benjaminkoll

At the pool (Part 1)

So this week I hit 30k followers on Instagram and I shared a cropped version of this pics as a reward for the followers there. Pics were taken by Martin Cortes, photo session took place on June 16, 2020 at the same private pool were we shot the music video for "Beautiful Nothing". More sets to come.

Here you have the un-cropped pics, I must confess I'm a little scared of showing this, but at the time pretty excited haha 

Please let me know if you like them and PLEASE keep the...

Tell Me Why (Unreleased Pics) Gallery 1

I'm really thankful for your support and the conversation we are building here. Mario Cico told me one of the things he was most enjoying were the behind the scenes specials, and that he would love to see more from "Tell Me Why". So I talked with Jeremy about it and we've decided this is the prefect place and time to share with you some previously unreleased stills that give you a hint of what the unrated version looks like. 

I'll be posting two more galleries soon, each one more i...

Beautiful Nothing - Music Video Behind the Scenes

Today I posted the first 4 pictures of this series on my social media profiles, but here you have them full res, plus some more pics from that day, some of them previously unreleased.

It was August 18, 2018, and we rented a pool to film the music video. Guys from all over joined me and Jeremy Morse and we had fajitas and tacos for lunch and a great time. The video was directed by Eduardo Lujan, written by Jeremy and produced by Jose Spinnin.

You can watch the video here: 2020-06-18 23:32:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Beautiful Nothing + Never Give Up (1st Demo 2015)

I think I've told this story before, but never have I illustrated with the actual demo, you're the first to hear this besides Jose Spinnin Cortes and my ex.

Toying around with the idea of begin singing again, I had been working on some songs before this, but one day, as I listened to one of the instrumental songs included on my album Fabulosa FAB01 (as Juan Belmonte, reedited as "Fabulosa: 10th Anniversary Edition" on 2016), I came up with a melody and some lyrics. On April 6 2015 I rec...

At BeefDip 2016

Here's the full res no-watermark photo shoot taken by Martin Cortes at BeefDip 2016 on Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), We had fun taking this, I was posing and goofing around while Martin was adjusting his lights and set for some models he had to shoot later, and to our surprise the pics turned out quite nice and cheerful. 

I've been releasing some of them over the years, mostly with a watermark, and I think I never shared the last one. Now you can enjoy them full res and without brandin...

All Systems Go - Music Video First Look

My dear patrons, here's a first exclusive look at the "All Systems Go" Music Video. It's been already two months working on this, but it looks so awesome it's worth it. Because of the heat, computers take longer to process the scenes, but we're hoping this will be the final work week. 

As you can see, there are some elements that were hinted on the "Digital Bear Weekend Special", only here everything is rendered on 3D and of a higher quality and depth of color. Can't wait to share ...

All Systems Go (Digital Booklet)

I thought it'd be nice to share with you the digital booklet of my latest album "All Systems Go".

This was to be delivered by iTunes with every purchase, but due to technical issues on their side, and the delays because of this year's pandemic, it's still not being provided to buyers. The only thing they did right is you can enjoy the 24bit Apple Digital Master there (only on iTunes).

So I thought it'd be nice you have it in advance, thank you so much for your support! <3

Benjamin Koll - Disco Infurno DJ Set 2020

I usually don't record Dj sets, thats because I've always loved the rush of the dance floor and that sensation of a moment unique in time. But times have changed and now it's almost a requirement if you want to get hired by any promoter. 

So this is the third time I recorded a set, I did it at our studio at home, using vinyl and digital, and trying to capture some of the feeling I give to my live sets. I only accept a few gigs every year now, one of them my beloved "Disco Infurno" ...

I'll Be Good (Demo 1)

Today June 10th it's the anniversary of the release of my first single "I'll Be Good" on 2016. I thought it'd be nice to celebrate it sharing with you the very first demo I recorded of the song on March 6th 2016. I outlined de music and melody two days before, and recorded this first demo vocals and mixed the demo on the same day at home in Madrid (Spain). That was fast, indeed. 

Mostly because I was very excited about the possibility of singing my own stuff on a music release for ...

Living On My Own (1st demo 2016)

I loved this song from the moment it was born, on the 25th of November of 2016. Here's that first demo, five or six hours into it. As you can hear, most of the song was already there, some lyrics were missing, and others didn't make it to the final album version. It was a thrill to make, enjoy!

