benn-ilk-blog

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This album arrived and has guided me through. I saw her play this song on guitar with a paintbrush on NPR, but I wasn’t good enough at guitar brushing, so I played with the usual fingers first, and added it in afterwards. 

The songs will keep coming even though we’re out of the 2nd lockdown- I have a feeling there’s more on the way... 

Goodnight

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I’m on a Young streak. I heard this song, and loved it loved it loved it. I went down to the Southbank tunnels, thinking it would be quiet. It was packed. There are many terrible recordings of us singing before this one- and straight afterwards a man cycled past with the loudest music I’ve ever heard from a bike before. We had a beer and a burrito. Having doubts, but the echo is good.

goodnight

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To my horror, the pubs have closed again, and after a strange and a difficult two months of purgatory, we’re back. Except this time there’s no heat, and the days are so so short. But it feels good to be returning to this page. 

I went out on Bonfire Night to record this- I got deep into the Heath, but I could still hear the fireworks, and the Owl who started singing with me- as you can hear on the track. 

I’ve been up for two hours trying to fit some sax into this, but I got bored and tired of my own playing, so here it is. Hopefully the first of a few over the coming months. There are still a few to finish from Lockdown 1, so hopefully this will be the perfect excuse. Goodnight!

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Last week, I walked into my local pub for the first time in a long time with my flat mate. We sat, alone, far apart from everyone, by the front window that looks out onto the street. We were giddy with excitement at the return of something so casual and easy. 

It was only after someone mentioned to me this- and what is says at the top, that I’d be doing songs until the pub reopens- that I realised this era of the little collection here is over. But there’s still bits and bobs to do, to finish or resolve, despite the loss of the stairwell and the approach of ‘normality’. 

I’ve started writing too! Perhaps soon I’ll have some of my own songs up here. It struck me yesterday that the sort of emptiness that’s arrived with this half lockdown half everyday might be filled once again by using this as a tool to record and archive this period of time. Again, as I keep typing to myself in these little blurbs, even a fragment, a nothing, each day, is better than a masterpiece every few months. These are not polished and that’s why they work. So onwards with the rough cuts and the fragments. 

how do i mark this? 

THE PUB OPENED! but there’s more to do 

Sam x 

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I’ve moved! That’s the excuse for a lack of songs, and the stair well where I used to record has been left behind- so the nature of these will change. For now, I’ve got a few songs lying dormant on my laptop that need some attention and assistance. 

Meantime- he’s back Gemma! Compact and beautiful this one.

Happy Father’s Day Dad. x

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This song was a surprise! How glorious when you’ve listened to a song over and over, but something new opens up when you find out how it works. And yes I did mix up the lyrics... 

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I tried! 

It’s getting harder to record now uninterrupted in our little stairwell because people are heading back to work. I’m moving in two weeks, and I’ll lose the echo here. And something else will start. 

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oh it’s late it’s late. I stooped over my desk and played. late

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Happy Birthday Cara. 

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Gemma thanks for this- I’m knee deep in his stuff now, and I can’t believe how good he was. 

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This one’s for you Dad. Never thought you’d see the day did you?

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hello

I’ve been drifting around and thinking about this- what’s the use? I’m uncertain about the next direction to go in- now that it seems lockdown will be seemingly endless or blurred. 

I’m sticking with these covers of my favourite songs, and there’s lots still to share, and maybe the act of learning and reigniting someone else’s work is enough- to share them with you. I’ve only sent this page to a small number of people, and some have mentioned sharing these more widely, but also, terrifyingly, about writing my own stuff. 

There are little pieces I’ve made here and there, but I’ve always been expecting that wave of creative fever to overtake me- and when the wave draws back there will be some songs there. I’m not sure whether that wave will ever come, or how I should approach it without forcing it, except with patience. 

For now I think it’s enough to just be making. Learning the ins and outs of all these songs. Maybe when I write my stuff I’ll have to stop listening. I should start writing shit songs though so I can get through to the better ones. 

good night

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These past weeks, after the clapping for carers, we’ve been singing- this is now our calling- in fact today and tomorrow, we’ve been walking around the streets singing various requests of songs. Happy Birthday twice today, and We’ll Meet Again, with several ukuleles and Frank on his guitar. 

It was 24 degrees today. This is Gee and Fleur my flatmates, and me.  Impromptu. Luckily you can’t see our phones propped on bannisters with the words on. The sun has arrived! 

P.S 

To explain the odd bits- I forgot to put my lyrics on the screen at the beginning so whilst scatting, yes I was scrolling through my phone. My friend Camille rang me immediately after ‘sun sun sun’- hence the bizarre pause. We continued anyway. There was nothing else to do.

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May arrived. 

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My friend Rachel asked for this so here it is! I had plans for some other more difficult songs, but I don’t think they’re ready yet. At least this one is simple and beautiful.

Painting is in progress, of our back garden. I loved the wind and rain today.

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If you listen carefully at the end, you can hear my phone ringing. Tragedy struck when I realised I hadn’t switched on the little microphone I use to pick out my voice a bit better for this take, but it was late. 

We lost the sun again today, and now the rain is hovering. goodnight