We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Benzo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Benzo thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was moving to Los Angeles to pursue music, modeling & acting. I was living in Louisville, Kentucky, my hometown; after just finishing college. My life was becoming more & more complacent with each week that passed by. I had a few friends of mine tell me that I should start modeling but I never really gave it a second thought. Until one night at the two in the morning, I felt fed up with the stagnant feeling in my life so I decided to see what I could do. I googled, “LA Modeling Agencies” and began going to each one & submitting myself to be scouted. A few days later, I got a email asking to see my book, portfolio or any professional pictures I’ve had taken. I had none. So they were like well, we can’t sign you unless we know how you move & photograph. They said, come to LA, Miami, New York or Chicago and we can set up a shoot for you. The next day I booked my flight to LA, flew there, did the shoot, got signed and went back home to pack my things. Drove to LA from Kentucky for 34 hours without stopping. Agencies sometimes provide something called a ‘model apartment’, where they give models a temporary place to stay while they’re in town. I was in a 2 bedroom apartment with 5 other guys who were from different countries, in a fast-paced city I’ve never explored, with no friends or family. Mentally, I was extremely driven & let me tell you, it was a grind! Constant stimulation, constant temptations, constant distractions; it was such a lonely time. Fast forward 3 years of grinding & never forsaking myself; I am now making music, modeling and exploring all my passions full time so I’d definitely say it was a risk well taken. If I could change anything, it would be to take that risk sooner.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a music artist, songwriter, model and actor by the name of benzo. The “b” in benzo is always lowercase because I’ve always found an insignificance in names and more in the experience itself… Maybe I’m just rebellious in nature; that’s probably more likely (haha). I first started diving into my industry around 2018 when I moved to Los Angeles after signing to Two Management, a modeling agency. Soon after, through networking and meeting lots of new people I began commercials, and finally, music.

At first, I was making straight forward Rap music but I started to branch off into something that felt more… fulfilling to me. I like to call the style Dark Pop but Emo Trap also fits. After awhile, I started gaining confidence in my songwriting ability and I think that along with just being myself, being vulnerable is what sets me apart. I really enjoy just saying how I feel. Sometimes I may seem lovestruck, sometimes heartless, sometimes lost and sometimes I just like to talk my shit. Whatever feels right. No matter what, the most important constant is that I am enjoying my creations and that I never forsake myself.

I am most proud that I am truly falling into a space that I feel confident, authentic and I feel is a safe space for anyone. I think humans are interesting. I think emotions are hard to understand. I think life is weird. It’s like a weird mirage of contradictions which is why we often struggle emotionally and change our minds so frequently. That’s why I think the experience is so important to me because in the end, that is what we remember; that’s what remains. If you enjoy my music, my modeling or maybe just me as a human being, just know that it’s okay to be you. Obviously, we should always be working to better ourselves and change for the better but try not to lose yourself in the madness. This is a safe space of vulnerabilities, mistakes, lessons, triumphs, mysteries, diversity and most importantly, kindness. It is one of the only things that has gotten me this far and never seems to get old.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think being actively engaged is one of the best ways to support artists and creatives. It’s the one thing I believe everyone can offer and will universally help any creative. Creatives are often emotionally fickle. Always critiquing, always wondering what if, always falling into a rabbit hole of doubt and always curious. We want to know what people are thinking. We want to know if we inspire or if our words have reached the hearts of others.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Honestly, this is a hard one for me because it is one of the contradictions in life that I mentioned before. I had a pivot in life when I stopped relying on the promises of others. The reason why I think it’s a contradiction is because you achieve much more when you have a strong team that is on the same wavelength as you. For me, at a foundationally level, I guess I wasn’t in a place where I could yet rely on people. So one day I told myself, “Alright, that’s enough, I’ve been disappointed one too many times. I’ve wasted too much time and I’ve lost all sight of progression. I will no longer do anything I don’t want to do and I will start taking all matters in to my own hands.” That’s what I did. I started grinding. In my head, others couldn’t be trusted with my dreams, with my visions because they didn’t have anything at stake — they didn’t have the same attachment. That’s when I started to thrive like never before.

That is also when I started to attract others who no longer disappointed me. The dream of having a team that I could have fun with and rely on started to take root. I found my engineer & vocal producer, AMAC, who helped take me to the next level in sound and artistry. I found one of the main producers I work with, Malloy. I found a dope DP in Knight Visions. I’m still looking for management and a visual director but I’m certain those will come at the right time.

Contact Info:

• Website: thebenzoeffect.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benzotheking/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/benzotheking
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/benzotheking
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Fq6NZTFj8SuDoIVTxBVvF?si=z9xOH70CTxC5WezaG1995w

Image Credits
Jeremy David Marco Roman Savanna Ruedy Shelby Lee