Anjunadeep’s pilar and creator of two outstanding albums that start from hard times
After the release of his debut album “Breathing” in 2019, the world got to know one of the most prolific producers on the scene. Hailing from Germany and creator of deep and progressive melodies, Ben Böhmer is part of the small group of artists who can achieve success by composing music from the heart.
If you feel identified with the sounds or lyrics of his songs, it’s because there is something beyond Ben’s life that indirectly connects emotionally with you. From the tragic loss of a loved one, the time of confinement and the deep connection with music since his childhood, the German has a story to tell and today we want to share it with you. In this note, get to know Ben Böhmer’s biography.
Music teacher and DJ on his small local circuit
Ben was born in 1994 in the city of Göttingen in Germany. Since his childhood he was always attracted to music. He learned to play the piano and trumpet at a young age and grew up under the influence of different musical genres. The now renowned producer earned his living by giving piano lessons in his early years after graduating from high school.
He was also that typical German young man who joined the clubs in his hometown even before he came of age. On many occasions he used his older brother’s ID to gain access to the parties. This, in turn, made him want to be a DJ himself. After getting his name on the billboards of the small local circuit, Ben moved to Berlin where he taught chord progressions and major and minor keys to his students. It was a time where he also started to create his own music using the synthesizer.
First releases
In 2014 he began his musical career with the release of his EP “Black Pattern” on Bade Records. Two minimal tech-house tracks that reflect his connection with the undulating textures of his songs, pure pianos and the deep atmospheres that to this day reflect his music. Later that year, the single ‘Faltering’ was released on Ostfunk Records. According to Spotify, this song was released in 1970, but back then Ben’s parents didn’t even know each other, Spotify algorithm bugs? Listen to the single, you’ll really feel like you’re in the 70s.
By 2016, Ben would launch his own record label: Ton Töpferei, where he would release his EP Der Blender as part of the compilation Mauerblumchen where his first recognized single, ‘Promise You’ also appeared. This track was later moved into an EP of his own with the same name along with three other tracks. We can say that Promise You is the first piece that shows Ben’s musical identity. Airy guitars, flutes, subdued vocals and mesmerizing chords are all part of this magical release.
Fate changed everything in 2017
By 2017 would come the track ‘Dissensions’ and that same year, he would join the German duo AKA AKA AKA released the EP “Submission” on the newly created Sacrebleu label. However, the turning point in his career would come at the end of that same year. By that time, Daniel Goldstein better known as Lane 8, was temporarily living with his wife in the city of Liepzig. Daniel was by then already a mainstay of the British firm Anjunadeep.
One day, a friend of Böhmer’s gave Lane 8 some songs that Ben had been working on. Daniel liked them so much that he started playing them at his own shows. It took a few weeks for the producer to recommend him to label boss James Grant, to whom Ben then had to send a large number of tracks. From that moment on, the German stopped teaching and started to dedicate himself to creating music.
Böhmer arrived just at the moment when the label was literally transforming the electronic scene. Much of what we hear and enjoy today in the world’s most renowned and smallest clubs is thanks to Anjunadeep (James Grant and Above & Beyond) who through his discoveries like Ben, music has taken a new direction.
New pillar arrives at Anjunadeep
Before we jump right into Ben’s career within Anjunadeep. We want to make mention of other outstanding tracks he released on different labels. Such as the EP “Challenger” on Freundchen in 2018, the single Mondfinsternis on Keller that same year, or Korona together with Wood also in 2018 via Ton Töpferei. (By the way, the covers of the singles he creates on his own label are a complete masterpiece).
The first song he released on the British label was the inspirational and tranquil Flug & Fall which was part of the compilation Anjunadeep Explorations 04 and released a year later. In 2018 he would release his first EP Morning Falls followed by Dive. In addition to the single Ground Control and remixes for Monolink and Way Out West. Before moving to the turning point of his career, we highlight the release of the tracks “Fliederregen” and Reflection that he made on This Never Happened, Lane 8 label.
Behind Breathing’s success
We almost always focus on what a song makes us feel without thinking about what it made the person who created it feel. Eight years ago, possibly before Ben started creating his own singles, his father took his own life, leaving a wave of pain for a still then teenager who saw in music, the way to manifest what he lived. In November 2019, Böhmer would release his debut album “Breathing” where the track that opens the LP is titled ‘In Memoriam’. A title that clearly reflects its meaning.
“So it was a strange feeling: dedicating a song to a father who was suddenly gone and dancing to it.” – Ben Böhmer
“Breathing” is composed of 13 masterful compositions. “Very emotional and very sad tracks like ‘In Memorium’ were created”, comments Ben, “But also very happy tracks, because I needed to get that feeling back” – he adds. The album overall has millions of plays on various platforms and took the German’s career to another level. “My life changed completely,” he comments in an interview to Billboard regarding this release.
The beginning of “Begin Again” in the midst of the pandemic
Böhmer went from opening for producers like RÜFÜS DU SOL or Above & Beyond in 2019 to having his own tour around the world through North America and Europe in 2020. Tour that as we well know was interrupted with the arrival of the pandemic. And while it was a difficult time in his career, Ben did not stop composing singles from his home in Germany. Singles that in 2021 the world would come to know while “Breathing” continued and continues to be a machine that reaches new ears.
“Begin Again” was released in mid-2021. However, as we already mentioned, the singles were created during his time of confinement. The inspiration behind, part of the 9 months he had to live away from his wife as both of them at that time lived in different cities around the world. “We went through a roller coaster of emotions and many challenges, and each track is a reflection of how I felt in those moments,” he said about the album.
“Now that we are starting our life together sharing a house in Berlin, I can look to the future knowing that, despite all the ups and downs, we are stronger for everything we have been through,” he adds.
New achievements
A few days ago marked the first anniversary of Ben Böhmer’s set for Cercle. Ben also made history by releasing the first single for Cercle’s record label. He also became the fastest growing electronic artist within Spotify in the past year with over 70 million plays to date.
He is also a mainstay of Anjunadeep where he is an official headliner at renowned clubs such as Printworks, The George, The Brooklyn Mirage, and more. He is currently embarking on a worldwide tour including for the first time: Argentina and Brazil.
A magical connection
“I just wanted to share the art I’m making and I don’t want to use other music to tell the story. I have a story.”, says Ben Böhmer regarding his music. Music that is already an inspiration for the next generation of producers. “I still get sweet messages from my former piano students,” he says. “One of them told me that his last Christmas wish was a DJ controller.”
From little Göttingen to Berlin and then all over the world, this is the story of someone who did not set out to make music internationally about the tragic experiences he lived through, but rather his emotions infused naturally into each production.
Ben knows that the vast majority of his listeners don’t know what his music is about, much less the meaning behind the title of his songs, but he also knows that his music takes on a personality of its own and connects with the experiences of those who listen to his songs. This makes Ben Böhmer’s music special.
