BEN NEILL is a composer, performer, producer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. He has been called "the mad scientist of dancefloor jazz" (CMJ) and "a musical powerhouse, a serious and individual talent" (Time Out London). Neill's music blends electronica, jazz and ambient, blurring the lines between DJ culture and acoustic instrument performance.
Neill has recorded seven CDs of his music on the Astralwerks, Six Degrees, Universal/Verve, New Tone and Ear-Rational labels. His music has been featured on numerous compilations including Wired Magazine's "Music Futurists". He has performed his music extensively in a wide variety of international settings including the Cite de la Musique France, Berlin Love Parade Germany, Spoleto Festival Italy, Umbria Jazz Italy, NIME Conference 2005 Vancouver, Bang On A Can Festival New York, ICA London, Istanbul Jazz Festival Turkey and the Edinburgh Festival UK to name a few.
Neill's current projects include an ongoing duo with VJ Bill Jones. Neill and Jones' new set combines future dub jazz with live interactive sci-fi noir video. Dark, dubstep beats and basslines meet the trippy sonic explorations of Neill’s newly redesigned electro/acoustic instrument. Jones provides the video imagery, a black and white urban dreamscape inspired by sci-fi noir films such as Godard’s Alphaville. The video and music are seamlessly integrated in real time by the mutantrumpet.
Neill is also a member of XIX, a band with vocalist Mimi Goese (Moby, Mimi, Hugo Largo), John Conte on bass, and Jim Mussen on drums. The group is currently working with Ridge Theater on a production for the Next Wave Festival 2009 at Brooklyn Academy of Music. www.myspace.com/xixnyc
In 2007 Neill composed the music for 911-911, an animated film by Mel Chin. The film premiered at the LA Short Film Festival and Tribeca Cinema in New York. In 2005 Neill presented his collaboration with Bill Jones titled Palladio, an interactive movie based on Jonathan Dee's 1998 novel of the same name. Palladio was premiered at the New Territories Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, and at the Thalia Theater/Symphony Space in New York City.
In Neill's live performance, laptop computers merge his three-belled, computer interfaced mutantrumpet with live MIDI controlled digital audio and video. In addition to controlling digital audio in real time, Neill literally plays the moving pictures, making the images an extension of his electrified horn.
Neill is also active as a sound and installation artist. His collaborative works with Bill Jones have been exhibited in museums and galleries including Sandra Gering Gallery New York, Exit Art New York, Wellcome Gallery London and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Neills installation/performance Green Machine was shown at Paula Cooper Gallery New York in 1994. ITSOFOMO, his major collaborative piece with the late artist David Wojnarowicz, has been exhibited widely in venues such as The New Museum New York and PPOW Gallery New York, and was featured in the recent PBS documentary Imagining America.
In 2002, Ben Neill made music industry history (MSNBC News) by releasing Automotive, an album entirely comprised of extended versions of music he originally wrote for Volkswagen TV and Internet commercials. He supported the release of the album by performing on an 18 city tour of the House of Blues and other major music venues in the US and Canada. Television appearances have included CNBC Power Lunch, Tech TV Screen Savers, Wall Street Journal Report, and Media Television Canada. Neill and Jones video remixes were presented at Sundance 2004 and have been aired on Fox TV network. Nite Nite, a video remix of a track from Automotive , was exhibited in 2003 Sandra Gering Gallery, New York.
A native of North Carolina, Neill is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music. He studied composition with minimalist composer La Monte Young, and has collaborated with numerous other composers and musicians including Helmet's Page Hamilton, Rhys Chatham, Nicolas Collins, David Behrman, John Cale, John Cage, Coil, DJ Spooky and DJ Olive.
