Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-born musician,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

er and director based in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

as of 2014. Frost has contributed to albums by Canadian

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

musician

Tim Hecker Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning albums such as '' Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), '' Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and '' Virgins'' (2013), has been widely critically acclaimed. ...

and American

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

band

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

Career

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, and based in

, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

, instrumental, and experimental music, with influences ranging from classical minimalism to

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

. His early releases include the guitar-oriented albums ''Steel Wound'' (2003) and ''School of Emotional Engineering'' (as part of the band School of Emotional Engineering) (2004). ''Theory of Machines'' (2007) marked a radical shift toward more angular aggressive music and was further advanced on the critically acclaimed '' By The Throat'' (2009). In 2011, commissioned by

Unsound Festival Unsound Festival, also known as Unsound, is an annual music festival that takes place in Kraków, Poland, dealing with evolving and mutating forms of music, as well as related visual arts. Apart from the main festival, Unsound regularly takes plac ...

, and as part of a collaboration with

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

and fellow Icelandic composer

Daníel Bjarnason Daníel Bjarnason (born 26 February 1979) is an Icelandic composer and conductor. He has garnered widespread acclaim for his debut album, ''Processions'' (2010), with TimeOut NY writing he "create(s) a sound that comes eerily close to defining ...

, Frost released Solaris, a conceptual album which rescored Andrei Tarkovsky's film of the same name. In 2014 after signing with British record label

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

, Frost released the critically lauded and distinctly more rhythmical album ''

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

.'' In 2017 Frost traveled to Chicago to record ''The Centre Cannot Hold'' with

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

. In addition to his studio albums, Frost has collaborated with contemporary dance companies

Chunky Move Chunky Move is an Australian contemporary dance company from Southbank, Victoria. History Chunky Move was founded in 1995 and debuted at the Melbourne International Arts Festival with artistic director Gideon Obarzanek. The company's work is d ...

, the Icelandic Dance Company Contemporary Dance of Cuba and the British choreographer

Wayne McGregor Sir Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a British choreographer and director who has won multiple awards. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Comma ...

. He composed the music for Wayne McGregor's 2010 production ''FAR.'' Frost co-composed ''Music for Solaris'' with

, which was inspired by both

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fi ...

's novel ''Solaris'' and the 1972

Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. His films explore spiritual and metap ...

film of the same name. It was performed by Frost, Bjarnason, and Sinfonietta Cracovia. He composed the music for the films ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'', the Icelandic drama '' The Deep'', and the 2015 British television series '' Fortitude''. In 2012, he traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo with

Richard Mosse Richard Mosse (born 1980) is an Irish artist who works with photography and video. Early life and education Mosse was born in Kilkenny, Ireland.https://www.carliergebauer.com/downloads/CV_RM_2023.pdf He received a first class BA in English l ...

, along with Trevor Tweeten to score the sound for Mosse's artwork ''The Enclave''. In 2013, in his first directorial role, he premiered a critically acclaimed music-theatre adaptation of the

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of '' The Wasp Fact ...

novel ''

The Wasp Factory ''The Wasp Factory'' is the first novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1984. Before the book came out, Banks had written several science fiction novels that had not been accepted for publication. He decided to try a more mainstrea ...

''. In 2015, Frost, in collaboration with

Paul Haslinger Paul Haslinger (born 11 December 1962) is an Austrian musician and composer. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life and career Early life Haslinger was born and raised in Linz, Austria. He attended high school at Kollegium Aloisi ...

, created the score for ''

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is a 2015 tactical shooter game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game puts heavy emphasis on environmental destruction and cooperation between players. Each player assumes control o ...

''. Two years later, in 2017, Frost scored the film '' Super Dark Times''. In that same year, he premiered a new installation at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, titled ''Incoming'', with

and Trevor Tweeten. The piece used advanced

surveillance technology Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

to comment on the

refugee crisis A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and/or dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of refugees. These could be Forced displacement, forcibly displaced persons, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers or any other huge ...

in Europe, and later toured worldwide. From 2017 to 2020, Frost created the score for all three seasons of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's German sci-fi thriller ''

Dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

.'' In 2022, Frost, Mosse and Tweeten premiered their third collaborative installation, ''Broken Spectre'', at 180 the Strand in London. Frost premiered two new sound installations in 2023, Enduring Amazon at the Momentary in Arkansas and The Predatory Chord at the Megaron in Athens.

Collaborations

In 2005, Frost remixed

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 ...

