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

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Early life

Aqua was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

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

. They studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, 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 component, biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions of its man ...

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 three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

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

Interview Magazine ''Interview'' is an American magazine founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol and British journalist John Wilcock. The magazine, nicknamed "The Crystal Ball of Pop", features interviews with celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinke ...

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

YACHT A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used 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 , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

and

STRFKR Strfkr (a disemvowelment of "Starfucker"), stylized in all caps, is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. It began in 2007 as a solo project of Joshua Hodges. History Members include Joshua Hodges of Sexton Blake (vocals, keyboards, guita ...

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

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

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, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

and

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

. 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 (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

, 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 of

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed 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 first alternative ...

Porter Robinson Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label Owsla, OWSLA at the age o ...

, and

Casey Spooner Casey 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 on to ...

of Fischerspooner. In 2015, Aqua accused clothing and accessories retailer Hot Topic 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 dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...

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 and artists such as

A. G. Cook Alexander Guy Cook (born 23 August 1990) is an English music producer, singer, songwriter and the head of the UK record label PC Music. Cook released his first solo singles in 2014. He has also collaborated with PC Music artists such as Hannah ...

and

Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". 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 * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

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

FACT Magazine A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

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 on a song called ''Anarchy'', which launched as an interactive website that Skrillex'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 ( Anamanaguchi) - 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 founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and ...

* 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. Polyvinyl Record Co. is an American independent record label headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. The label also has satellite offices in New York, Austin, and the Bay Area. Polyvinyl has put out over 400 releases to date. The Polyvinyl roster ...

* 2013 - Chants - ''Don't Miss U (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Hush Hush * 2014 - Balmorhea - ''Heir II (Ben Aqua Remix)'' - Western Vinyl * 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 - Anamanaguchi - ''Miku ft.

Hatsune Miku , also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official moe anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise bu ...

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

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

Production credits

* 2013 - Zebra Katz - ''Red River''

Compilation appearances

* 2010 - ''Don't Play Dumb'' from V/A ''The Butt Bias Mixtape'' -

BUTT Magazine ''BUTT'' is a biannual magazine that features photography and interviews about alternative gay and queer culture and sexuality. Historically, the magazine has been marketed as for gay men. ''BUTT'' was founded in 2001 by Gert Jonkers and Jop van B ...

, 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'' - PC Music, 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)