IN CONVERSATION WITH: BEN KIDSON

If you dropped an alien on earth and wanted to try and explain what dating in 2026 was like, all you would have to do is play them Ben Kidson’s music.

With lyrics that are cutthroat yet comedic; sincere yet spiteful; and slick yet silly, Ben Kidson’s unpolished version of modern life is what makes him oh so relatable.

From his latest single ‘Fine’ to recent EP ‘Somewhere Between Asleep and Awake’ he paints a picture of British awkwardness so beautifully it should be hung in the Louvre; and delivers it with the vibe of a poster on the back of the pub toilets.

When a video of him singing along to his song ‘Shiver’ on the tube made its way onto our feed a few months ago, it caught our eye, and we haven’t been able to stop listening since.

Last week we met with Ben backstage in Manchester, where he was supporting young Young The Giant (and dreaming of Bada Bing Sandwiches). Despite clutching a bottle of Covonia and suffering with post-surgery Laryngitis he kindly used some of his non-vocal rest time to have a chat with us, here’s how it went down.

So, Ben, you’ve just played Amber’s, one of Manchester’s newest venues, how was it?

It was great, it was such a great crowd! I’m from London, but you always get better crowds here. Everybody lets go a bit more. Maybe its cause there’s so many people in London; it’s a bit more … (mimes being squashed).

We’re not filming so no one can see what I’m doing but sometimes in London we’re all squashed in like sardines whereas here people seem to move a lot more.

I love crowds in Manchester and the North in general - they are receptive a lot more quickly.

I’m going through some crazy larynx stuff at the moment, so we weren’t even sure if we would be able to do it. So it was really reassuring to see everyone here, it was wicked.

You have a very unique stage presence, which at times feels like a comedy show, is that intentional?

I think that’s just what I’m like. It’s just awkward off the top of my head stuff. (laughing)

Sometimes it doesn’t land though. I think it’s quite a British sense of humour. We did a show opening for Hitsujibungaku who are a Japanese band, so the crowd was largely Japanese; my stage chat hits completely differently when it is met with complete silence.

You released your EP ‘Somewhere Between Asleep and Awake’ earlier this year, can you tell us a bit about it?

Yes, so weirdly Spotify has it down as an album but it’s not, it’s definitely an EP. Although it is quite long for an EP, I just kept writing songs that I really liked and was like: “That needs to go on the EP and so does that.”

So it’s a collection of songs that I wrote while I was going through a particular time in my life.

A lot of people express themselves in different ways, but I guess – maybe because of where I’m from, I dunno – but I often will use humour as a tool to get my emotions out. I suppose I’m hiding thinly veiled emotions behind an even thinner veil of humour.

I wanted it to be funny without it being a stand-up. It needed to be funny but also sincere, with jokes in it just because that’s how I am as a person.

I hear a lot of music that’s really heart-on-your-sleeve emotional, and I think that can be a good thing but sometimes it’s too much, because that’s not how people REALLY are.

People do use humour when they’re hurt to try and deflect it, and I wanted to try and explore those kinds of emotions.

Definitely, it perfectly explores the emotional rollercoaster of a breakup and doesn’t hide the messiness, which is refreshing.

Yes exactly. I think sometimes when people write songs, they write themselves perfect – “You hurt me I didn’t do anything wrong”- when that’s not the case. It’s like yes, I was also a dick in that relationship at times. I fucked up too. It doesn’t mean that you’re innocent either, but if you write yourself perfect you aren’t being honest.

I think when you can admit your own mistakes, you can find sincerity and real storytelling, which is what I wanted to capture on this EP.

You released your track ‘Fine’ earlier this month, which wasn’t on the EP. was there a reason for leaving it off?

We did a song called ‘Life’s Relentless’ with Good Health Good Wealth a few months ago, and we hadn’t released anything for a while.

And I’m currently working on something where I’m trying to be a bit more artistic. The last batch of songs were so social media centric – it was about writing loads of stuff, teasing it, and then dropping it. And that worked really well - like we sold out the 100 Club in London which was amazing.

Through that, we’ve built our own little corner, which I really love. But I wanted to give the people who are listening now something which is a bit more thought-out, I guess. It’s about wanting to explore further without just racing to get the next song out that we can use on social media.

