Bughouse

With his latest project ‘Bughouse’ Dutch based saxophonist Benjamin Herman has finally found the perfect musicians to realize a long-cherished dream of forming a punk jazz quartet. Although Benjamin is a now a seasoned jazzhead with well-earned credentials he was very much influenced by the DIY mentality that was part of the punk ethics in the late seventies. “I started off playing drums when I was nine years old. Everyone in the neighbourhood was into music and everyone was in a band. All these bands made their own records took care of their own artwork and arranged their own gigs. I always thought that was really cool. Later on in life that helped motivate me to have a life in music on my own terms.”

Benjamin on drummer Olav van den Berg: ”Olav was up on the barricades when it all started in Holland, he played in several key bands on the Dutch hard core scene including one of the loudest and fastest European groups ever, ‘Lärm.” ”He’s an incredible musician, I love to play fast and loud but it’s a real challenge to keep up with Olav.”

Guitarist Reinier Baas is a game changer on the renowned Dutch guitar scene. A highly gifted jazz musician and a very productive composer with a totally unorthodox approach to everything he is involved in. Bassist Peter Peskens of one of Amsterdam’s most popular young collectives ‘Jungle By Night’ is, in spite of his young age, a sort-after bass virtuoso with a remarkably personal sound. He recently graduated with honors at The Amsterdam Conservatory.

”The recording sessions were charged as hell seeing as we had no idea if we would have anything worth releasing at the end of the day. All four of us were way out of comfort zones…in the end we came out with 23 songs in total.”

Another big influence is British saxman Xero Slingsby. Xero died far too young from a brain tumor but managed to leave his mark in several European cities busking and gigging in small clubs with his trio. “He often played on Leidseplein in the early eighties. His mix of punk and free jazz and his working class attitude as a performer was really inspiring, much more inspiring than the kind of jazz that was being broadcast on national TV and radio. It was Xero Slingsby and people like John Lurie (The Lounge Lizards) and James Chance (The Contortions) that made me look at being a saxophone player from a totally different perspective.”