Ben Frost (artist)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 Defi ...
, record producer, sound designer and director based in Reykjavík, Iceland as of 2014. Frost has contributed to albums by Canadian electronic musician
Tim Hecker Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as ''Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), ''Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and ''Virgins'' (2013), has been widely cr ...
and American experimental rock band Swans.


Career

Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, and experimental music, with influences ranging from classical minimalism to punk rock 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 t ...
. 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, and as part of a collaboration with
Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
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. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...
, Frost released the critically lauded and distinctly more rhythmical album '' Aurora.'' In 2017 Frost traveled to Chicago to record ''The Centre Cannot Hold'' with Steve Albini. In addition to his studio albums, Frost has collaborated with contemporary dance companies Chunky Move, the Icelandic Dance Company Contemporary Dance of Cuba and the British choreographer
Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the ...
. He composed the music for Wayne McGregor's 2010 production ''FAR.'' Frost co-composed ''Music for Solaris'' with
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 ...
, which was inspired by both Stanisław Lem's novel ''Solaris'' and the 1972 Tarkovsky film of the same name. It was performed by Frost, Bjarnason, and Sinfonietta Cracovia. He composed the music for the films '' Sleeping Beauty'', 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 conceptual documentary photographer. Early life and education Mosse was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He lives and works in New York and Berlin. He received a first class BA in English literature from King' ...
, 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 novel '' The Wasp Factory''. In 2015, Frost, in collaboration with Paul Haslinger, created the score for '' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege''. 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 and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
in London, titled ''Incoming'', with
Richard Mosse Richard Mosse (born 1980) is an Irish conceptual documentary photographer. Early life and education Mosse was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He lives and works in New York and Berlin. He received a first class BA in English literature from King' ...
and Trevor Tweeten. The piece used advanced surveillance technology to comment on the refugee crisis in Europe, and later toured worldwide. From 2017 to 2020, Frost created the score for all three seasons of Netflix's German sci-fi thriller '' Dark.'' 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 three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
's song "Desired Constellation", which was featured as the B-side to the "
Triumph of a Heart "Triumph of a Heart" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fifth studio album ''Medúlla''. Written and produced by Björk, the song features beatboxer Rahzel from The Roots, Gregory Purnhagen, and Japanese beatboxer Dokaka. "Triu ...
" single. He engineered and played the keyboards on
Tim Hecker Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as ''Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), ''Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and ''Virgins'' (2013), has been widely cr ...
's albums ''
Ravedeath, 1972 ''Ravedeath, 1972'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on February 14, 2011, by Kranky (record label), Kranky. The album was recorded primarily in Fríkirkjan í Reykjavík, Frikirkjan Church, Reyk ...
'' and ''Virgins'', which were recorded by Frost in Reykjavík. He was the mixing engineer on Colin Stetson'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 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 as part ...
. Frost participated in the recording of the Swans 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 separately ...
'' 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 * '' By the Throat'' (2009) – Bedroom Community * '' Aurora'' (2014) –
Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...
/ Bedroom Community * '' The Centre Cannot Hold'' (2017) – Mute Records * '' Scope Neglect'' (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 it has more than ten million members and sup ...
* ''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 Paul Haslinger) (2015) – Ubisoft 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) * ''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 * ''Sólaris'' (with
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 ...
) (2011) – Bedroom Community * ''Francesco Fabris & Ben Frost – Vakning'' (2023) – Room40 * ''Ben Frost & Francesco Fabris – Meradalir'' (2023) – Room40


See also

* List of ambient music artists


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