WA singer songwriter Ben Catley has released his new single Strong Hands, and is celebrating the launch with a show at The River, Margaret River on Saturday, July 31. It becomes second of two tracks this year featuring the voice of the legendary “Ice Man” Wim Hof, who has become hugely famous around the globe for his breath-work and ice bath teachings.
It’s not first time Catley has sampled Wim Hof, having done so previously with his single Run earlier this year. “I was experimenting with a track and randomly tried sampling Wim Hof’s voice from his breathing exercise,” Catley said. “I couldn’t believe how well his voice worked both sonically and conceptually with the songs, so I ended up creating these two tracks. And I was fortunate enough to get permission from Wim and his management to release them. Which still feels crazy, considering how bloody famous and respected he is. I’m very grateful.”
Ben Catley is looking forward to taking these new tunes to the stage. “Both these tracks featuring Wim are re-works of existing releases of mine, Strong Hands and Run. So on stage I perform the original versions – which are two of my favourites to play. I’ve thought about trying to make the voice samples work in my live show, but I think it might take away from the more raw kind of energy I like to create on stage.”
Ben Catley will be sharing the stage on Saturday night with Si Mullumby, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s best didgeridoo/yidaki players. Well-renowned as a member of the band Wild Marmalade, Mullumby will bring his wildly energetic solo show to the stage, packed with percussion, didge, guitar and flute.
Ben Catley said while we can still look forward to new music from him in the future, he is taking a new direction with his songwriting from here. “There’s new music in the pipeline, but I’m closing the chapter on these sample-driven tracks, for now,” he said. “I’m back in the studio at the moment recording some new material. It’s quite focused on percussive/tapping acoustic guitar playing, with more story-telling kind of songwriting. It’s feeling really refreshing!”
Ben Catley’s new single Strong Hands ft Wim Hof is out Friday, July 30. Ben Catley hits The River, Margaret River on Saturday, July 31. For more info and to buy tickets head to the Facebook event page.
