Ben Lemi aka Dawn Diver
My profile of Ben Lemi is live on Audio Culture now.
Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes it takes completely different forms.
A skilled multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, band leader, producer and recording engineer, Ben Lemi has spent the last two decades adding musical colour and vibrant detail to countless acts from New Zealand’s avant-garde jazz, folk, country, soul, reggae, indie rock, RnB and hip-hop communities.
In more recent years, he has often been heard playing with Vera Ellen, TrinityRoots, French For Rabbits, and Bret McKenzie while fronting his own Dawn Diver group and working at Massey University’s School of Music and Creative Media Production in Wellington.
Born in Wellington, Lemi grew up in a diplomatic family who lived overseas in Washington DC, Tehran and Ankara, Turkey, before returning home when he was starting Year 11 (fifth form) at Wellington College. Thanks to his father, who was passionate about American blues, jazz, folk, country and global 20th-century pop music and the cultural histories that informed them, he grew up surrounded by and exposed to a rich array of traditions. “Dad’s record collection started with old Delta blues like Robert Johnson,” he said. “He also listened to Muddy Waters, Paul Simon’s Graceland, and Miles Davis albums like Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain.”
At the age of nine, Lemi’s musical journey took a significant turn when his older stepbrother, Rowan, began teaching him how to play the guitar before later exposing him to the moody down-tempo atmospherics of European and British acts such as Björk and Portishead. “[Rowan] knew precisely what music and culture I should be exposed to throughout most of my teenage years,” he told journalist Melody Thomas for Capital Magazine in 2020.
Last week, I profiled the Wellington, New Zealand-based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, band leader, producer and recording engineer Ben Lemi, aka Dawn Diver for Audio Culture. You can read the full story here.
TEST PRESSING:
When I'm feeling flush with cash, one of my favourite websites to visit is Basso's Growing Bin Records. Beautifully categorised by a range of evocative genre titles like 'cocktails by the pool', 'dancing for mental health', and 'private German fusion and jazz-funk', it's one of those online music stores where you always find something you didn't expect to want. Last week, I wrote about his new compilation album Sitting In Trees for Test Pressing. Read here.
After looking at a particular and thrilling aspect of Japan's underground scene in the 1980s with their reissue of "Soft Selection 84 - A Nippon DIY Wave compilation", Madrid's excellent curated Glossy Mistakes label returns with another bumper collection, "Atlantic Mavericks: A Decade of Experimental Music in Portugal (82-93)". Read my brief overview for Test Pressing here.
A DJ GIG:
On Sunday, the 14th of July, I’m going to be the DJ at the Bastille Day | Fete Nationale Francaise celebrations at Vogelmorn in Wellington. Immerse yourself in French culture with a buffet of traditional French delicacies accompanied by French drinks. Get your dancing shoes on to move to the sound of French music. All things Bleu, Blanc, and Rouge welcome.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for children. Reservations only (reservation closes on the 9th of July 2024). Book now at smokednpickled@gmail.com. Drinks are to be purchased separately. This event is organised in collaboration with Ridgeway School and Vogelmorn.
FIN.