benjaminkoll

A Date With Santa (Part 1)

Hello guys, the time has come to fulfill all of those Santa fantasies :P

Let's start by unveiling this fun photoshoot, for the first time in full resolution and only slightly edited. The first one is the source for the cover of "It's Christmas Eve" and the penultimate was subject of a popular fake that every now and then pops up here and there. Pictures are shown in order as they were taken.

How did it end? Well, next chapter coming tomorrow :)

Have a great weekend!!

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Beartoy Gallery (Part 2)

Happy Friday guys! As promised here's part 2 of the Beartoy gallery, including all interior pages pictures from last year's Christmas Special.

The guys from Qbo Bearwear asked me to be their Santa for Beartoy, a fanzine they started publishing mid 2019 that sadly after all this years events had to be put on hold.

It was a cool run though and I'm hoping sometime next year they can come back, we will sure offer our help. Pics were t...

Yesterday (Part Two - Chapters 21 & 22)

SECOND PART

“The cosmos is but a great man, and you are like a small cosmos.”

“Letters from a Sufi master” - Shaykh Al-'arabi ad-Darqâwi

CHAPTER 21

Father Aminarti was resting on the medical bed that had been set up for him in the spacious room. He could see, ...

Beartoy Gallery (Part 1)

Last year the guys from Qbo Bearwear asked me to be their Santa for Beartoy, a fanzine they started publishing months before that sadly after all this years events had to be put on hold.

It was a cool run though and I'm hoping sometime next year they can come back, we will sure offer our help. Pics were taken by Martin Cortes two days before we did this set on November 26, 20...

Patreon exclusive! "It's Christmas Eve"

Hello my dear patrons! As promised, here's my new Christmas song "It's Christmas Eve" a week before it's official release on stores and streaming platforms next Monday December 7. 

I started writing this song about five years ago, working on the melody every now and then, but didn't seem I was going to finish it anytime soon - until around November 20Jose & I had a conversation with a friend about his continued struggles with his parents, that mirrored those of mine and reminde...

"Don't Let Go" First Look

My dear patrons, as you may already know if you saw yesterday's lens post here, I'm editing the music video for my cover of "Don't Let Go" this days.

Here's an exclusive first look at some scenes, featuring my dear Farit and Brandon White, a very talented rising queer artist. They both joined me this time. 

I'm hoping to release this video sometime this coming week, I'll let you know first.

Have a great Sunday!  2020-11-29 18:32:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Patreon exclusive! Would you like to be on my next video?

My dear patrons, as I hinted the other day here, there's a new single coming out next December 7, a Christmas carol I've written, recorded and produced this last week, inspired by recent events that happened to friends and me. It's a song dedicated to us and our chosen families that you'll be able to hear and download exclusively here on December 1st, a week before it gets released on stores and streaming services....

Yesterday (End of Part One - Chapters 19 & 20)

CHAPTER 19

––Who? –– Laura asked in a daze.

––Jonah, your twin brother –– her father repeated reluctantly, as if he had trouble articulating each of those words.

––My brother is alive? But, he d... –– Laura felt that she was becoming sick while searching for sense in her words. Her father took her hands in his and tried to calm her down. They...

Advance Demo! "Changes (Perfected Remix)"

Hello guys, things have been crazy at the studio this month, and here's one of the songs I've been working on, a new Perfected remix of "Changes" (the original song was included on my first album "Songs For A Better Future"). I did post here in May an early demo of ...

Update from the studio!

Hello guys! Things are getting pretty busy and crazy at the studio. I just finished recording two new songs a few minutes ago and one of them might even get an expedited release in two weeks! finger crossed. You'll be the first to know and hear it if it's confirmed. I also had to pause the editing of the new music video because of a huge opportunity that had presented during the week. This is why I'm afraid i won't be able to post more here before next Tuesday, we need to work hard to make al...

The Coaches (Part 2)

The fantasy continues as the coaches spend some quality time in the locker room...

Here's part two of "The Coaches" photo set featuring my dear Jeremy Morse. Check out part one here.

This is the first time you can see these. Pics were taken by Martin Cortes on August 16th 2018, a few days before the "Beautiful Nothing" music video and this time he's also done the editin...

Yesterday (Part One - Chapters 17 & 18)

CHAPTER 17

Laura was quite wide-eyed but her gaze was absent.

She was unable to blink. For the whole morning she had been in a dense trance that kept her away from reality.

Everything was happening before her eyes like in a movie at different speeds.

At times, her surroundings seemed to slow down. Other times she jumped from one situation to another unexpected...

Pieces Of Ice (BK Bootleg Remix) - Diana Ross

Here's one of my "secret weapons" when I Dj. I did this remix years ago for a friend who happens to be close with Diana, it was his gift for her on her birthday and I was told she loved it. That made me immensely happy because I've been a fan of hers since I was a child. I haven't pursued the idea of making it official, but it could happen someday. On this photo I'm at that friends house holding a original Richard Avedon portrait of her. 

2020-11-17 20:31:17 +0000 UTC View Post

Advance Demo! "Dancing"

Hey there dear Patrons! I'm so happy to show you this song for the first time... this has had me hooked for more than a year now. I started working on this song before recording all the songs for  "All Systems Go" but couldn't finish it in time. The first draft of the lyrics felt a little naive / childish and although I loved the groove and direction it was heading to, I decided to leave it for later.

And that turned out to be the right decision. Enter 2020 and I started my daily Y...

The Coaches (Part 1)

As we've been teasing this last days on social media, here's part one of "The Coaches" photo set featuring my dear Jeremy Morse.

