Benjamin St. Babylon first emerged many years ago with his first music project "Die neuen Leiden des jungen Bertha". This first project was not meant to last long, but once he got a taste for it, he founded the band "Alice D. (from Berlin)" which caused quite a stir both inside and outside the capital. Musically rooted in German-speaking punk, it was particularly Benjamin St. Babylon who remained memorable for his often eccentric and provocative stage performances. The band existed for many years and had gained considerable recognition by the time they disbanded. After that, there was a brief silence around St. Babylon until he began giving readings alone or in pairs in pubs and small art venues. He read his own texts as well as those of others.
In parallel, he founded the band "Partyfleisch" with three members of "Alice D. (from Berlin)"; however, they have played far fewer concerts and gained much less recognition than "Alice D. (from Berlin)" did at the time.
During the following period, Benjamin experimented as a lyricist, reader, and musician.
The desire to create something of his own, perhaps even something new, led him to the hands of the industrious guitarist Tex Morton (Ex Mad Sin, Sunny Domestosz, Nitro 17, Freunde der italienischen Oper, among others) who not only taught him how to play the guitar but also currently accompanies him in his musical performances.
In addition to his musical endeavors, St. Babylon has written many of his own texts, essays, short stories, and simply thoughts on the times in recent years.
“Gedankenjazz“, Benjamin St. Babylon's first book, was already published in 2018.
"Gedankenjazz" is to be understood as a collection of writings on politics, society, punk and punk rock, love, longing, anger, and everything that comes with it.
In the 246-page book, Benjamin St. Babylon reveals much about his life. These are often personal texts that frequently show his innermost feelings, thus possessing a depth, indeed a personality, that resonates deeply. He processes his last twenty years in Berlin, his appearances with the band, his life, his existence. Despite this, it is truly not a book in which someone wrings their existential pain out over two hundred pages. Rather, it is a glimpse through a window that reveals a time that has shaped him. This is, of course, related to the author's age but also to the upheavals in Berlin that made life so fast and extraordinarily exciting after the fall of the Wall. These are texts about places that no longer exist. Places where life was lived. Places where connections were made, friends for life were found, and discussions went deep into the night. It was a world that still functioned without WhatsApp and (for the most part) without mobile phones.
In other texts, Benjamin presents himself as a keen observer of society. He highlights contradictions, probing with his finger in the wound, not violently but rather in a questioning and provocative manner. Some coarse words find their way into this book. Due to his deep aversion to Nazis and stupidity, particularly in the form of people inhabiting our planet, Benjamin can almost be led to tirades of hatred. In fact, he writes a lot of truth.
St. Babylon still has dreams; he wants a different society, a society where not everything revolves around money, power, and material things. He expresses the longing for this in lines that may sometimes sound naive, but thus also more human than some texts in expensive books that are overloaded with foreign words and elevated educational levels.
Where there is longing, love is not far behind. The love that we all seek. St. Babylon has also sought, found, and is aware of what a gift it is. The texts about this are also to be understood as a great thank you to the woman who has been by his side for many years.
"Gedankenjazz" is not a book that goes in one direction. St. Babylon offers everything he has. The book reveals the complexity of the author who is still searching.
"Gedankenjazz" is the publication of a sensitive artist that is to be understood as a complete work, to stay in the musical realm, a kind of "jam session". One does not know exactly where the journey is headed, but one would certainly like to join. The reader will learn much interesting along the way, much about themselves, about us, and about the author, Benjamin St. Babylon.
