Deru

BIO

Benjamin Wynn a.k.a. Deru is an Emmy Award-winning composer, sound designer and producer.

Deru grew up in Chicago, where his earliest influences came across the airwaves of the legendary University of Chicago radio station, WHPK. Listening to hip-hop and specifically its use of static in music, Wynn began his first forays into manipulating sound. He continued his sonic explorations at the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied synthesis, digital signal processing, acoustics, music theory and composition, and earned a Bachelor's degree in Music Technology. While at CalArts, Ben also delved into world music, studying Balinese gamelan, African drumming and hand percussion. His multi-layered musical sensibility combines hip-hop, electronic, world music and classical composition.

As Deru, Wynn has released three albums on Mush Records, Merck Records, and Neo Ouija respectively, as well as remixes and tracks for compilations on labels like Hometapes, Ghostly International, Mille Plateaux, and a ballet score for Wayne McGregor and the Paris Opera Ballet. 2015 ushers in the next phase of Deru's journey, as he partners with Friends of Friends for "1979", his most extraordinary project to date.

1979 is a concept album and sculptural object, featuring nine songs by Deru accompanied by nine short films by video artist Anthony Ciannamea, that are housed in a customized handheld video projector. The subject matter is nostalgic and emotive, focusing on common origins and shared human experiences. A limited run of the projectors will be produced, and the videos will be made publicly available through an interactive website featuring a gallery of user-submitted "memories".

2022 sees Deru prep for his third studio album with Friends of Friends entitled 'We Will Live On’. We Will Live On was made with a Disklavier (an acoustic piano outfitted with solenoids that allowed it to be digitally controlled) and custom made software to sequence it. This made the piano appear to play itself. Technology seemingly embedded with humanity.

Written with the backdrop of news about the worsening climate crisis and pandemic isolation, made themes of legacy, loneliness, helplessness, love and hope emerge. The title, We Will Live On, is meant as a question. Will we? And if so, in what way? Will this outlive me? Will technology outlive all of us?

Beauty in the face of fear. Art to fill the void. The piano playing in an empty room. The piano man nowhere to be found.

‘We Will Live On’ out October 28.

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