So, I started putting those songs together - but it’s quite addictive. (Laughing)

Then I teased ‘Fine’ and it got like 15x more attention than we usually get. So I basically fucked it, and I had to release it cause everybody had already seen it.

Can you tell us a bit more about the new sound of the track?

For me, ‘Fine’ is the first song in this new exploration of musicality and art. I love doing the more ‘Johnny on the street’ style stuff like ‘Mortified’, but I’m not The Streets, I’m not Mike Skinner.

I want to make something that’s... it’s hard to describe but maybe a bit more earnest, and poppy for sure. I love pop music and was a pop writer for ages before anything took off for me.

I think ‘Fine’ is a bit more musical and fashion conscious than my other music. I am really into fashion, and I don’t think that always comes across in my songs. I really like the idea of building a world, and ‘Fine’ was my first go at doing that. – And I teased it cause I can’t fucking help myself.

It’s a bookend to the old stuff and then the new chapter begins.

Can we expect to hear the rest of the songs soon then?

Noooo! I’ve got two songs finished. ‘Fine’ will be on there… awkwardly waaay before anything else. Then there’s another song called ‘I Don’t Wonna Be Friends’, which we played at the headline. I would imagine that’s gonna come out early next year.

But I do have a song coming out that I made with two of my mates, who are in a band called Kids In America. I’ve got a verse on their song.

I’ll also be putting out a cover which I’ve been playing live.

Speaking of social media, you’ve been filming yourself on the tube for your music videos, what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever tried to film something?

An aeroplane bathroom, but that’s not that interesting. What was funny about it though is that it was way too close so I couldn’t get myself in the frame.

When I film on the tube I usually only do it when the carriage is empty. – I have too much shame not too. I just put my phone down and usually people don’t even notice cause I don’t actually sing out loud.

But I do have a recurring nightmare that somebody films me making the video and THAT goes viral. Which would be the end of my life as I know it.

A lot of your songs are about dating and relationships, what do you think the problem is with modern dating?

I don’t know if it’s the same up here, but in London you’re just constantly racing to get to the next thing. Because everything is so expensive, you’ve always got one eye on how much money you’re making. And I think in my case, doing music, it’s really difficult to find someone who respects that… like I haven’t got any fucking money (laughing).

And to get any I have to really chase it which requires a lot of work. I think that’s one of the hardest things at the moment, that so many people don’t have a work/life balance that allows them to date the same way people did years ago.

So I’d say, dating today needs us all to let go a bit and take a night off properly. Don’t be on your emails or whatever, cause I’m terrible for that.

On the subject of love, what’s the first album that you ever fell in love with?

I got three albums at the same time; I nicked them from my mate’s sister’s bedroom. She wasn’t there by the way – we we’re having a sleep over and I think the pull-out bed was in there or something.

It was ‘Song About Jane’ by Maroon 5, American Idiot by Green Day and Encore by Eminem – which is a real era right there. I’ve also just realized just now that if you condense those three albums you basically get my music.

My favourite album of those would have to be American Idiot. I think I know all of the words to every single song on that album, even the ridiculous 8 minute long ones. It’s 3 chords, good melodies, and loads of energy, which I really liked.

As we are called Pass It On, we ask all of our artists to pass a question on to the next artist.

Your question is from Maiden Races. They asked: “Why are you still doing this?”

God what a question! I nearly didn’t.

I really had that moment where I was like “fuck, this isn’t going to happen”.

 The reason I’m still doing this is because right at the last minute, a bunch of people turned around and said they liked my music on social media. And they kind of saved me from maybe becoming a lawyer.

I had found fans who liked me, and I finally started to believe I wasn’t insane for wanting to do it. That’s why I’m still doing this now, because I keep meeting them and they’re all fucking great.

Anything you want to shout out before we go?

You’re a Manchester based magazine right? Bada Bing Sandwiches, they’re soooo good. Every time we come through here we try and make time for Bada Bing.

Catch Ben Live this month:

17th October - Sŵn Festival Cardiff

22 -23rd October - Left of the Dial - Rotterdam

24th October - Mutations Festival - Brighton

To keep up to date with Ben Kidson, check out his Instagram.