Some people are just born talented like Filipino American, R&B singer/songwriter, Benzer from Rowland Heights, CA. His recently released EP “DEUCE”, which released on September 18, 2020 has a sound said to be reminiscent of Anderson Paak and Mac Ayres.
The smooth groove of his melodies and seemingly effortless vocals had us genuinely impressed by this young artist. Benzer attributes music as being in the “Filipino blood” and shares his musical journey with us.
Many artists start off with vocal trainers or coaches, but Benzer did not.
“I have not had any personal vocal training. I was in show choir in high school
if that counts.”
He discovered his vocal gifting around the age of 5, constantly taking the solos at his church’s “Children’s Christmas Performances”. However, it wasn’t until his sophomore year in college that he realized he could actually make a career out of his music.
“I discovered GarageBand and started singing over tracks and getting feedback from friends.”
On top of being a self-made singer, Benzer has also taught himself multiple instruments over the years, from guitar to piano, and even the drums.
Despite his rising popularity, however, the journey to the top doesn’t come without its challenges.
“I actually do want to get vocal training though, because I definitely am not where I want to be at this stage in my career. I still get nervous when I perform and that translates to having a shaky voice or getting flat on certain parts and such. I want to be more confident, which is something that I honestly still struggle with.”
His persistence and passion continues to drive him. He recently released his EP “Deuce” which was produced by himself, along with Dylan Dagdag and Eric Reyes.
“Dylan mixed and made sure everything was hitting hard while Eric helped with
production on two other tracks and brought his style into it as well.”
While working his butt off to make music a real career for himself, Benzer created ARTFORM626.
“ARTFORM626 is a platform dedicated to highlighting artists from the 626 area
regardless of their medium. It is more of a blog spot and an interview directory for
those searching for talent in the area. I came up with the idea after getting
interviewed by VoyageLA and wanted to bring something more local to me. It
was a way for me to not only connect with people but most importantly, shine light
on the hidden talent from this area.”
Benzer believes that there are so many people that “have something to share” and he “wanted to give them that opportunity.”
He may soon be starting his 3rd EP and will potentially be collaborating with other producers from his area in an effort to “build up the music community there”.
Be on the lookout for BENZER!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benzeruy
Website: benzeruy.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5R3lUk0FsX1ig3rINqZfQI?si=cVU5mHVlTD6PSwRmenqfzw
iTunes: itunes/apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/all-alone-in-my-room-feat-david-anthony-single/1507409638
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/benzeruy
Check out his video here!
