Ben Aqua is an American multimedia artist, musician, and photographer based in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

Early life

Aqua was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. They studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where they developed their first solo music and performance art projects, ASSACRE and MVSCLZ, while organizing several DIY/avant-garde art and music events throughout Austin with the collective Totally Wreck Production Institute. Shortly after completing their degree, they began documenting their eccentric peers in photographic portraits involving "totally nonsensical, zany situations in beautifully/bizarrely decorated spaces".

Career

In 2011, Aqua founded the experimental electronic music and art label #FEELINGS. The label produced early music releases by artists

Lotic River ecosystems are flowing waters that drain the landscape, and include the biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions of its many parts.Angelier ...

and Rabit, who later released official remixes for

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

in 2015. Aqua released their debut EP ''Reset Yourself'' in 2013, which

Interview Magazine ''Interview'' is an American magazine founded by pop artist Andy Warhol and journalist John Wilcock in 1969. The magazine, nicknamed "The Crystal Ball of Pop," features interviews of and by celebrities. Background In 1965, pop artist Andy War ...

described as "high energy and refreshingly difficult to define". They followed the EP with official remixes for

YACHT A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

and

STRFKR Strfkr (a disemvowelment, as well as the letter C, of "Starfucker"), stylized in all caps, is an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. It began in 2007 as a solo project of Joshua Hodges. History Members include Joshua Hodges of Sex ...

, leading up to the 2014 release of their full-length album '' Virtual Anticipation'', which

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

Thump described as having a "post-human outlook". Their 2014 ''4C1D'' EP drew comparisons to

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

and

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

. In 2013, Aqua created a graphic work depicting the words "NEVER LOG OFF" in a large, bold, and underlined font. The graphic spread widely across

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

, which led to their creation of a T-shirt featuring the design, distributed via #FEELINGS. The NEVER LOG OFF shirt garnered public interest and support from people all over the world, including celebrities such as

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Porter Robinson Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Robinson began producing electronic music during his adolescence. He sign ...

, and

Casey Spooner Casey David Spooner (born February 2, 1970) is an American musician and artist. He resides in Paris, Los Angeles, and New York City. Early life and education Spooner was born in Athens, Georgia. He attended University of Georgia and later went ...

Fischerspooner Fischerspooner was an electroclash duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in New York City after meeting in school. The name is a combination of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner. Career Originally a duo formed by ...

. In 2015, Aqua accused clothing and accessories retailer

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...

of stealing their NEVER LOG OFF shirt concept. In 2014, Aqua was invited by

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

to create a podcast to accompany an article written by Adam Harper entitled ''The online underground: A new kind of punk?'' The podcast (RA.434) was met with much criticism from conservative RA readers, mostly based on Aqua's open support of controversial label

PC Music PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, uploading its first releases to SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L H ...

and artists such as

A. G. Cook Alexander Guy Cook (born 23 August 1990) is an English record producer. He first became known as founder of the influential record label PC Music in 2013; its signees included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L Harle and Felicita (musician), Felici ...

and

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

. RA described Aqua as embodying "the online underground's attitude and approach". The podcast was chosen by

FACT Magazine ''Fact'' is a music publication that launched in the UK in 2003. It covers UK, US, and international music and youth culture topics, with particular focus on electronic, pop, rap, and experimental artists. Having started as a bi-monthly pri ...

as their "Mix of the Week", calling it "a creative, enjoyable blend of...boundary-free dance oddness". In 2015, Aqua collaborated with Ary Warnaar from

Anamanaguchi Anamanaguchi is an American chiptune-based pop and rock band from New York City. The band has four members: lead songwriters and guitarists Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar, bassist James DeVito, and drummer Luke Silas. Anamanaguchi combines digit ...

on a song called ''Anarchy'', which launched as an interactive website that

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

's label Nest HQ called "the cutest dismissal of authority you'll ever experience".

Discography

Albums

* 2014 - '' Virtual Anticipation'' - #FEELINGS *2018 - ''Chopin Preludes for Classical Synthesizer'' - Self-released

EPs & Singles

* 2009 - ''Feel Like Yourself Again'' (under the moniker MVSCLZ) - Self-released *2013 - ''Reset Yourself'' EP - #FEELINGS * 2014 - ''4C1D'' EP - #FEELINGS * 2015 - ''Anarchy'' - Collaboration with Ary Warnaar (

) - NHX * 2015 - ''Don't Play Dumb'' - #FEELINGS * 2015 - ''Ultimate Reality (

Remix)'' - #FEELINGS * 2016 - ''Ultimate Reality'' EP - #FEELINGS * 2016 - ''By This River'' - #FEELINGS * 2017 - ''(Don't) Stop Haunting Me'' - Self-released

Remixes

* 2011 - Lotic - ''Rendez-vous (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - #FEELINGS * 2012 - Outlaw Producer - ''Ninjas (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Kursed Recordings * 2012 -

- ''Second Summer (Ben Aqua Remix)'' -

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was originally founded in 2001 by Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. Goldsworthy and Mur ...

* 2013 -

- ''Second Summer (Ben Aqua 3D Winter Remix)'' -

* 2013 - Feathers - ''Dark Matter (Ben Aqua Remix)'' * 2013 -

- ''Leave It All Behind (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Polyvinyl Record Co. * 2013 - Chants - ''Don't Miss U (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Hush Hush * 2014 - Balmorhea - ''Heir II (Ben Aqua Remix)'' -

Western Vinyl Western Vinyl is an independent record label founded in 1998 and based in Austin, Texas. The imprint was formed by Brian Sampson and Ryan Murphy originally to release their lo-fi indie rock projects as Win Foster and Havergal. Artists *Abram S ...

* 2015 - Big Dipper - ''Vibin' (Ben Aqua Remix)'' * 2015 - Gillepsy - ''I'm Web (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Hyperboloid Records * 2016 - TT The Artist - ''Lavish (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Space Is The Place * 2016 - Joe Howe - ''MIDI Pile (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - #FEELINGS * 2017 -

- ''Miku ft.

Hatsune Miku , officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media. Its official mascot is depicted as a sixteen-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku's personification has been marketed as a virt ...

(Ben Aqua Remix)'' - NHX *2018 -

- ''TopBrazil (Ben Aqua Remix)'' -

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...

Production credits

* 2013 -

Zebra Katz Ojay Morgan (born 1987), better known as Zebra Katz, is a Berlin-based Jamaican-American rapper, producer and songwriter who has collaborated with artists including Busta Rhymes and Gorillaz. Fashion designer Rick Owens featured Zebra Katz's ...

- ''Red River''

Compilation appearances

* 2010 - ''Don't Play Dumb'' from V/A ''The Butt Bias Mixtape'' - BUTT Magazine, Honey Soundsystem Records * 2011 - ''Exterminate'' from V/A ''This Is So Random'' - Egyptian Maraccas * 2013 - ''4C1D (BA Xmas 2.0 Remix)'' from V/A ''Christmas 2.0'' -

, Priz Tats * 2013 - ''Wanna Get Next 2 U'' from V/A ''FreshMoon Presents: 808K V.1'' - Freshmoon * 2013 - ''Glass Of Shattered Glass'' from V/A ''∜♡MDISCS 2K13'' - AMDISCS * 2013 - ''Y U Mad'' from V/A ''Track Meet Compilation 02'' - Track Meet *2016 - ''Reset Yourself'', ''Don't Play Dumb'', ''Ultimate Reality (YACHT Remix)'' from ''#FEELINGS Vol. 1'' - #FEELINGS

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aqua, Ben Living people American electronic musicians Year of birth missing (living people)