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Jay Benham
Composer, Producer, Arranger, Vocalist,
Voice-Over Artist, Voice Coach
jay@soundanswers.com
Click here for MySpace Site
Biography:
Born in Aberdeen, raised in Haringey and settled in
Finchley, Jay has been tweaking and shrieking notes since the tender age of
five. A solid collection of his parents’ old 45s - ranging from Beethoven to
Buddy Holly (via Motown) – fuelled a serious thirst for vinyl, and an even more
serious thirst for learning how to play the tunes on his mum’s old piano!
Electronic musical gadgetry first made its way into Jay’s bedroom by the age of 14, and
within two years, furniture was being removed to accommodate his Rick Wakeman
phase! The next stage was, of course, to buy a Tascam 4-track Portastudio in 1986, and embark on what was to become a life-long fascination with vocal harmonies.
It took several years of jamming with friends,
adding guitar to the list of instruments he already played (keys, clarinet, French
horn, percussion, harmonica and of course the vocal chords!), getting heavily
involved in Funk, and writing stuff at home, for Jay to finally realise that it
really was “All about the music”. In 1993 he was one of only five singers accepted into the Royal College of Music, to attend their BMus course.
In 1995 he met the co-founders of Cross-Section Records. Whilst listening to some of
Jay’s tunes, one of them asked him where he got his vocal samples …. “Er, no
samples – that’s me!” came the reply. And so began a very fruitful relationship with Chris Simmonds and Magoo, with Jay featuring on several releases during the following two years. It was also the beginning of a new fascination – House music and clubbing!
From this point on, he worked as a session singer,
DJ, producer & office temp (!), subsidising the expansion of what was soon
to become the SoundAnswers Studio - a
prolific stable of talent based on a network of exceptional musicians and
producers.
With Jay’s unswerving attention to detail, SoundAnswers was quick to
build a reputation for exceedingly high session, production & writing
standards, with international labels flying their top artistes over to the UK
specifically to work with him.
Over the last 15
years Jay's work has included collaborations with:
Jay has appeared on BBC1, ITV, Sky Sports, Discovery Channels, EMI, Defected Records, Kiss FM, Ministry of Sound, Radio 1, Strictly Rhythm Records, Classic FM, to name but a few. His Voice-Overs and ringtones can be heard all over the world, and his new band, WENDY, (recently
described as ‘Electronica’s Crosby, Stills & Nash’) have just released
their debut album, Fetch
The Manual .
Current
projects include:
- Live gigs promoting WENDY’s album
- Collaborations with Michelle Weeks, Robert Owens, Dawn Tallman, Kenny Bobien and Barbara Tucker
Current releases include:
Today the studio is involved in practically every aspect of the music industry; from recording classical choirs to writing music for TV & film; from voice-overs to banging club tracks; from acoustic live albums to Rat-Pack sessions! In many people's opinions, you won’t find a more versatile in-house producer, arranger and musician than
jay@soundanswers.com
“Not only is Jay a delight to be around, but the way he records part after part in time and in
tune with impressive self awareness makes him indispensable in the vocal booth. His ability with and understanding of harmonies is only exceeded by his enthusiasm for the music itself.” Jim Credland (CERN)
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