Ethereal layers of spacious, soul-drenched indie-pop – that is the craft of singer-songwriter BANFF. Benjamin Forbes the former front-man of Brisbane group Little Casino, stepped away from the band environment mid-2014 with a thirst to explore new songwriting ground, something he has achieved in spades with his debut EP ‘Future Self’.

The BANFF story began on a train from Vancouver to Banff, Canada, an 18 year old Forbes with a mini travel guitar in hand: “I wrote my first song as we approached Banff, so that town brings back great writing memories for me” says Forbes. “When I started the project, I really wanted to reflect on what it meant to me as a writer and an artist, and that affiliation with Banff the town really reminded me of why I became a songwriter and what music means to me.”
Full of inspiration for his new project, Forbes packed his bags mid 2014 and flew south to collaborate with Tom Iansek (Big Scary / #1 Dad’s) at Big Scary’s Mixed Business studio in Melbourne. The sessions delivered a delicate and dutifully honest collection of tracks, with the result being BANFF’s debut EP ‘Future Self’. “The writing and recording process was really about getting back to basics, becoming a better songwriter and reflecting on past experiences in music and life in general to capture a moment where there was a bit more clarity” notes Forbes, “[the EP] comes from a very genuine and authentic place”. With recurring themes of frustration and celebration, “a push-pull sort of effect”, ‘Future Self’ is a confident but delicate mix of tracks, revealing BANFF as a rising new Australian talent.