Photo of Bennett Mitchell with Brooklyn Billinghurst (CJSW).

Bennett Mitchell performed during Sled Island on Saturday, June 20th at BLOX Arts Centre.

Interview Audio:

Interview Transcript:

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Hello, my name is Brooklyn. I’m with CJSW, and I am interviewing today..

Bennett Mitchell
Bennett Mitchell.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yes, thank you so much for joining me, Bennett.

Bennett Mitchell
Thank you for having me.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yes, so I’ve been bumping your latest album, ‘Rearranging’. I think it’s gorgeous, and I’m not just saying that. I genuinely love that album.

Bennett Mitchell
Thank you, thank you.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It has a beautiful prairie sunset and cow on the cover. Can I ask you, how you got that artwork, and even maybe the inspiration for it, and the name of the record as well?

Bennett Mitchell
Oh, great questions so far. No one’s ever asked about the album cover, so I’m so happy to talk about it. That was a picture I took. I was driving home from my family’s ranch. It was the evening, and I like to have my film camera on my lap while I drive, or like not all the time, but I’ve got this like whole book I want to do of like photos taken while driving,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
amazing.

Bennett Mitchell
So I’m just driving, driving home and it was like a stunning sunset, I was taking pictures like all over the place, and then I get to like just before the little Hutterite sheep camp, and I just see this cow walking, there’s like never cows where that is, and I take this road a lot, so I just see this beautiful cow. I’m not like– I wasn’t like shooting anything like ‘This is gonna be a sick picture’, but I just saw this cow, and I was like, oh, took a few.. I’m like leaning over the passenger seat.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, you can kind of tell in the picture, yeah.

Bennett Mitchell
So I’m like leaning way over, and I’m like shooting with like one hand, and.. and yeah, I just like snapped. I snapped two pictures of this cow, and obviously it’s film, so I didn’t think much of it. I was just like, “Oh, sick”, add that to the roster of pictures I’ve taken, kind of while driving. And I went home, and I think it was like that night, my friend and I – he was into developing film, and he was like teaching me how to do it, and so, like, right away we developed the film, and you know, we scan it with his, like, with his thing, and I’m learning about how to turn the negatives into positives, all this stuff. And as soon as this picture comes up, I was just like, whole, like, it like kind of blew me away. It’s still like the best, or my favorite picture I’ve ever taken.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah,

Bennett Mitchell
And he like put some edits on it, and then I was just like, “That’s, I think, the album cover for my next album.”

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, it’s gorgeous.

Bennett Mitchell
Thank you, thank you.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Because your other two album covers are you, right?

Bennett Mitchell
Yes.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Pictures of you.

Bennett Mitchell
Yes. Me as a baby in a dryer.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yes, the baby in the dryer, then you on the ground in–

Bennett Mitchell
My underwear.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
In your underwear!

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah. And then I have another album, under John Lost & the Cause. Still haven’t, like, made the transfer, but it’s a painting of my face that my friend did.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay. Do you like having yourself on the cover more? Or do you like the cow? You know, what does it do for you to have your picture on it?

Bennett Mitchell
I don’t know. That’s a good question. I– yeah, cause’ I’ve actually never thought about the fact that I’m on all of the covers, except for this one. To me, I like am the cow in this one, though, or at least I like relate with the cow. I don’t know, I just think like I love it when like, I can see the artist on the page or on the on the cover, rather. I think that’s the main thing. I don’t actually know if I like personally desire to be on the cover, but I’m like, hey, this is– that’s why I had my friend paint the first album cover, so I’m like, it’s me, but it’s like not a picture of me.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
For sure.

Bennett Mitchell
And then the underwear one, I don’t know what the hell happened there, it was like Covid.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
We were just kind of doing any old thing laughs

Bennett Mitchell
I was like, “Oh, this is crazy,” so.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I mean, great album, also that record is really–

Bennett Mitchell
Thank you, thank you.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah I really loved that one as well. Um, so there’s a pretty obvious connection to place and land and the prairies. Like, specifically, what inspires you about the prairies? You’re a Calgary native?

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay. So, what inspires you about this place and this land?

Bennett Mitchell
Well, that’s another good question. I don’t know if I’m inspired or like drawn to the prairies naturally. Because I identify as like a very city boy. But my family has always had this ranch down in near Pincher Creek. So my childhood, like, as a really little kid, when my grandparents owned it, I was going out there as a little, like, toddler riding bikes and whatnot,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
In the washing machine..