The first two pics were already posted before, one of them included on the "All Systems Go" Listening Companion book. This is the first time you can see the complete first set. Pics were taken by Martin Cortes on August 16th 2018, a few days before the "Beautiful Nothing" music video and this time he's also done the editing. That was a fun photo shoot :P Jerem...

Yesterday (Part One - Chapters 15 & 16)

CHAPTER 15

The car lurched twice, there was a long honk and the distant squeaking of a wheel rubbing against the pavement. Eva heard her mother's cell phone fall off her hands, but she couldn't see the car rising above ground and rolling two times until it crashed into the road. All she heard was a dry shriek of terror, a violent blow and two seconds of silence.

The heads...

Advance Demo! "World In A Bubble"

Hello my dear patrons! Here's a new song I've been working on for my forthcoming third album. It's the first complete demo I've recorded of it, so many things could change before the song is finally released.

This is one of the two songs I've written inspired by this years events, the isolation, the effect of social distancing on future relationships, the fear of contagion... I tried to keep the door open for interpretation. Make it yours.

As I told you last week the I released "<...

Yesterday (Part One - Chapters 13 & 14)

CHAPTER 13

Adrian pulled away from Antonio violently and twirled in the wet sand of the beach. He stood up and faced Roman pushing him furiously with his sandy hands.

––What the hell is this, what have you done to me?

Román looked back at him with a penetrating and serious look.

––We didn't do anything to you, you just got carried away.

––I ...

Advance demo! "Tracks Of Love"

Hello guys, this is a big deal for me, the first time I'm sharing a demo so much in advance in my whole career. This song is one of the first 5 considered for my next (and third) album. I spent last week working on the arrangement and recording it.

I started writing "Tracks Of Love" in 1992, it had many iterations and versions until 1998, when I lended some parts of the structure and melody for another song in a Spanish album production I did, that's been long time forg...

Hello November!

Hello guys and thank you so much for supporting me another month, you're really making a difference and helping us dream big. I had to rest most of the weekend but thanks to that I'm feeling great today and I wanted to let you know some of the things that will be happening during the month.

We will hopefully do the Alter Ego photo shoot before Friday (the idea is to do two of your choices eac...

Tell Me Why - 1995 Demo

Hey guys! Here's the original demo of "Tell Me Why" that I recorded back in 1995 at Redhouse, my recording studio in Valencia (Spain). It was actually my first post here on Patreon on May 16, 2020, which I unfortunately had to take down due to a data leak. But now it's back for you to enjoy.

This is one of the many songs I wrote and recorded between 1991 and 1995. I released my first 12" single with two different songs in the late summer of the same year. It was a local success and sinc...

Higher (Parts 1, 2 & 3) (First Vocal Demo - 2018)

Hello guys, hope you're having a great weekend!

My first post today it's a demo only Jose Spinnin had heard before you, it was the third demo of the song Higher for Perfected, the first one with my vocals in it. What's interesting about this is that many ideas for the arrangement were lost to the final versions released here.

You never know what's best....

Halloween Special! Coffee (A short story)

Hello guys! I wrote this short story in 2012. I decided it'd be fun to adapt it to English and share it with you, enjoy and have a nice and creepy Halloween!

Peter loves Saturdays because he is allowed to take a nice, long nap after lunch. Mark, his partner, will spend the whole afternoon rehearsing as he does every week with his theater group, and he will have the whole couch for himself in their living room.

They finished l...

Yesterday (Part One - Chapters 11 & 12)

CHAPTER 11

If someone were to ask me now what was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw Román, I wouldn't know what I would have said.

All about him is puzzling to me. I'm still having a hard time taking in everything that happened, but I must come clean to you.

Was it good for me?

Was it bad?

I have no idea, there’s only one thing I'm sure ...

Alter Ego Challenge Poll!

Hey guys, as I told you on this post, we had the idea of doing an Alter Ego picture both for me and Jose Spinnin, the basic idea being to take two pictures of the same person, each one depicting a personality trait or a fantasy situation, and then joining them together in the same picture, even interacting between themselves.

Here are the ideas you proposed, please vote so we can se...

Te Quiero Junto A Mi (Extras - Part 1)

I was going through my image vault today, selecting forthcoming galleries for you, when I found this photoshoot we did on November 2019 for the "All Systems Go" Listening companion book. A selection from this set was featured on the "Te Quiero Junto A Mi" chapter of the book, that I shared with you here. 2020-10-25 01:21:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Alter Ego Challenge!

Hey guys! we've been watching Real Housewives of Atlanta every day at lunch this week (its fun, a nice way of forgetting the daily drama, try it!) and there was one idea there that seems big fun, the Alter Ego photography.

Alter Ego is a project by photographer Derek Blanks, the basic idea is to take two pictures of the same person, each one depicting a personality trait or a fantasy situation, and th...

Yesterday (Part One - Chapters 9 & 10)

CHAPTER 9

Eva arrived in Valencia at dawn. The streets were deserted. The hospital admissions desk too. She had to wait for a while before she was given access to the hospital area where Adrian was admitted. She felt numb, uncomfortable and most of all angry at having to be alone in that place at that hour. Hospitals made her sick.

When she arrived at the monitoring room...

Benjamin Koll, a origin story

As I was working on the "Room Service" sets for you, I remembered something I forgot to include on the first listening companion book for "Songs For A Better Future", and that is the story of how I began to consider stepping out in the spotlight as an artist after all the years of career as a music producer and remixer. It all began taking form in 2013, and the rea...

Room Service (Last set)

Morning guys! here's the last set of the "Room Service" series. These are some of the close ups and less risky pics we took, to be used as previews of the series or in social media.

Two of them ended up on the "Songs For A Better Future" Listening Companion photo book (available on Amazon) and three were unreleased until today. Hope you enjoyed this series, thank you so much fo...