Interview: Ben Silver (Orchard Lounge) Performing March 8th at Putnam Place -By: Rob Smittix

BS: Hey Rob, I like silly questions! I am doing well. I live in Wisconsin, and I am trying to make sense of this winter.  It has been in the 70s, which does not feel like a good old Midwestern winter.  Often, when I am on the East coast, people will say “Wisconsin? Isn’t it freezing there?” No. It’s not that cold.  Honestly, it doesn’t seem cold at all. I was hot today! Lol.  I actually would have preferred cold and snow for a bit longer though, so the warm weather feels even better once it arrives.  I’ve been fairly mellow though, my work slows down in the winter. I’ve been listening to a lot of music, podcasts, and checking out the shows. I also absolutely love stand-up comedy and listening to the comedy stations on XM on my drives.

RRX: We are very excited to have you come up to Saratoga Springs and Putnam Place on March 8th. What can we expect from a Ben Silver performance these days, besides the unexpected?

BS: You ever see videos of DJs on social media that look like they are just jumping up and down in front of explosions? Well, you won’t be getting that lol.  What you can expect is the unexpected, because my biggest goal is to play a long set of music where people might not really recognize any of it.  House, techno, downtempo, jazz, rap, funk, world music…I’m open to anything. I get a kick out of trying to cover as many bases as possible in one set. I’m into a lot of different styles of music, so it’s fun to try to include elements of the other stuff I dig. I love Saratoga Springs and I am looking forward to Friday.  Overall, I am just happy to play music for people looking to let loose on a Friday night.

RRX: I’ve been a DJ for almost three decades on the radio but I’m not what you would call a performing DJ. There’s definitely a huge difference. How would you describe the difference between what someone like myself does (front and back sell songs) and what you do to entertain the audience?

BS: I love and respect that. Growing up, I listened to the radio constantly, and then I worked in radio for a little bit. I also  had a radio show on the air for about a year and had an absolute blast doing it. Being on the air and DJing for a live audience both have a similar goal of turning people on to new sounds they may not have heard. When you are passionate about an artist or a song, sometimes you just want to tell somebody else about it because you feel they may also enjoy this song that brings you joy. Or, they could hate it and change the station. You never know, but it’s fun to spread the music that you feel a certain way about.

RRX: I’ve listened to you and Orchard Lounge and you really know how to capture a person’s imagination. Your mixes have brought me to places (dare I say realms) that I didn’t know existed in my mind. So first off thank you for that and secondly is that  really your goal with the music or am I just approaching this with psychedelic eyes?

BS: That is awesome. I am glad we were able to make you think. The goal with mixes has always been to use the sounds to tell a story. I rarely play anything with vocals, so it’s the tones and textures that convey the mood.  I was just at the gym earlier today, and I was listening on random and when a song was a funky acid type track I was bouncing between machines with a light, energetic, vibe. Then, if the next track was more atmospheric with a lot of deep, low tones, it caused me to feel more introspective and move much slower. That would also cause me to space out while thinking about something random and surely lift a lot less lol.

RRX: Lastly and perhaps most importantly (lol). Do you believe in aliens? Why or why not?

BS: Oh, I 100% believe in aliens. I mean, we may not know what is out there, but it’s crazy to say there ISN’T anything else out there. The universe is far too vast, it seems like it would be impossible for there not to be life somewhere else far far away from here. With the James Webb Telescope they are discovering more and more Earth-like planets that could host life. The part that is hard to wrap my head around is the time it would take to actually reach these places.  It would take 100s of thousands, or millions, or billions of years to travel there, or for something to come here. But who knows, maybe there is something out there with much more advanced forms of travel that we can’t even comprehend. Imagine technology on a planet if it already had life for billions of years. Anything is possible. It has been very interesting over the last handful of years how the Navy has released videos they are unable to explain. If you haven’t seen the “Jellyfish UAP” video, definitely check it out lol.