Brooklyn (CJSW)
In the washing machine.. That was actually in Ontario, I think. But– But I didn’t ever really have the choice to go down there [Pincher Creek], and then when my Dad bought it from my grandfather, I was then like an older kid, and then a teenager, and I wasn’t really like allowed to stay home when they went to the ranch. Or like, not that I wasn’t allowed, but it was like I would be like dragged out there a lot.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I see.

Bennett Mitchell
So I’ve been out there for a lot of my life, not necessarily wanting to be there, so especially with this album, it’s kind of like understanding that feeling, and like, you know, now I’m like a city boy and a country boy, yeah, not necessarily by choice, but, yeah, I don’t know, because when I was growing up, being a cowboy, at least in my, like, friends and, like, the high school stuff, like, it wasn’t cool at all, and I was like not proud of that side of me, so yeah, I like tried to kind of avoid it, and then all of a sudden, like, being a cowboy was cool, and like having that, so I was like, oh, maybe I should like explore that, and like explore what it means to be a cowboy, and I’m still very much doing that, I’ve done so many of the ranch jobs my whole life, but I think seeing other people’s like pull towards like cowboy culture in the country has kind of shifted my view of it, where I’m like, let’s like get into this and see, what’s up. So,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Who inspires you in that kind of culture? Who do you see, as, cowboy representation?

Bennett Mitchell
Oh uh, my neighbor, Jeff Hammond, shout out Jeff. His father, Scott Hammond, and Edwina, huge inspirations, like country through and through, they’re like four generations in that area, so huge inspirations there. Even musically they introduced me to Charlie Pride, and I am like a total Pride-head now. I would just like, I think it’s beautiful, but yeah, it’s like I don’t know, it’s ever evolving. I feel very stuck in the middle, but there’s so much, like, I don’t know, walking in the woods alone, and like doing all these weird jobs, like in the middle of nowhere, is– there’s a lot of time to think.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Absolutely, yeah, maybe that’s why so many, like, cowboy music is like pensive, because you’re– it’s like you and an animal, or it’s you and nature, and yeah, lots of time to think.

Bennett Mitchell
Exactly.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
So, when did you start playing music?

Bennett Mitchell
I kind of did lessons, like as a kid, as one does, but I like really wanted to start making music when I was like 19, and I just picked up a guitar in my, in my friend’s basement. He had, like, a studio, and he was really good at guitar, like John Mayer kind of style, and I was like, “Cool,” like “That’s sweet.” Blues, I love the blues, so I just like picked up a guitar, and I like just started, like I played guitar every day for a year after like having this kind of epiphany moment,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Nice, yeah. Is there someone you wanted to play like when you started playing guitar,

Bennett Mitchell
Jimi Hendrix, always. Like, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Like the two goats, yeah, like I always throw it back to Jimi Hendrix. I think he’s like still my like through and through biggest inspo.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Now that you say that, I can hear that on “rearranging”, like a lot of these, like I call them watery guitars, it just feels like you’re swimming, and it’s very natural. You’re a very natural guitar player.

Bennett Mitchell
Thank you, thank you.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Um, so I kind of already asked this, but what artists inspire you and your music now? Like, if Jimi Hendrix was, you know, what inspired you with guitar, right? Who you listening to now?

Bennett Mitchell
Who am I listening to now? Well, literally, I’m listening to Laraaji right now, and he’s a big inspiration.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I am so emotional about Laraaji. Yeah, I love him.

Bennett Mitchell
I listened to that CJSW [live session]…

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Me too!

Bennett Mitchell
Oh, I like.. as soon as he came on, I was like almost, I was like welling up.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Me too. What was that?

Bennett Mitchell
I don’t know what it is.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It was a frequency he just tapped into.

Bennett Mitchell
There was something, yeah. Gosh, this is always like the “Here, pick a song.” I can never, I can never really get into it. I’m always listening to Wings, like Paul McCartney is like, yeah. Everyone is always like, “You sound like Paul McCartney,” so I’m like, “I’ll listen to him,” and then I just like, I’m addicted to listening to him.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
What is your favorite Wings song?

Bennett Mitchell
Oh God, my favorite Wings song. I’m so terrible with names, but there’s one that’s coming to mind. It’s not “Let Me Roll It,” but it’s on

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It’s on Band on the Run?

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, I think so. I don’t know, I couldn’t even tell you.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay. Well, we’ll lock in with Band on the Run, the album.

