Ben Weaver followed up his MoB approved Paper Sky with the equally engaging The Ax in the Oak. I caught up with Ben after his recent performance in Madison at Cafe Montmartre for our continuing 5 Questions with Muzzle of Bees feature.

Could you lend some information on the recording process of The Ax In The Oak? Where and how was it recorded, and were there any lessons learned that you’ll apply towards future recording sessions?

I wrote the majority of the songs over a 2 weeks stay in Berlin. What I wrote when I was there was mostly words and basic chord/arrangements. I did this on a guitar. Then I went to Chicago and Brian and I started basic tracking the songs. We would start with a simple beat and a guitar or piano track and from there we took turns going back and forth from the live room laying down tracks in response to whatever the previous person had done. A lot of these tracks were played with real instruments and then we processed them afterwards. A lot of the things I learn from recording or creating in general are subconscious, what I mean is that it is like sharpening my instincts, and learning what does and what doesn’t work. The more stuff i make the better I think it gets, the closer it gets to it’s essence. This is something that I hope comes with me to not only the next record but every next record I make, just continuously evolving through creating things.

What lead you to your decision to join Bloodshot records?

Because they are awesome down to earth real people who understand the musical background from which I come, they see and are excited by the way I am trying interpret it. They answer the phone when I call and they do what they say they will do. I feel very lucky to be working with them.

We’re always looking to uncover new favorite artists, are there any band(s)/record(s) that you could recommend to our readers?

I have been fairly obsessed with this Horace Andy record called Dance Hall Style. Also a Doris Duke record called I’m a Looser. I have also been listening to this cellist named David Darling, and keep going to back to that Burial dude.

What is on your bookshelf at the moment? Any books you’ve read over the past year that you’d recommend?

I have been slowly reading the complete journals of Tennessee Williams. One of my favorite books of the last year was called Hotel Theory/Hotel Women by Wayne Koestenbaum.

The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?

I think it is a double edged sword. On one hand it is good to have so many different ways for people to discover new music art etc… however I cant help but feel that in a way all the accessibility desensitizes people and they wind up getting overflowed with information and stuff that they are not capable of processing or completely digesting. Clearly we no longer live in the world where you have to go to the record store at midnight on Monday to get the new record, or tape shit from the radio before its released. I think this kept a certain amount of longing present in the search and anticipation for new music. Now this longing is not as present, it’s all instant gratification. I can’t help but feel something is getting lost there. I don’t think anyone truly knows where we are heading in terms of buying, listening, viewing art. This is where the live show is so important, because you still have to buy tickets, wait a month for the show and stand in line at the door, that mystery and magic that has existed in seeing a live show can’t be replicated in anyway. In the end I think the most important thing for art and music is to allow people to connect to something as well as to each other. Whatever way that happens is fine with me, I just hope that we don’t start drinking music from a cup at some point.

Myspace: Ben Weaver
MP3: Ben Weaver – “White Snow”

Find more MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic