Dudley Benson
Born1983[1]
Christchurch, New Zealand[1]
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • bar owner
Years active2006–present
LabelsGolden Retriever Records

Dudley Benson (born 1983) is a New Zealand musician and bar director from Christchurch, New Zealand. Benson released his debut album The Awakening in 2008, through his own independent label Golden Retriever Records, following this up with Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne in 2010 and Zealandia in 2018. In 2014 he won an Arts Foundation of New Zealand New Generation Award. Since 2020, Benson has been a co-director of Woof!, a cocktail bar in Dunedin.

Biography

Benson was born in Christchurch in 1983, and grew up in the Port Hills.[1] Benson's family has a long history in the area, and he is descended from Etienne Francois Lelievre, who immigrated from Normandy to Akaroa in 1836.[2] At the age of 10, Benson joined the Christchurch Cathedral Choir.[2] Benson's early musical influences were pop musicians such as Kylie Minogue, and in his teenage years he idolised Icelandic musician Björk.[2]

Benson enrolled in a composition course at the University of Canterbury, during which he began producing music independently. In his third year of university, Benson worked as a crew member on the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). During filming, Benson gave a demo to the actress Tilda Swinton, who was impressed in his work and advised him to leave Christchurch. In 2004, he moved to Auckland, enrolling in a pop songwriting course at the University of Auckland and began working at Marbecks Records.[2]

In 2006, Benson started his own independent music label, Golden Retriever, and released two extended plays, both of which sold out a month after release.[2][1] During this time, Benson performed as a supporting act for alternative musicians including Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Animal Collective.[3]

In 2008, Benson released his debut album, The Awakening, which discussed his colonial ancestry and losing his mother to suicide.[4] To support the album, Benson embarked on a tour of New Zealand churches.[2] In 2009, Benson presented A Performance in Openness, a commission by the Auckland Art Gallery in response to Te Papa's Rita Angus: Life & Vision retrospective, for which he performed nude.[5]

In 2009 Benson enrolled in a Māori studies course at the University of Auckland.[4] The following year he released Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne, an album of a cappella Māori language waiata composed by Hirini Melbourne, which focused on his concerns for native birdlife in New Zealand.[1][6] The album was nominated for the 2011 Taite Music Prize,[7] and in 2012 Benson partnered with independent label HEADZ to release his first two albums in Japan.[6][8] Afterwards, Benson moved to Dunedin, where he spent eight years developing his third album Zealandia (2018).[4] In 2014 he won an Arts Foundation of New Zealand New Generation Award.[6]

In 2020, Benson and his then-partner Josh Thomas opened Woof!, a pub and cocktail bar near The Octagon, Dunedin.[9][2] In April 2022, the bar was inundated with negative reviews and abuse after insisting that customers would continue to be required to use My Vaccine Pass as proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status despite their Instagram page saying “all welcome”. After the negative views received media attention, the bar celebrated its busiest week since opening.[10] In the same year, the bar won the supreme establishment award at the Otago Hospitality Awards.[11]

Personal life

Benson lives in Dunedin with his ex-partner Josh Thomas, who formerly directed the Dunedin Fringe Festival.[4][12] The couple separated in 2021.[13] In 2015, the couple's Jack Russell Terrier Rupert received widespread media attention, after going missing and spending 13 nights lost in the Dunedin bush.[4][12]

Benson's former father-in-law is New Zealand artist Nigel Brown.[4]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
NZ
Artist
[14]
The Awakening
  • Released: 10 March 2008[15]
  • Label: Golden Retriever Records Ltd, HEADZ
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
 —
Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne
  • Released: 1 November 2010[16]
  • Label: Golden Retriever, HEADZ
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
 —
Zealandia
  • Released: 10 August 2018[17]
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 9
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Live albums

Title Album details
Live Series: Volume One
  • Released: 14 November 2011[18]
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming

Remix albums

Title Album details
Deforestation
  • Released: 3 November 2014[19]
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming

Extended plays

Title Album details
Mushrooms & Toadstools
  • Released: 1 April 2006
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: CD
Steam Railways of Britain
  • Released: 26 July 2006
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: CD
The Orders, Medals & Decorations
  • Released: 14 November 2006
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: CD
Minerals & Rocks
  • Released: 15 November 2007
  • Label: Golden Retriever
  • Format: 12", digital download, streaming

Singles

Title Year Album
"Muscles"[20] 2015 Zealandia
"(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy"[21] 2018 Non-album single
"Zealandia"[22] Zealandia
"Rutu"[22]
"Cook Beleaguered"[23]
"We Could've Been Gods"[24] 2019
"Matariki"[25]
"It's Ōtepoti's Fault"[26] 2022

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Creative Northland (1 November 2010). "Dudley Benson new album and nationwide tour". The Big Idea. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bollinger, Nick (21 March 2022). "Dudley Benson". AudioCulture. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Lumière Reader » Arts » Animal Collective + Dudley Benson". Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moses, Hussein (27 July 2018). "Dudley Benson's 'Zealandia': Inside one of the most expensive and ambitious records in NZ music history". The Spinoff. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "A Performance in Openness (In Three Parts) by Dudley Benson: A fifteen minute performance in response to Rita Angus: Life & Vision Sunday 1st November, 3 pm Art Lounge Corner Lorne & Khartoum Free admission, limited seating". Square White World. 13 November 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Dudley Benson's Biography". Arts Foundation of New Zealand. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Taite Music Prize 2011". IMNZ. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  8. ↑ "ニュージーランドの秘宝、アオテアロラのポップ・マエストロ、ダッドリー・ベンソンが、遂に日本デビュー" [New Zealand hidden treasure, Aotearoa pop maestro Dudley Benson finally makes his debut in Japan]. Tower Records Japan (in Japanese). 10 July 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  9. ↑ Downes, Siobhan (12 November 2020). "Try something new: The best new things to do in Dunedin". Stuff. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "Covid 19 Omicron: Dunedin bar Woof! celebrates 'biggest week' of the year after keeping vaccine passes". The New Zealand Herald. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Hospitality awards 'recognise achievements'". Otago Daily Times. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  12. 1 2 McAvinue, Shawn (26 March 2015). "Celebrating the return of Rupert". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Brooks, Sam (3 December 2022). "Inside Woof, the little bar that goes hard". The Spinoff. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Official Top 20 NZ Albums". Recorded Music NZ. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "The Awakening". iTunes. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne". iTunes. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Zealandia". iTunes. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "Live Series, Vol. 1". iTunes. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "Deforestation". iTunes. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  20. ↑ Olds, Jeremy (7 June 2015). "Dudley Benson: the musician with a vision". Stuff. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Dudley Benson Returns with '(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy'". muzic.net.nz. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  22. 1 2 "VIDEO PREMIERE: 'Rutu' by Dudley Benson". Radio New Zealand. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Cook Beleaguered Remix - EP". iTunes. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  24. ↑ "Dudley Benson Shares 'We Could've Been Gods'". muzic.net.nz. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "Dudley Benson's MATARIKI REMIX EP". Fame Magazine. 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "It's Ōtepoti's Faulty". NZ On Screen. 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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