Bennett Mitchell
The album, the whole album.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
That is the best sound like ever made. Yeah, no, you are, you’re after my own heart when you said wings, I was like, oh yeah, okay. So a lot of your lyrics, especially on “rearranging,” like, “who do i talk to,” are pretty like vulnerable and open and quite beautiful, honestly. So, when you’re going through something hard, does songwriting help you like digest what you’re experiencing?

Bennett Mitchell
I think, in a way, I think it’s.. I don’t know if it helps me digest, but it’s more of like a product of like I’m experiencing this, and like, whoa, like there’s a song, like, “who do I talk to” just came out of, like, nowhere. I just, like, I don’t really play the piano, but, like, I decided to play these two chords, and I was just like, “Who do I talk to? came out immediately, because I was like feeling alone, and, like, I don’t know, it was just like, yeah, it was just like kind of a coping mechanism, but I don’t really do it consciously. I don’t really songwrite super consciously. I just try and let stuff come out, because that’s how I write my favourite songs, just like first thought or no thought, best thought.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s really cool. Because I know a lot of people, or a lot of singers, can tend to like torture themselves to get something, and it sounds like for you it’s just kind of like going with the flow.

Bennett Mitchell
The torture is natural.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, no, we don’t need to torture any more than we already are. Laughs I want to talk to you a little bit about Sled Island. You played before,

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Do you have any fun, memorable moments or stories from playing this great festival in our dear city?

Bennett Mitchell
Oh my gosh, like every year there’s fun memories, and then, like, the erasement of memories.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, you’re right.

Bennett Mitchell
This is so far the chillest sled I’ve ever had, and this is day one.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, okay, so far the chillest.. Laraaji, we might turn up, though.

Bennett Mitchell
I might, yeah, I might get a little crazy tonight. Oh geez, I mean playing Sloth Records with my giant seven piece band was pretty memorable, like people were sitting on the ground, and like, I was sitting on a stool, and it was like a huge sound, but also tiny.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
What year did you do that?

Bennett Mitchell
That was, was that last year or the year before? I think this is my fifth year in a row playing, so

Brooklyn (CJSW)
King of the island.

Bennett Mitchell
King of the island Laughs. Playing modern love before– Actually, this is a good one. I played like two or three years in a row with this band “Neighbourly” and they have since become just absolute best friends of mine.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Oh, that’s awesome.

Bennett Mitchell
I even was just out on the island where they live, and I was playing a single show, and two of them hit me up and were like, “Can we play with you,” and I’m like, “Are you kidding me? Yes,” So that kind of connection is like a huge thing. Oh geez, yeah, my, my– it’s just when we’re–I’m thinking of Sled Island, it’s just like a huge cloud of beauty, and I can’t even think.. I can’t even pick any of the droplets out.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s fair. I feel the same way, yeah. What venue is your favourite to play here in Calgary?

Bennett Mitchell
Oh, I finally played the Legion. I had to make that happen myself. I did my album release there. That’s one of my favourites. I mean, the Palomino is always a classic.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Love it.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, like I just love the vibe in that– in that basement. I’d probably say the Pal. Yeah,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s a really solid choice. I was just talking to Shunk, who’s gonna be performing at the Legion, and they’re from Quebec, and I was like, “When you get there, it’s like no other place you’ve ever been,” and they’re like, “Yeah?” and I was like, “You’ll see what I mean.” The Legion is just its own space.

Bennett Mitchell
It’s a time capsule.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I was just about to say it’s a time warp. Yeah, I love it. And I’ve been– I’ve been asking a few other artists this, but if you had to plan your own festival, like Bennett Fest or something,

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, I love it already.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Who’s on the lineup? Like dream lineup.

Bennett Mitchell
Uh, Weyes Blood, Braids,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Amazing.

Bennett Mitchell
Probably Laraaji again. With Brian Eno.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Do not, do not get me started. I’ll need backstage passes.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, Bennett Fest, so far so good. Who else? Fiverr. We need some– I need some electronic. We need, like, the after party. We need, like, Floating Points.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Nice.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, Kaytranada.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Gorgeous. Get him down here.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Where you at?

Bennett Mitchell
Come on, Bennett Fest! I should start this.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It’s Bennett Fest.

Bennett Mitchell
I’ll reach out to them.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Honestly, who could say no to you, man? Everyone would– everyone be lucky to be at Bennett Fest.

