An insightful look inside the creative world of LA experimental artist Creature Benny

Avant Garde Artist Creature Benny recently unveiled Creature Benny’s Tales Moste Wretched, Vol. 2, the sixth and final collection in his second series of releases. Featuring 20 songs, comprising tracks from the five EPs preceding it, plus an instrumental intro, two instrumental interludes, and four bonus singles, including two new cover songs, the collection has received rave reviews from fans and critics alike.

In fact, The Ark of Music described it as “More of an experience. Creature Benny’s latest experiment is indeed a success, and it survived every aching facet of its screaming evolution.” And, Static Dive wrote “The album is a wild ride fueled by noise guitar and biting commentary.”

To better understand the artist behind the music, Music Crowns spoke with Benton Oliver (AKA Creature Benny) about his humble beginnings, creative process, the future of his career and so much more.

Creature Benny (Photo: Submitted)

Welcome to Music Crowns. Please tell us about your music.

Thanks for having me. My mother put me in piano lessons from age five to age 13. I quit because I thought I didn’t like it, but then I realized I missed piano lessons and went back to my old teacher at the age of 15 for about eight months. She was rad.

On Christmas Day of 2007, I asked my brother to show me something on the guitar, and within a few months I was writing angsty songs over mostly campfire-strummed open chords, power chords, or whatever I could figure out that sounded ok. I never actually did take a formal guitar lesson.

During my junior year of high school, I became close with a dude who was writing raps, and recording them on a hand-me-down laptop with a cheap mic over instrumentals downloaded from YouTube. The fact that this DIY approach was even possible was a revelation for me, and it wasn’t long before I made him aware of our shared musical proclivity. Soon he had me writing verses and singing choruses on songs with him and his friends, and thus began my recording journey. Those were great times and great people.

One day my brother brought home a recording device meant for practicing guitar, but he figured out that if you put an aux cord into the device on one end and the old laptop aux jack on the other, it was possible to record. I immediately began laying down my first-ever album on the family desktop computer, mostly when my parents were asleep on account of some unauthorized subject matter.

Instead of using ready-made instrumentals from YouTube, though, I would download a drum loop and layer guitar, piano, vocal harmonies etc. over the beat to create the instrumentals for my songs. That artist project was called “goodie,” because I fancied myself a “good boy” at that time. Still do, to be honest. I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s day.

I released three albums under that project throughout my high school and college years, and also spent time in a band called Exotic Pets that played in bars all over New Orleans. Then I moved to Los Angeles and read a book called Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad and went down a punk rock rabbit hole that still has me in a chokehold. The result was a punk rock EP called Rose-Colored Shit Show released under the band name “goodie & Tha Bad Boys.”

I started writing the songs that would become Creature Benny in 2016. The subject matter is generally darker than the topics I was covering with goodie, and the narrative perspective is more stylized and less “I’m telling you about my cool life.” In terms of how the music gets made, I record electric guitar and vocals into my laptop in my closet studio, and program drums, bass, and anything else that might be called for. I work out arrangements, harmonies, and guitar leads, and then mix and master everything myself. I also hand-draw all of the album artwork, scan it into my computer, and use Photoshop to clean up and assemble my drawings into final cover art.

To date, I have released three EPs, 10 digital 7”s, and three albums under the Creature Benny name, and at some as-of-yet undetermined time in the future I plan to release at least another EP, four digital 7”s, and another album.

We’ll see what music I’ll create after that.

When did you start performing?

I actually have not done much in the way of performance under the “Creature Benny” moniker. I fell into playing two solo sets in Los Angeles in 2018. But since then, the only performing I’ve done is on video via social media. It is actually not my personal ambition to become a professional rock star, so performance, for me, is not the highest priority as an artist.

I record and release this music because I wrote it and I am proud of it; and if I didn’t record and release it then it wouldn’t exist. I also really love building a song; working out the drum parts, the bass parts, and which parts of a song could use a harmony or guitar lead to keep the energy pushing is what I’m passionate about. And the process of bringing an idea to fruition in a format you can point to brings me great satisfaction.

During college I was in a band called “Exotic Pets,” and we performed in bars all over New Orleans. It was an absolute blast, of course. Part of the reason I bring that up, aside from this question being about my performance history, is that the final song on the album I released on 6/30/23 is an Exotic Pets song.

