Benji Heinke
Info
Born in Somerset in 1995, Benji Heinke began his music career professionally in 2017 after graduating from Winchester School of Art with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, specialising in painting and printmaking (under Stephen Cooper). His debut album, Benji Heinke (2018), was a concept record structured like a diary, with songs appearing in the order they were written. The album, rooted in 1960s jangle pop and lo-fi production, explored personal struggles, love, and the challenges of adulthood. Still Life (2022) expanded on his lyrical expressionist style but replaced the clean jangle-pop sound with a more polished, rock-oriented approach, incorporating analogue synths for a modern edge. Projector (2023) pushed this further, experimenting with distorted guitars and analogue synths while lyrically capturing the fleeting nature of moments. Its Pop Art-inspired artwork reflected Cold War-era iconography. Movement (2024), builds on Projector but leans into early 1980s synth and guitar aesthetics with a sci-fi pop twist, thematically addressing isolation and distance. The album's digital collage artwork mirrors its cosmic themes.
Detergent (2025) is the fifth album from Heinke and continues the techniques explored in 2024’s Movement. It contains only seven songs. This being said, they are concentrated reflections of roughly a year-long period of writing. Musically, the synths are more prominent; as are the drum machines and the first time use of gated reverb on the acoustic drums. Fuzz guitar is deployed sporadically to create a heavier rock sound in parts. Lyrically, the words range from the abstract to the literal – a hybrid approach to discussing personally influenced narratives. The artwork is a digital collage, inspired again by Pop Art and reflecting consumerist themes. The title of the record makes direct reference to Roland Barthes’ Mythologies essay: Soap-powders and Detergents.
Heinke’s music is deeply influenced by New Order, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, 2000s indie, and electronic music, alongside visual art movements such as Pop Art and Expressionism.
Contact: benjiheinkestudio@gmail.com
@benjiheinke