The Critically-Acclaimed Musician Explores Mental Health & Societal Issues In Stirring Song And Video
In the midst of the second Covid variant outbreak, avante-garde LA Artist Creature Benny has released an exclusive director’s cut version of his thought-provoking, post-quarantine video “Pandemic Madness.” Available now at https://youtu.be/qUr5wTSTxQg, Benny says the exclusive version offers an alternative ending that “even more clearly conveys the idea Director Jeremy Trombetta and I had for the video all along– that this monotonous and mentally unstable sequence of events happens day after day, week after week, for the duration of an indefinite quarantine.”
The “Pandemic Madness” single and video debuted in the Fall of 2021 to critical acclaim with Static Dive’s Bob Smith explaining it as“an exploration of the cumulative mental and societal issues caused by the isolation and fear of the worst two years in modern memory.” It goes on to say “Benny mixes a 50s Pop composition with a classic Punk aesthetic and modern Lo-fi production style as he sings of the collective ennui wrought by a mad world.”
Benny turned to Trombetta to film the video with “a mission to depict the drudgery, monotony, and eventual mental demons that began to creep in for so many during that time,” he said. The video has one powerful message, according to Benny “eventually it’s only by communing with your demons that they begin to work with you and eventually disappear.”
“I hope that when people watch the video, they can relate to the feeling of being stuck at home alone with a sense of darkness hanging over their head; the kinds of feelings many of us were feeling during the beginning months of the pandemic, I wanted to try and portray Creature Benny’s music as a coping mechanism for those feelings and something that got him through those times and brought some beauty to being stuck at home. In terms of filming goals, the aim was to do as much as we could with what we had, and I’m very proud of what we were able to put together.”
~Trombetta
In addition to the new director’s cut of the “Pandemic Madness” video, Benny has also released a bonus version of his album Tales Moste Wretched, Vol. 1. This Live from the Internet version of the album features the audio from performance video Benny postedof all tracks on the album, as well as phone demo versions of the intro and interlude from the writing phase, and different bonus tracks. It is currently available on all DSPs.
Creature Benny can be found on all DSPs, SoundCloud, and iTunes. Follow on Instagram and YouTube @CreatureBenny.
About Creature Benny
Creature Benny is a project by music industry professional Benton Oliver, who works in management helping artists, bands, and producer clients manage their careers. Benton hails from Atlanta, GA originally, and has also worked with live music organizations including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Preservation Hall, and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.
Prior to launching Creature Benny, Oliver recorded and released music under the name “goodie.” goodie music was conveyed in large part through rapping, almost entirely over self-produced beats made with YouTube drum loops layered with self-recorded acoustic guitar and other instruments. Songs also took the form of instrumental piano pieces, introspective caterwauling over violins, bongos, and harmonicas, and FL Studios-produced beats. All goodie music is available on Bandcamp at (https://goodiefresh.bandcamp.com/).
