A Handstamp Interview with Constant Smiles

Gardening, unsuccessful stage dives, finding your voice and ‘Moonflowers’

I write lyrics. I have done for years. The longer you do it, the more misguided, cringe concepts you’ll convince yourself of. For me, it was Floriophony - a full album of songs entirely inspired by plant terminology. The worst thing you’ve ever heard? Maybe, maybe not, but with no active involvement or historical interest in botany, it didn’t belong in my hands. I guess I just liked the wordplay.

Luckily, some people are capable of bringing to life such ideas from an authentic and tasteful place. When Ben Jones isn’t gardening, he makes ponderous, emotive music for his project, New York-based Constant Smiles.

When I spoke to Ben, who connected from his apartment, I had been listening to recent single ‘Time Measured In Moonflowers’ – which features previous Handstamp guest Cassandra Jenkins – all morning.

Sat in front of a backdrop of exotic plants, Ben humoured me with some small talk, exploring my apparently unexpected interest in NBA basketball and album influences, before we moved into his Martha’s Vineyard upbringing.

Ben Jones: “Well, it was a really vibrant music community growing up, kind of based around our local record store, who would bring in really obscure bands, because the island had a ‘60s thing, you know? It had a James Taylor, Carly Simon vibe to it. There were a lot of venues to see shows, but the record store really brought in the freak scene and people that wouldn’t necessarily come there otherwise.”

Handstamp: So you were exposed to some outsider music, early on?

Ben Jones: “Yeah, looking back at that, I feel pretty lucky that I had that avenue to those artists.”

Handstamp: Do you remember the first show you ever saw?

Ben Jones: “Ever?! Wow. Not sure about ever, but at least one of the first shows was Van Halen when I was really little, with Sammy Hagar.”

Handstamp: That strikes me as a pretty intense start to the live music experience.

Ben Jones: “I was definitely like ‘what the fuck is this?!’ I remember the bass player had a bass shaped like a bottle of whiskey. It was very wild.”

Handstamp: Incredible. I suppose that didn’t necessarily inform what you’d go to see after that?

Ben Jones: “Yeah, I guess the first show that really inspired me was my best friend, Mikey. He had a band play when we were like 13 or 14, at a proper venue. I remember being like ‘how did he get up there?’ I also remember yelling at him to get his attention, because I just thought it was the coolest thing ever.”

Handstamp: Did that spring you into action, creatively?

Ben Jones: “I had been writing music, but I kept it to myself for a long time. I didn’t really do anything or tell anybody I played. Kids, like my friend Mikey, who had already put out like 10 albums by the time he was 14, had a persona going on and other people also had their whole world mapped out already, so it took me a long time to figure myself out. Everybody had really unique voices too, in a sort of Dylan way, where everybody’s voice was sort of ‘off’, so it was a lot of character, lyric-based music and I was trying to find my voice, I wanted a weird voice, you know? Eventually another friend just said to me that I could just try to sing nicely, in an Elliot Smith or Nick Drake way, sing softly and nicely.”

Handstamp: Singing softly is a skill, not everybody can do it. I do hear some Nick Drake coming out in your records, in the most positive way.

Ben Jones: “Ah, thanks. Yeah, discovering that really blew me away. So, it’s cool now to feel like I can do it now, I have the skill and confidence to do it.”

Handstamp: I can relate. I remember a time when I was really paranoid about having a plain and totally unremarkable voice. I also remember really worrying about sounding super young, even when I WAS super young. I do think having character in your voice is about 85% of the battle, more so than training it. Now that we’re fighting against artificial voices too, a unique human voice is more valued than ever. It sounds like you’ve found your voice though, do you think you’ve overcome that battle?

Ben Jones: “Well, I hope so. I could still be going through it but I’m happy with where I’m at.”

Handstamp: When did you move to New York?

Ben Jones: “10 years ago.”

Handstamp: Was that a music decision?

Ben Jones: “Yeah, basically. I went to college in Chicago and that’s where I got really deep into it. We started playing as an experimental band, me with my friends Walter and Emma. Then we’d have different people in the band at every show, the band name would change for every show, but always have ‘Constant’ in it. Then it wasn’t until college, when I was living alone in Chicago, where I found a drum sound on a four-track that I liked and it became the first Constant Smiles record. I just felt like the songs lined up to where I had found something that was really mine, something I was proud of.”

Handstamp: Where would you see live shows in Chicago?

Ben Jones: “The Empty Bottle. It’s kind of like Union Pool in New York, where it would always be a good show, even if you didn’t know the artist. Also, Permanent Records, the label’s store, they would put on free in-stores that were so good. That was really inspiring and there scene was really cool, it still is. They also put out great mix-tapes, they were doing something really special.”

