Welcome
Read press reviews (click here) of New Full Length “The Wind Blows Way Up High”. Available at the "Merch" or iTunes tabs above.
"After several spins of the album, he appears to have made one of the better singer-songwriter albums of the year"
—Alternative.Blog.Nl 10/26/2009
“It is not the past that haunts him, but the field that lay’s open for a magnificent career.”
—Nieuwe Geluiden 10/17/2009
“New Album now available in stores from Munich records in NL, and online everywhere else....of course. You can order from the "Merch" link above. We also have new T-Shirts. I really like them and am sad i can't wear one because It is stupid to wear a shirt with your own name on it. So unless your name is Benjamin Winter, you should check it out.”
Watch new video for "Lighter Side". Produced by Element 151 in San Francisco
Again, we made up a lot of it as we went along with many of our talented friends.
I was grateful for that freedom.We snagged the amazing immagination of Caroline Pedler, who does all the artwork for Angus and Julia Stone, for our own imagery on this project. Thank you for joining us on our journey and we hope our music makes your life a little easier.
- We are happy to announce our signing with Munich Records. We're proud to be working with a very cool and group of people and to share the roster with bands such as Death Cab For Cutie and Arctic Monkeys in Benelux.
- A man almost as tall as myself, Joeri Pronk is our new bass man. Intimidating, yet soothing. Just how a bassist should be. We are really happy to have him on board as the newest member of the make believe.
- Sigh up for out email list above to get word about our tours and releases (average 3.4 emails/year)
- New full-length album "The Wind Blows Way Up High" in stores in Holland, Belgium and online everywhere from Sep.1 (USA) and Oct. 14 (Benelux)
- Keep up with the amazing work of Caroling Pedler at http://www.myspace.com/carolinepedler
Benjamin and The Make Believe
FULL BIO
For 2 decades, Benjamin Winter thought athletics would be his career. When injuries changed the football players plans in 1999, Benjamin went back to school for music and all his efforts went into writing, recording and performing. In Winter 2003, San Francisco native Benjamin left for his first solo tour through 38 US states and 9 European countries. This tour was providing much of the material that was to be his first solo release "Amber Alley And After". He almost made it home, but fell in love in Europe on the last stop of the 77 city tour. And nowhere seemed better than Amsterdam to finish the album. So he stayed and finished the songs in a snowy Amsterdam that year. It became a second home where Benjamin was quickly embraced by the Dutch Singer-Songwriter scene and formed his backing "The Make Believe" comprised of cello, drums, bass, guitars, keys and trumpet. The Make Believe in it's many manifestations holds base in San Francisco while basing Europen tours out of Amsterdam a few months/year.
The release of Benjamin's solo debut "Amber Alley And After"(2005) gained a faithful, grassroots following in America, concentrated in his home California, and Holland, and earned attention to support Arcade Fire, Donovan Frankenreiter, Angus and Julia Stone, Glen Phillips (toad the wet sprocket), & Pete Murray. Amber Alley And After was recorded with LA engineer/producer Greg Laswell. “The lyrics, though words are not always needed, are soulless for me unless I believe what I am saying. Lyrics are the part of each song that comes most naturally to me. It’s generally the part of the songs that I am most pleased with and want people to understand about the song when it is done. I try to stay disciplined in my belief that only things from the heart can reach the heart.” An EP titled "Memory and Forever" was released in a packed, sweaty theater in Amsterdam in 2006. The small collection of hooky songs received rotation on major radio stations including KFOG (SF) and 3FM in Holland.
Benjamin and The Make Believe now bring folky full-length "The Wind Blows Way Up High" accompanied by a faithful grassroots following that Benjamin has been building for the past decade and supported by a release by Munich Records .
