Ben Kemp
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:36 pm

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Tokyo-based NZ musician Ben Kemp will bring his Japanese band to New Zealand in February for a nation-wide tour to mark the release of his second album Papatu Road.

Signed to Suzuki Records, a small independent Japanese label, Ben works
with Japanese musicians to create a unique Kiwi-Japanese folk fusion,
coining the descriptive term Polyn’asian music (derived from Polynesian
and Asian influences).

With Maori roots on his maternal side, and an upbringing in Gisborne,
Ben Kemp explores his Maori – NZ heritage as well as his nexus with the
ocean, and fuses it with universal themes of family, love and loss,
some drawn from experiences in Japan.

Having spent over five years living in Japan absorbing both traditional
and contemporary culture, particularly through Japanese film and
literature, Ben Kemp draws on his cultural surrounds to deliver a sound
that is original yet familiar at the same time – especially given his
thoroughly distinctive accent.

The result is a breathtaking blend of tunes that will soothe and haunt
you, thanks to Ben’s ethereal voice and poetic lyrics.

Most listeners have trouble pinpointing how to describe the music. This
in itself is a refreshing change, given the abundance of dub-reggae
style and surf-rock throughout New Zealand today. The comparisons with
Jeff Buckley are perhaps inevitable, but Ben Kemp is no imitator.
'Papatu Road' not only breaks new ground, it is breaking down borders and
demonstrating that new beauty can be born when two cultures are forged
together.

“Even without a common language, the music we create together is a
bridge to a deeper understanding of each other, and our respective
cultural traditions. In my band members, I feel that I have found two
more brothers” – Ben Kemp

Ben Kemp, together with his band members Koyu Suzuki and Mitsuru Ogata
will start their 15-date tour in Auckland on February 16 and finish in
Queenstown on March 12.

'Papatu Road' will be available soon in stores in New Zealand and Japan
(from May).

You can preview the single ‘Frangipani’ on-line;

http://www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/13972/ben_kemp.html

RE: Ben Kemp
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 6:32 pm

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