Adventure Interview: SXSW 2010

What would happen if you mixed a Game Boy console, Technicolor dance beats and a healthy dose of nostalgia for the early '90s? Meet Benny Boeldt aka Adventure, whose acid-flavored sound simulates a trip through the simulacrum of a pixilated Sega Genesis maze. Based in Baltimore, Boeldt is one of the many members of Wham City Arts Collective, a group of assorted musicians, artists, photographers, filmmakers and performers who are first and foremost friends. The group has achieved recognition through their most famous member, co-founder Dan Deacon, with whom Boeldt has both collaborated and lived. A man of few words, Boeldt spoke to Spinner about recent changes in his music and his similarities to Avril Lavigne (turns out there aren't that many).

How would you describe your sound?

It's a lot of keyboards. It's changed a lot [from the first album]. Just like droney, weird, atmospheric, electronic keyboardy-type s---.

What instruments do you use on stage?

I have two synthesizes that I use and then some samples. And a computer, for sure.

What inspired the change in your sound?

I just was having a hard time writing stuff like I used to and I was just kind of going with the flow, whatever was coming out. I've been working on a lot of longer tracks right now, and I feel like it's more music to ... do other things to; atmospheric. It's long, that's for sure. It's more like trance music. I think like at some point it would be neat to sort of fuse the old stuff I was doing with the new stuff that I'm doing. The new stuff is definitely more stoner-friendly.

What are your musical influences?

I would say just a lot of instrumental music, like synth music and soundtracks from the '70s and '80s. There's this band Automat that I really like, they're kind of this really obscure '70s band; Brian Eno, obviously; Ursula Bogner; some other people. Oh, and of course, like pop '80s music, too, I love that s---, like New Order, Depche Mode.

Did you play a lot of video games when you were younger?

Yeah, definitely. There's definitely that influence; I don't think it was intentional to go in that direction, but it just happened.

What's your favorite classic video game?

I guess Wizards and Warriors, or Ducktails. Ducktails.

How did you come up with your band name?

I'm pretty bad at making band names, but I think that William from Future Islands [is] the one that came up with Adventure. I guess I was just like, that sounds good enough, that'll work. I'm not too picky, choosy about things like that.

How did you start making music?

I just started to do it in college, just kind of messing around with music programs, and I stuck with it and started playing some shows. It just progressed, met a lot of people through playing shows. I got better at it. When I got out of college and I didn't really feel like ... well, I went to school for painting, got my [Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts] and I just felt like doing music. Then I moved to Baltimore, moved in with Dan Deacon and some other Wham City people and just started doing music, you know.

That's Wham City Arts Collective, right? What exactly is Wham City?

It's a big group of friends, basically, and nowadays it just kind of revolves around an e-mail list, like a bunch of friends just email each other their s--- basically. And we run this festival every year, that's kind of the main focus right now, the festival, because we don't really have a space. Wham City was a warehouse and it had shows and all the stuff. Mostly like Dan [Deacon], Dina [Kelberman] and Jimmy [Joe Roche], they all went to SUNY Purchase College and moved to Baltimore and started Wham City Collective. It's not really a solidified thing or anything; it's just a group of friends.

How did you end up in Baltimore?

I guess because I was sort of friends with people I had met playing shows with like OCDJ, the Video Hippos, that's the band that I'm in now, and Dan as well. And they all convinced me to move up, basically. And they helped me out when I moved here, like finding a place to live, finding stuff to do, asked me to be in Wham City and all that stuff, so, its just simple.

What's the craziest thing you've ever experienced on tour?

That's a hard question. Maybe playing Lollapalooza with Dan Deacon; that was pretty crazy. That was, like, 30,000 people. Or like Primavera [Festival], Barcelona. I think those are the more memorable experiences. You just get to play these huge festivals. Those shows are just really fun to play, just all of your friends there. You get to have a really great time playing with bands that you though you'd never play with.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Sleeping bag? I don't know, I'm just sure that [SXSW] will be really f---in' insane like it was last year. Never get a chance to relax. Maybe some earplugs, more so just to fall asleep.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Maybe Christina Ricci. I think I had a crush on her when I was little, especially in 'The Addams Family.'

Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

I listen to everything. Like my girlfriend's sister had this Avril Lavigne CD that we found at her house and I've been listening to that all the f---ing time. I like a lot of pop music. And s--- that I thought was so stupid when I was a kid, when I listen to it now, I'm like, "That's not that bad."

And does that influence your own music?

No, not at all. It's just a guilty pleasure. I mean my stuff is pretty cheesy, but in a totally different way.


Laurie Kamens is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.