Swiss artist Benjamin Amaru on actualizing his childhood dreams through his debut album

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Swiss artist Benjamin Amaru on actualizing his childhood dreams through his debut album

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Swiss singer-songwriter Benjamin Amaru made his A COLORS SHOW debut in 2020 with a melodic performance of ‘Better Days’, followed by a lively encore performance of his whimsical track ‘Jenny’. Now, four years later, Amaru has released his anticipated debut album, ‘i always remember all of my dreams,’ which takes a colorfully ornate approach to conveying an array of everyday experiences. Following the album’s release, we caught up with Amaru to reflect on his time at COLORS, discuss the creation of his debut album, and find out more about why he encourages speaking your dreams into existence.

You made your COLORS debut with ‘Better Days’ and ‘Jenny’ back in 2020. What do you remember from your time on the COLORS stage?

It’s funny, I didn’t know the impact of COLORS until the night before our performance. I told a friend I would be performing on the show the following day. His response was, ‘this is so huge, Benji’, which made me nervous and anxious. Honestly, it was only after I saw the videos of our performances that I realized how big of a deal it was. Looking back, I wish I had worn a cooler shirt, haha.

Since then, you’ve released 5 EPs and are about to release your debut album, ‘i always remember all of my dreams’. How did you approach your creative process differently for the album versus your EPs? 

The biggest difference was that I thought a full body of work deserved to fit into a specific creative dimension. We did that by creating for two weeks straight; this was the foundation of the album’s creative process. I didn’t want to spend a year working on a single song. The music I make is light and simple, with a strong message, so giving myself a two-week deadline pushed the authentic, natural feel you hear on each track.

Tell us about the album’s title. How do the tracks on the project reflect this statement? 

I dream a lot. I always tell people what I’ve dreamt because I believe once you voice them, it brings them to life. Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to be a musician. It was a dream-like goal. Now, with every piece of music I make, I feel like I’m fulfilling a piece of that childhood dream. I never forget that this is exactly what I wanted to do; to share my own experiences and other people’s experiences through music. Each part of ‘i always remember all of my dreams’, from the production to the final product, is an actualized dream.

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“My biggest dream is to be content with what I do…

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… not just happy, but truly, deeply content.”

You’ve released three singles ahead of the album’s release: ‘everything’, ’waiting’, ‘jonny’s lancia’, each with accompanying videos. The video for ‘everything’ stood out to me, specifically the choreography of the two dancers. How did the concept of this video come to life? 

I really loved the choreography on my friend, Linus von Stumberg’s, short film ‘Syncope’. He sat and spoke with me about ‘everything’. I explained how I wanted to merge our art forms to create something interesting. I didn’t see the choreography he put together for the video until the shoot day. The dancers in the video are him and his girlfriend, which I think adds a layer of intimacy. We chose not to do a massive production, but rather to do a single shot of the dancers performing around me as I played the song on the piano. It only took three takes.

I remember the director pointing out how the dancers were out of sync at times. I thought that was an odd comment because they were two people dancing about losing someone who meant the world to them. It would have been robotic to be perfectly in unison; their expression on that stage with me was so human and raw.

Each track on the project is exactly that: a snapshot of a simple yet raw human experience. 

Exactly. I call each of these songs “dreams” because they capture moments. None of these moments are overly specific or tied to a vivid story. They are relatable because they are based on general human experiences and topics that most people encounter from childhood into adulthood.

The final track on the project, ‘your answers to my question’, is a long list of reality check-like statements about life. Why did you decide to close your project on this note?

These ‘answers’ were collected from an Instagram story I posted in which I asked “What is life to you?”. Over 1,000 people answered. We chose our favorite 50 and put them in the song. That’s why its title is ‘your answers to my question’— it’s a dedication to the audience.

It’ cliché, but I have to ask: what is your biggest dream for the future?

My biggest dream is to be content with what I do, not just happy, but truly, deeply content.

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Benjamin Amaru is a Swiss singer-songwriter. He made his COLORS debut back in 2020 with a melodic performance of ‘Better Days’, followed by a lively encore performance of his track ‘Jenny’. Revisit the shows on our YouTube channel, and make sure to check out Benjamin’s debut album, which is out now.

Text: Katerina Lytras
Photography: Luca Bode

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