Tell us about yourselves and what you do?
My name is Ben Folke Thomas, born on the Swedish west coast on a chicken farm on an island an hour's ferry ride from Gothenburg. I play music and write songs in and around London.
How did you start out?
I wanted to move out of Sweden and decided that London seemed like a cool place to be in and started hitting the open mics and that for a year. Then I got my band together and we've released one EP on Bucketfull Of Brains Records and played pretty much every small venue there is in London.
What is your current release/future release?
Currently I’m demoing songs for a full length album that will see daylight sometime next year.
What is the best part of being a song writer?
Performing and sharing creativity with other people and the satisfaction of knowing you've finished a song or a line or a melody that you know is really good.
What is your most significant moment yet?
Releasing my EP I guess. Went on a village hall tour with Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou and got compared to Oliver Reed at an AA meeting.
What are your biggest musical influences?
Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Kurt Cobain, Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Buck Owens, John Prine, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, Iris Dement, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, too many to mention but these are some of them.
What venue/gig do you most want to play?
The Vatican.
What is your best/favourite song you have written?
Paradise Lost
What’s your favourite album of this year?
Jason McNiff, April Cruel or Trent Miller, Welcome to Inferno Valley (I play 12 string on that record).
What does the next six months have in store for you?
Quite a few things hopefully, prosperity and happiness would be nice. Maybe have a few nice sounding recordings finished, doing quite a lot of stuff with a cool music charity called Strummerville at the moment and they're doing quite a lot of cool things. You never really know what the future holds in this business!
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
In a stadium playing with Tom Petty hopefully. But a realistic goal I guess is to just keep on writing and playing music and hopefully I can have a good time while doing it.
What’s the best thing about Americana-UK?
I like reading the reviews and it’s good that you support independent music!
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Benjamin Folke Thomas
Annabel Vere
Ben Folke Thomas has played pretty much every pub and club in London over the last couple of years. If you’ve been around in town then it is very likely you have come across the young Swede. His traditional finger picking guitar style and heart breaking vocals create a majestic ‘old time’ sound which has now seen him signed to the wonderful niche label Bucketfull of Brains. Surely Ben has plenty of plans for the next twelve months so we handed him the ‘Dirty Dozen’.
Additional Info
- Artist Website: myspace.com/benjaminthomas1
- Label Website: www.bucketfullofbrains.com
Will Bray
Will Bray is our Interviews Editor and occasional reviewer. He can also be found promoting live music around the south east and London, a committee member of the long standing boutique Leigh Folk Festival and drummer with The Lucky Strikes. His favourites include The Band, Felice Brothers and Nick Cave.
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