BGS 5+5: Benjamin Dakota Rogers

Artist: Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Hometown: Brantford, Ontario
Latest Album: Paint Horse

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Right now, I’m listening to the new Tyler Childers record a lot and it’s starting to warm up so I’ve been out at the smoker a few times a week. So I’d probably say Tyler Childers and a brisket this week.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I live out on a little farm and spend most of my days outside, if I’m not in the studio. Lots of long walks through the fields and the little woods bordering them. I do a lot of foraging for mushrooms and herbs out there, bonfires most nights with friends and my brother. It’s where I do most of my writing. Being surrounded by the outdoors finds its way into most of my songs, mostly through imagery.

What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?

I think the best advice I’ve been given so far is that it’s more important to be constantly creating and writing new material and growing as an artist than it is to chase perfection in one song or one album. I try to create, release, move on, to keep things feeling fresh.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

I do a lot of reading, mostly old books, lots of 1800s fairy tales and old Westerns. I think the more I read, the more I write, so I try to keep things circulating.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

I think about 50% of the songs are personal and 50% are stories. I’ve always liked creating characters based off of the people around me and writing them stories, I think that’s why there are so many names in my songs. But I think it’s no more hiding than a book author hides behind their characters. It’s all just storytelling.

Photo Credit: Colin Medley