's song "Desired Constellation", which was featured as the B-side to the " Triumph of a Heart" single. He engineered and played the keyboards on

's albums '' Ravedeath, 1972'' and ''Virgins'', which were recorded by Frost in Reykjavík. He was the mixing engineer on

Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is an American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In addition to sa ...

's albums '' New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges'' and '' New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light''. He was a recording engineer for

A Winged Victory for the Sullen A Winged Victory for the Sullen (AWVFTS) is an American ambient music duo composed of Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie. They have released four studio albums, an EP, and one soundtrack album. In 2015, they performed at the Royal Albert Hall a ...

. Frost participated in the recording of the

albums ''The Seer'', ''

Leaving Meaning ''Leaving Meaning'' (stylized as ''leaving meaning.'') is the fifteenth studio album by American experimental band Swans. It was released October 25, 2019 on Young God and Mute. A double album, ''Leaving Meanings songs have been mixed separatel ...

'' and ''The Beggar''; he would also join as a touring member.

Music for film and television

*''Sleeping Beauty'' – Directed by Julia Leigh * ''Super Dark Times'' – Directed by Kevin Phillips *''Fortitude'' – Directed by Kieron Hawkes *''Dark'' – Directed by Baran Bo Odar *''Raised By Wolves'' – Directed by Ridley Scott *''What Remains'' – Directed by Ran Huang *''1899'' – Directed by Baran Bo Odar

Opera

* ''The Wasp Factory'' (2013) * ''The Murder of Halit Yozgat'' (2020)

Discography

Albums

* ''Steel Wound'' (2003/re-issue 2007/2012) – Room40 * ''Theory of Machines'' (2007) –

Bedroom Community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

* '' By the Throat'' (2009) – Bedroom Community * ''

'' (2014) –

/ Bedroom Community * '' The Centre Cannot Hold'' (2017) – Mute Records * ''

Scope Neglect Scope neglect or scope insensitivity is a cognitive bias that occurs when the valuation of a problem is not valued with a multiplicative relationship to its size. Scope neglect is a specific form of extension neglect. Research In one study, res ...

'' (2024) – Mute Records

EPs and other

* ''Music for Sad Children'' (2001) – independent * ''Variant'' (2014) – Bedroom Community * ''Threshold of Faith'' (2017) – Mute Records * ''All That You Love Will Be Eviscerated'' (2018) – Mute Records

Soundtracks

* ''The Invisibles'' (2010) – for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

* ''FAR'' (2013) – independent * ''Sleeping Beauty'' (2013) – independent – soundtrack for Julia Leigh's movie of the same name. * ''Black Marrow'' (2013) – independent * Tom Clancy's Siege (Original Game Soundtrack) (with

) (2015) –

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

Music * ''The Wasp Factory'' (2016) – Bedroom Community * '' Super Dark Times'' (2017) – ''Super Dark Times'' Soundtrack – soundtrack for Kevin Phillips's film of the same name * ''Catastrophic Deliquescence, Music From Fortitude'' (2015-2018) – Mute Records – soundtrack for

Fortitude (TV series) ''Fortitude'' is a British horror psychological thriller television series created and written by Simon Donald. A 12-episode season was commissioned by Sky Atlantic in 2013, and started airing on 29 January 2015. The series is set in the fict ...

* ''Dark – Netflix series Dark Cycle 1 Soundtrack'' (2019) – Invada Records * ''Dark – Netflix series Dark Cycle 2 Soundtrack'' (2019) – Invada Records * ''Dark – Netflix series Dark Cycle 3 Soundtrack'' (2020) – Invada Records * ''Broken Spectre'' (2022) – The Vinyl Factory * ''1899 (Original Music From The Netflix Series)'' (2022) – Invada

Collaborations

* ''School of Emotional Engineering - School of Emotional Engineering'' (2004) –

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

* ''Sólaris'' (with

) (2011) – Bedroom Community * ''Francesco Fabris & Ben Frost – Vakning'' (2023) – Room40 * ''Ben Frost & Francesco Fabris – Meradalir'' (2023) – Room40

References

External links

*
Ben Frost - Credits - AllMusic
*
Discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Ben 1980 births Living people Australian male composers Australian composers Australian expatriates in Iceland Musicians from Melbourne Mute Records artists Australian experimental musicians Australian electronic musicians

Career

Collaborations

Music for film and television

Opera

Discography

Albums

EPs and other

Soundtracks

Collaborations

See also

References

External links