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Born 1980 Melbourne Australia Lives Reykjavík Iceland The music Ben Frost is about contrast; influenced as much by Classical Minimalism as by Punk Rock and Metal, Frost's throbbing guitar-based textures emerge from nothing and slowly coalesce into huge, forbidding forms that often eschew conventional structures in favor of the inevitable unfoldings of vast mechanical systems. “…The emotional power of Frost's music comes precisely from the stark contrast between extremely basic musical material and the deadly virtual instruments he invents to perform it… This is Arvo Pärt as arranged by Trent Reznor” – Wire Magazine, 2007 On albums like Steel Wound, released on the Room40 label in 2003 (Pitchfork: “An exemplary ambient experience”) and Theory of Machines on Bedroom Community in 2007 (Boomkat: “The Future of electronic music…”) Frost’s music is more than a cerebral exercise and has an undeniable visceral presence, felt as much as heard. His compositions are created with an acute awareness of the listener and their comfort thresholds, exploiting every extreme of pitch and volume. His notorious, building-shaking performances at international festivals including Montreal’s famed MUTEK combine amplified electronics with the furious thrashing of live guitars. Frost himself has been described as “one of the most interesting and groundbreaking producers in the world today.” (Boomkat). His music’s intense physicality has filled gallery spaces and driven contemporary dance productions by Chunky Move, the Icelandic Dance Company, and the acclaimed choreographers Erna Ómarsdottír and Wayne McGregor. The massive scale of Frost’s music often projects a sense of remoteness and isolation and yet he remains in demand as an artistic collaborator, having performed and worked with/for artists as diverse and acclaimed as Björk, Stars Like Fleas, Tim Hecker, Amiina, Christian Fennesz, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Wildbirds & Peacedrums and Bora Yoon, and with celebrated Bedroom Community labelmates Sam Amidon (Appalachian folksinger), Nico Muhly (classical composer), and longtime collaborator Valgeir Sigurðsson (electronic composer/producer) with whom Frost shares Sigurðsson’s recording facility Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavík. Underlying Frost’s often noisy, defiant aesthetic is a quiet and welcoming humanity, and a subtle sense of emotional drama which has recently bought him to the attention of the film world, where in 2008, utilizing the Icelandic string quartet Amiina, Frost composed the tender but ominous score for the forthcoming True-Crime feature film In Her Skin, starring Sam Neill and Guy Pearce; a cinematic sensibility also pervades his current Lp, By The Throat, whose darkly surreal sound-world owes as much to David Lynch as it does to David Lang. For further info see www.ethermachines.com or www.bedroomcommunity.net :: PRESS QUOTES :: "Defiantly new, and distinctively dramatic... a feeling of proximity to overwhelming power... all-encompassing and eerily real. (BY THE THROAT) is a sharp-edged Hi-Def encounter with the dangerously sublime." -Wire Magazine "...As equally terrifying as it is breathtaking, as claustrophobic as it is expansive, and as squarely rooted in the 21st century as it is timeless. Minimalism for the post-apocalypse... The best album of 2009" -In Your Speakers "Its a hollow, unforgiving, brutal yet utterly beautiful record full of deep intricacies that wont let you go. 'BY THE THROAT' indeed." -NME ''Frost's work is more than a hall of terrors: These vivid instrumentals, which seem menacing at first, also feel somehow triumphant when heard again – new details becoming more crucial. By the Throat might frighten on the first listen, and it might shock by the 12th. But, somewhere in between, Frost – both a compelling new musical dramaturge and arranger – might just show you the silver lining of all these fears.'' 