Threesome (Full Res)

Hey there! Here's the full resolution version of the pic I posted on Twitter, there's a second part photo edit on the works, I'll share it with you tomorrow, enjoy!

Footnote: the pics are part of a series shot by Martin Cortes for a Bears In Excess special (that I'll share with you without branding soon).

Changes - 2nd Demo (Piano Version) 2016

Searching for content to share with you I found this exciting demo of Changes. I remember I did this one when I couldn't properly emulate the electric guitar I had imagined and needed for the song and that later into production was played by Steve Baker. 

I find this piano on the background very inspiring and I'm thinking I'm going to do a proper remix using all the elements that got lost in the final production. So you have a exclusive peak at what it will be, and that most likely...

On The Beach Photo Set

Here's all the pics that have been used so far from the "On The Beach" photo shoot by Martin Cortes. The photo session was at Bearlin Records Studio on February 27 of 2017. 

The first one displayed (that's actually the n5 pic) is the uncropped version of the one used for the single cover, and the rest have been posted here and there on social media since the release, only now you can have them in Full Resolution.

Thank you so much for your support, enjoy!

Jose Spinnin's Arcadia Set special feature

Last Wednesday May 20 I recorded a special short video of Perfected's "Higher" to be featured inside the special Dj set Jose Spinnin Cortes has recorded and filmed for Arcadia - Guadalajara Pride 2020. Here are two behind the scenes pics. Enjoy!

Don't Let Go (1st Demo)

I recorded this demo on May 2018, this mix was done on the 5th. I had the intention of including this cover of the classic country song written by Jesse Stone, but in the style of Isaac Hayes on "All Systems Go" but in the end, when we had the chance to hear all the demos, it didn't quite fit, so I put it back in the projects drawer, to maybe finish developing it in the future. 

We were talking a few months ago of the possibility of a special and very limited vinyl release, but sin...

I Don't Wanna Fight - Demo 1995

I think this was the last song I did before deciding not to pursue a performer artist career back in 1995. 

It has also an interesting backstory. I had a friend of mine, Cristy, living in NY at that time. She was pushing me to move with her to the US and pursue there a career as a singer. She had some connection with a lady from Elektra (the record label) and on a flash visit to Valencia convinced me to do (yet) another "cold" demo for them to test their interest. She was also told...

Somebody - 1993 Demo

This song began more like an exercise. As you can hear on this first demo I didn't have a clear direction, I remember I loved the "na nara oh oh" line, but at the time I couldn't make it work.

Later on, in 2014, I rediscovered the demo and all of I sudden the rest of it came to my mind. I wrote the verses and "Somebody" was there. I'll share with you that first (new) demo one of this days. It still maintains some of the classic elements, and on the third demo (also available soon) I int...

Beautiful Nothing - Video re-processing

Hey guys, yesterday I shared a video of this on my social profiles, but here you can see how huge the difference this new processing system makes and how it improves the footage. 

First you can see a frame of the original 4k raw footage. On the previously released video I did all the color grading and image adjustments from that source image quality. 

On the second frame, using a mathematic processing of the same footage, this is how the image looks as a starting point f...

Benjamin Koll's House Party - Still images

Here's a selection of our favorite stills from the show I did for Bear World Magazine's first Digital Bear Weekend. 

The show was recorded at home from Wednesday May 6 evening to Thursday May 7th afternoon, vocals and some instruments are live, Jose Spinnin was the camera and executive producer of the show, where he also played the electric guitar, everything else was done by me. 

The Show was broadcasted on Bear World Magazine on Saturday 16 of May 2020 at 7pm EST.

Slave To The Funk - 1994 Demo

I remember I did this demo in an afternoon, maybe Friday, I think it was on January or February of 1994. I loved it and was very excited about it (kept hearing it for years), but nobody understood the style or the meaning of it. As a curiosity, the "baby" line behind me was sung by a very famous jazz singer I was friends of at that time in Valencia. She came for a coffee, I asked and she playfully did it. 

The finished demo sounded very strange at that time. But I knew I had someth...

On The Beach - 1994 Demo

This was the first time I recorded this beautiful song by Chris Rea. It was 1993 and a big name producer in Spain at that time met with me while scouting for new talent. He asked me to do my own arrangement and recording of this song as a test. He didn't believe I was able to play and record myself doing everything. So he came to my studio in Valencia and watched me while I did this demo from scratch in about four or five hours. There's no digital processing on the voice, as I only was allowe...