Bennett Mitchell
That would be sick. I’ll have it at the ranch.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, at the big old ranch in Pincher Creek.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Love it. Ubers, don’t worry about it. No, you’re sleeping here.

Bennett Mitchell
Sleep over.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
What can we expect next from Bennett Mitchell?

Bennett Mitchell
Hopefully a tour. I’m so terrible at planning tours, they scare the hell out of me still.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It’s hard.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, so that’s kind of like the biggest thing. I’m playing the Coke stage here. Huge, huge vibe on that. Yeah, feeling good there.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
What day are you playing?

Bennett Mitchell
I’m playing July 5. It’s Family Day. I’m playing 12:30 PM.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Beautiful.

Bennett Mitchell
It’s a little lunch, lunch vibe.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Lunch with your family.

Bennett Mitchell
Lunch with my fam. Then I already have like a new album that I’m like trying not to work on right now, just because I’m trying to, like, honor “rearranging.” I always just like, I finish an album, I already have a new album like going, and it– and then it distracts me from like actually playing the one I just released, so.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah.

Bennett Mitchell
No, but I’m stoked. I’ve got like 20 songs to pick from, and it’s very like acoustic vibe, simple, emotional heavy. Lots of yearning.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Lots of yearning. One thing a cowboy can do? Yearn.

Bennett Mitchell
Yearn. That’s it.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
What can people expect at a Bennett Mitchell show this summer?

Bennett Mitchell
This summer? Lots of people on stage. Lots of, like–

Brooklyn (CJSW)
You’ve got a big band.

Bennett Mitchell
I’ve got a big band and they’re all legends. And they all sing, so lots of microphones, like seven microphones on stage.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Are the people in your band the people that were on “rearranging”?

Bennett Mitchell
Yes, for the most part, we’ve got Cam Buie. He played a lot of the grand piano, some of the synthesizers. We have Brock Geiger, he played a lot of the straight up lead guitar. Chris Dadge on most of the most of the tracks. Nate Waters on bass. Eric Cinnamon behind the board. He won’t be on stage with us this year, but he has been in the past. And then I’ve got Samantha Savage Smith, she sang on a few of the tunes. And then I’ve got my friend Birdy Loughlin.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
She’s my neighbour.

Bennett Mitchell
She’s what?

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Birdy’s my neighbor.

Bennett Mitchell
Your neighbour?

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah!

Bennett Mitchell
Sick!

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Birdy lives like two blocks away from me.

Bennett Mitchell
Heck yes.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, she’s cool.

Bennett Mitchell
She’s very cool.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I loved Geno Fashion Haus, love Geno Fashion Haus? I don’t know if it’s still a thing, but,

Bennett Mitchell
I’ll ask Birdy about this. I don’t know, I don’t know about this,

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It’s like a DJing thing she did.

Bennett Mitchell
Oh, okay.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
It was really fun. No, she’s a cool lady, yeah. That’s so cool. Do you like having a big band with you?

Bennett Mitchell
Most of the time. But I do, like, I’m balancing it right now pretty well with, like, I’ve got solo shows. Me and Nate just did a few duo shows where he was playing sax and bass clarinet through like effects galore. So then I’ve got the duo for like little road trips, we were up in Edmonton, and then yeah, for stuff like the Coke stage, it’s just like let’s get everyone up.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I mean, if you have the platform like the Coke Stage, get everybody up.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, and like Sled Island too, we’re gonna have the same big band.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Fabulous. When can people catch you at Sled?

Bennett Mitchell
Saturday at 8:00 PM at The Blox. Saturday the 20th. Huge lineup. Yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Who’re you playing with?

Bennett Mitchell
Big Rig, Emily Yacina.. And why do I always forget the third? Where is it [the program guide]? Oh no.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Gotta be a program guide somewhere!

Bennett Mitchell
We’re at Sled, we’re at Sled Island.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
We are at Sled Island. Well, you know what people want to know.

Bennett Mitchell
Oh! Helene Barbier, or I’m not sure how to say her name, but yes.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
I love Helene Barbier. She’s cool.

Bennett Mitchell
Sick, yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s gonna be awesome.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s actually, like ,so stacked, you have no idea.

Bennett Mitchell
Yeah, I’m gonna be there all night.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah. Period. And you’re the first one on at 8:00 PM.

Bennett Mitchell
I’m the first, yeah.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Great. Okay. Well, good luck to you, Bennett. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

Bennett Mitchell
Thank you, Brooklyn.

Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yes, of course.