Ben Craven

Ben Craven is a “cinematic progressive-rock singer-songwriter” from Brisbane, Australia.
August 12 2011 sees the official launch of a progressive rock collaboration between him and renowned artist Roger Dean.

His new album, entitled “Great & Terrible Potions” is a modern day progressive rock album that has been 5 years in the making, however enlisting the assistance of Roger Dean seemed a natural progression given the heavy influences of 70’s prog-rock bands within Craven’s music.

Immersed as a toddler in the era of big prog rock, Craven taught himself guitar and keyboards and joined a series of bands.
None of them made it and none of them remotely played the kind of music that had been burned into his mainframe as a kid.
Nonetheless, the songs he wrote accumulated steadily. In 2005, Craven dispensed entirely with the band approach and recorded his debut album, "Two False Idols" under the name of Tunisia.
The result was a work of incredible maturity, with influences ranging from Pink Floyd and Brian Wilson to the likes of Bernard Herrmann and John Barry.
As Craven worked the album it became painfully obvious that the music business was in the midst of  a sea change, and most of the old guard didn’t seem to realise they were the cause.
Very quickly he took an anti-DRM stance and released the live acoustic EP "Under Deconstruction" as a  free download from his homepage.
Craven has now stepped up a gear for his sophomore album, "Great & Terrible Potions2. Delivering on the cinematic promise of Two False Idols, Potions goes widescreen (literally) as Craven blurs the boundaries between conventional songs and orchestral soundtracks. Augmented by a stunning cover designed by legendary artist Roger Dean (Yes, Uriah Heep, Asia), Potions is dense, complicated and unashamedly pretentious – everything a good prog rock album should be!

Or, to put it another way, Craven sounds exactly like someone revelling in the creative freedom that can come only from not worrying about what others want, and delivering what he feels instead.
Or, to say it in his own words: "If Pink Floyd had recorded the soundtrack for Star Wars, it might sound something like my new album."

http://bencraven.com