Ben Chatwin
Staccato Signals
Ben Chatwin initially set out to make a purely electronic record with ‘Staccato Signals’, using primarily analogue and modular synthesisers, harnessing the unpredictability of hardware sequencers to write melodic lines rather than by hand with a keyboard. This was about giving up control to the machines – ultimately making them more of a collaborator than a tool. However, towards the end of its writing, not satisfied with the results, Ben was overcome with the feeling that he needed to push what he had created further into new territory. He decided to work with a string quartet, exploring innovative ways to fold, bury and combine both strings and brass into his industrial, noisy and chaotic electronic template. Again, this was about giving up control – working with other musicians, allowing them to improvise and arrange parts in order to find those special moments where something unexpected happens. The writing process became a search for those moments, the short, sharp flashes of inspiration – the staccato signals.
Released July 06th, 2018
LP / CD / Digital
Ben Chatwin
Born and raised in the South of England, Ben picked up the guitar as a teenager and started to play in bands almost immediately. Eventually growing frustrated with band dynamics he became more interested in the possibilities of recording music using a computer. In 2008 Ben began recording under the alias Talvihorros. After a string of acclaimed releases under the moniker Ben has decided to now record under his birth name.
Through his distinctive approach to the guitar, he crafts dense and dark compositions that hint at the conflicting beauty/chaos of the cosmos. The results create daring music free from a traditional sense of structure and genre. He combines bold melodic ideas that fight with harsh noise and glacial ambience to create something organic, evolving and physically arresting. Ben has played an extensive list of live shows under Talvihorros, often as a duo incorporating live drums and performing across the globe with the likes of William Basinski, Hauschka, Tim Hecker, Oneohtrix Point Never and Loscil.
For the past 10 years he has been building a home studio in a remote and scenic part of Scotland where he continues to produce his work.