It’s called “City of Bones,” and it was one of the last songs we wrote as a band. It was also one that I was always particularly happy with. I’d had the instrumental from my college friend and fellow Exotic Pets band member Trent Dunbar sitting in my Dropbox for eight years when I decided to finally record the vocals and include it on the album as a bonus track. I am super stoked that it came out after all this time.

What do you consider to be your hometown and how does that affect your music?

I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and the city still means a lot to me, though I haven’t lived there since the summer after my senior year of high school.

I went to college in New Orleans, LA, and was lucky enough to spend four years there.

Creature Benny was born in Los Angeles when I moved out here in 2015 shortly after finishing school.

Fall of 2015 into spring of 2016 was a time for me, with several instances of unexpected loss, the end of a long-term relationship, and some lame health stuff starting to rear its ugly head, all against the backdrop of unemployment in a new city, despite my best efforts.

I would say that the wry and sardonic, cynical and alienated narrative perspective and focus on Spooky Stories that characterizes Creature Benny is a direct result of all of this disruption. Also, Donald Trump becoming president and the Right gaining strength in the years that most CB music was written (2016-19) contributed to the general existential dread in the air.

I had been writing songs for years when I began writing what would become some of the earliest Creature Benny releases, but they had mostly been about the life and times of Benton Oliver up until that point. With all of this happening in my life and the world actively influencing my worldview and personal outlook on human existence, Creature Benny was where my mind went to make sense of it all.

What performers have been your inspiration (and why)?

Again, performance isn’t my focus with music so much, but I am an avid music fan and there are absolutely performers I think are the absolute coolest. James Brown, Iggy Pop, Beyoncé, Little Richard, Poison Ivy and Lux Interior, and Tyler the Creator to name a few.

I consider myself more of a songwriter and composer, so in terms of musical influence I can point to American Hardcore bands like Minor Threat and The Dicks, Doowop groups like The Jivebombers, 60s Girl Groups like The Dixie Cups, psychedelic bands like The 13th Floor Elevators, and New Orleans musicians like James Booker and Rebirth Brass Band.

I am always listening to artists I haven’t heard before. I really like hearing something I like that I didn’t know before.

What do you base your success on (and why)?

For the people who have found the music and dig it, I’d like to think that the appeal lies in the whole package that is the Creature Benny project. The songs themselves, first and foremost, of course, but also the several-EPs culminating in an album release plan, the distinctive hand-drawn cover artwork, and the actual image of Creature Benny, replete with his signature horns hat, face paint and skeleton gloves.

The project is very near and dear to my heart, and I put a lot of thought, consideration, time, and effort into its creation. I think that devotion and DIY approach are evident in the work, and gives it a distinct look and sound that I hope people can appreciate.

                                                             ~Creature Benny 

What was your latest musical release and the inspiration for that?

My latest release is Creature Benny’s Tales Moste Wretched, vol. 2 (June 2023) and it was the culmination of Creature Benny phase II.

Like Tales Moste Wretched, vol. 1 (January 15, 2021), vol. 2 comprises all of the songs featured on the five releases preceding it, plus an instrumental intro, an instrumental interlude (vol, 2 actually has two interludes), and four bonus songs. To keep things tidy, the bonus songs also follow a blueprint established on vol. 1: 1) Two covers, 2) An extended version of an EP track, and 3) A true wildcard bonus song. On this album, the true wildcard is the aforementioned Exotic Pets song “City of Bones.”

As the sole creator behind Creature Benny, I have the opportunity to be just as meticulous with the way I release the music, as with the music itself. So, I take it.

                                        Creature Benny’s Tales Moste Wretched, vol. 2

Do you have any news to share?

Between the years of 2016 and 2019, I was extremely prolific and wrote all of the songs that have been released under Creature Benny thus far, excluding the title track from the Pandemic Madness EP. During these years, I also wrote almost an entire third phase’s-worth of Creature Benny music. A smattering of songs written between 2020 and 2022 fill out CB phase III’s track list.

I’m definitely going to take some time off from working on music into the wee hours every single night after work to reset and focus on other things. But those songs and album covers will also exist in the world someday. And on that day, I will look at all of my colorful album covers next to each other and be so pleased. “:)”

How can fans find you?

You can find me on IG, YouTube, and wherever you listen to music.

https://www.instagram.com/creaturebenny/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZtYaTEzksvXPuVRxMaK3MA

Please share some final words with us.

Thanks for taking an interest in my work. All I want for the project is for people to hear it someday.

Thank YOU!