Benzo is the solo project name used by Lithuanian sound artist Richardas Norvila, who also works under the name Eshak. He begins exploring soundscapes in the early 1980s and later develops his work through a sequence of projects and collaborations.

Background

Norvila comes from Lithuania and spends a long period living abroad after travelling widely. In 1989, while living in Switzerland, he works on the improvisational project Sa-Zna. He later takes part in Internat with R. Lebedev in 1998 and Cisfinitum with E. Voronovsky in 2003.

Style and materials

His Benzo recordings draw on archival material from 1998 to 1999. The sound is built entirely from old Soviet electronic instruments, including the Alice-1377, Polivoks, Rhythm-2, Estradin-230, Elsita, Youth-21, Maestro and Lel. These instruments are central to the project’s sound and act as its conceptual basis as well as its practical source material.

Norvila describes these recordings as evoking desolate and mysterious settings, with sounds associated with rural decline, construction sites, landfill and dark basements, and with events on the margins of ordinary human life.

Other appearances

The name Benzo also appears on a track by Edot Babyy.