8.4/10 -Pitchfork "This is horrible. Horrible in its lesser-used sense in which it means 'utterly brilliant'." -Mapsadaisical "BY THE THROAT is a break in the evolutionary ladder, a jump across links in the Darwinian chain, a re-mapping of sonic DNA. Frost has taken modern music off the respirator and sent it once again trekking into the wild unknown." -The Silent Ballet "Music community, brace yourselves. Ben Frost is set to occupy 'best of' lists again... ominous and devastated... Frost at his most beautiful... It’s shocking how fresh and unique this album is, a truly singular artist at the height of his craft." -WORD- Like a Scientist "...in 2007 I described his music as ambient hardcore – psychologically raw, punishing... That album left a lasting impression on me... I didn’t think that 'Theory Of Machines' could be outdone, that is until I put on BY THE THROAT. Frost’s onslaught is incredible. I stand applauding." -Headphone Commute "This is no easy ride... you'll be exposed to music that's both viscerally hard on the ears and achingly beautiful... Formidable and far-reaching... (BY THE THROAT) might be one of 2009's most singularly impressive listening experiences and very likely the only record you'll hear this year whose repertoire consists of both luscious classical chamber compositions and the hunting calls of killer whales." –Boomkat "BY THE THROAT plunges into a dense, dark and threatening network of subterranean galleries... If 'Theory Of Machines' was the sound of engineering gone wrong, By The Throat is that of nature shutting down, bringing all life forms down in its fall." -The Milk Factory "Ben Frost had influenced what BY THE THROAT 'looks' like to me before I'd even heard it, memorably telling the Krakow Post its visual palette is 'like the glow from a lava flow, or a burning church.' ...a stunning roiling compact of pained human breath, serrated slashes of random frequency and spurts of electronic noise flapping across the stereo channels." -Drowned In Sound “This album is a far darker affair and makes the work of most avant garde musicians sound like Girls Aloud. Like the soundtrack to an imaginary horror film, By the Throat boasts a collage of noise that is discordant and utterly unsettling.” –Irish Independent “Reaches right out of the thought bubble and punches you out of your skin.” –BBC, David Stubbs "an obsessively compelling, captivating, and often frightening creative and original odyssey into a world both natural and synthetic... it attracts and repels so convincingly that one must listen to it over and again in order to uncover its many -- often terrible -- secrets." -All Music Guide "...a sonic experience like few others ...It's fearless and its frightening and it demands to be heard shit-your-pants loud" -AU Magazine "...it’s compelling, mystifying, disturbing, and beautiful... When the record ends, you’ll wonder where you are, how much time has passed, and whether you ever want to feel this way again." -The Agit Reader "His music doesn't pulsate or tick - it flows and merges. It’s the sound of clenching and unclenching, of tension and release... Sounds are fed, sustained and brought to slaughter... If nature is a playground to Sigur Rós, then to Ben Frost it’s a battlefield." -Grapevine "The real wonder of BY THE THROAT is its levels of frightening beguile... not for the faint of heart... it is not only my album of year, but my number one deep listening album of all time..." -The 405 "simply too emotionally confrontational and too aurally invasive to be an after thought... growling and howling from instruments and real wolves alike, Frost's work burrows deep, digging its claws into your psyche... a ferocious muscularity and a grizzly aura that feels too real to be labeled horror... just about as powerful a musical experience that one is likely to have... Make room in your top ten of 2009 and welcome the new king of compositional doom." -The Forest Gospel
 

Hometown:
Reykjavik 

Record Label:
Bedroom Community  

General Manager:
Niamh Burke Neff :: niamh@ethermachines.com 

Booking Agent:
Worldwide :: frontporchproductionsrg@gmail.com  

Press Contact:
UK :: ken@hermana.co.uk // US :: brian.shimkovitz@sacksco.com // Australia & NZ :: walter.juan@ilikethenoiseitmakes.com // ROW :: niamh@ethermachines.com 

Members:
Ben Frost occasionally Haukur, Gummi, Sigtryggur, Borgar and others 

Interests:
large and numerous guitar amplifiers  

Artists Liked:
Reykjavik! 

Influences:
loud noises and uncertainties  

Website:
www.ethermachines.com www.myspace.com/theghostofbenfrost www.twitter.com/ethermachines www.benfrost.bandcamp.com/ www.gogoyoko.com/artist/benfrost www.bedroomcommunity.net