By Scout Nicholson / The Jambar
Youngstown-based artist Ben Burbrink released his new album, “New York’s Favorite Darling,” on Aug. 21 — an album that he describes as a “teenage, cinematic and post-apocalyptic record.”
At 21 years old, Burbrink has already been creating music for eight years. He said as a kid, his father introduced him to the Rolling Stones, which kickstarted his interest in music.
“Mick Jagger was kind of what got me into music, but really I would say it was Nirvana … Seeing how [Kurt Cobain] went about his songs was very refreshing to see,” Burbrink said.
When Burbrink was 16 years old, he was part of a band called Cherry Lime, where he said he got his first taste of bandlife. After the band broke up, he became a solo artist and moved on to creating instrumental music.
“It was so challenging to me when I first started out because I didn’t know anything about instrumental music … It was overwhelming, but going into instrumental music allowed me to enjoy the quality of art that I was consuming,” Burbrink said.
Burbrink’s new album has a total runtime of 51 minutes and 12 songs, with titles such as “Kill Me Girl” and “nail salon.”
Burbrink said the album tells the story of his last two years as a teenager, where he was influenced by his experiences.
“Everything is very personal on this record. I kind of aired my dirty laundry out in a way that nobody sane would ever think to do,” Burbrink said.
The creation of this album occurred in different locations and times. Burbrink said about half of the songs were old songs from his past musical experiences — with some dating back to 2022.
“I basically tried to make this record three or four times over the last five years, and I never got it to where I really liked it … Eventually, I had so many takes that I decided, ‘We’ll just use them for the new record,’” Burbrink said.
About half of the recordings took place in his friend’s studio on the West side of Youngstown. The rest were recorded in a variety of cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Columbus.
Burbrink said he already has plans for his next album, which has yet to be revealed.
“This next record is going to be very different. It won’t probably come out for another year or two,” Burbrink said.
Burbrink will be performing in the Mahoning Valley on Nov. 22 at the Wickyards. His music is also available on Spotify and Apple Music.
