more I’m able to take a step back and recognize that the big picture is an important step towards figuring out the details.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I don’t know that it’s possible for me to ever achieve “success”, because no matter the accomplishment, the goal posts inevitably move. And that is what drives me to get better, do more and work harder. What I have learned is that at a certain point, you have to at least step back to recognize and accept this, otherwise it’s going to be a pretty dark existence, so I have learned that!
I guess my version of success is accepting my own level of ability, and learning not to compare my goals or achievements to those of my peers or my heroes – just because things look a certain way on Instagram, that isn’t necessarily the reality of a “successful” person.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Bring me in to score your film!
Living Phantoms:
livingphantoms.com
SOM:
https://somtheband.bandcamp.com/
Constants:
https://constantstheband.bandcamp.com/
Contact Info:
- Website: willbenoit.com | livingphantoms.com | theradarstudio.com
- Phone: 8603915944
- Email: will@theradarstudio.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/living_phantoms
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/will.benoit.10
- Twitter: twitter.com/livingphantoms
Image Credit:
Orion Wainer, Andrew Weiss, Adam Parshall, Mark Valentino, Mike Repasch, Jason Hellmann.
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