Handstamp: Any other standout shows in Chicago, during your time there?

Ben Jones: “I remember one of my favourite shows in Chicago was Ariel Pink at the Empty Bottle. It was before he was on 4AD, I just remember during the very first song, he staged dived and nobody caught him. There wasn’t really anyone in the audience and he just fell right onto his face.”

Handstamp: Wow, that is like a caricature of a bad gig moment..

Ben Jones: “Yeah, but he knew nobody was going to catch him. He went for it, landed on his face and kept singing on the ground. He was saying he may have broken a rib and then slowly crawled back on stage, singing and eating French fries, while singing. I remember, as a 20-year-old, thinking it was the sickest thing I’d ever seen.”

Handstamp: It sounds like a trip. When you moved to New York, did you have a community of musicians around you, right away?

Ben Jones: “I had to build one, which took me a while, both in Chicago and New York. I’m such a home recorder, so I’m comfortable isolating, meaning it takes me a while to find my people. My friend Blaze, who plays in the band Bambara, was one of my early friends and he played with us and Spike, my bass player, who is on this record and I grew up with. We played together a lot.”

Handstamp: So, you were the guy named Ben, hanging around guys named Blaze and Spike? They sound like gang names in a film from the ‘80s.

Ben Jones: “[laughs] Yeah, they’re badass.”

Handstamp: Can you name some of the New York shows that have impacted you?

Ben Jones: “Many shows at Union Pool, which is my favourite spot. I saw Michael Hurley there. I remember I saw Nikki Sudden from Swell Maps, like three days before he died. Cassandra Jenkins had one of my favourite shows for her record release show at Bowery Ballroom, which is one of my favourite venues.”

Handstamp: That’s come up a lot. How did it come about, that you collaborated with Cassandra?

Ben Jones: “I’m a super fan and my old boss sort of connected us. The rest is history.”

Handstamp: I love her records, the last two are still in regular rotation for me. She’s a previous Handstamp guest.

Ben Jones: “Oh, cool. At the Bowery, she had three saxophone players, they did this thing where the song ended and one sax player kept going, then on the balcony behind everyone, another sax player started playing, then from the other side, a third appeared. They were all playing, walking down the stairs, then played on stage again, before kicking into the next song. It was so cool.”

Handstamp: I think the sax is one of the instruments that feels truly special, when you see somebody play it really well. Living in Martha’s Vineyard, going to Chicago, then New York, there must have been an upward trajectory of access to live music. Has that proximity to peformance influenced you, artistically?”

Ben Jones: “Definitely. That’s why I made the move. After Chicago, I actually went back home and did some gardening work for a couple of years, while also writing music. I thought the music thing was quite repetitive. It felt similar to the old things that I had written, I was pretty stagnant. So when I moved to New York, I was able to submerge myself into it and surround myself with musicians and it jumped levels, you know?”

Handstamp: So, gardening is a major passion of yours? I see the foliage in your apartment.

Ben Jones: “It is, yeah. That’s kind of the basis of the record too. We made seed packets for this record. I started gardening because the Vineyard is a place where you sort of need a trade. A lot of super wealthy people moved there, so there are a lot of local carpenters, fishermen, gardeners and landscapers. So, it was one of those things I started to do after high school, after I worked at a record store. Now it’s been enough time that I’ve realised I actually have some knowledge in that area.”

Handstamp: It’s a really cool thing to have in your locker, especially as people are increasingly in need for real things and tangible skills. Did having all that time to work in solitude afford you a chance to consume all the music you could?

Ben Jones: “That was the best thing, listening to music all day, because now I do a lot of computer work, answering emails and sometimes it’s hard to listen to music, because you’re distracted and I don’t like passively listening to music. I like to listen deeply with my headphones, working out what the guitar is doing in specific moments or whatever, try to learn from it.

Handstamp: I loved those type of jobs, when I was a teenager. Putting your headphones in and forgetting the world, it’s therapeutic. So, the record is on its way, the seed packets are ready to go, you have the vinyl next to you. How does it feel?

Ben Jones: “I love it. Working at a record store growing up, I am such a tactile person who loves to hold things like that in my hands, so it’s a dream come true.”

Handstamp: That falls in line with your love of gardening, I guess. You created something and now it’s blooming.

Ben Jones: “Yeah, the meaning of the title is based around moonflowers blooming at night, so it’s kind of exactly that. I’ve been working on music for so long, but one day at a time and not thinking about progression so much. That’s why the record feels more special, because it felt like I was finally really comfortable and confident in myself.”

Handstamp: Are you looking forward to playing the songs live?

Ben Jones: “Yeah, I’m excited to see how it feels. We have played the songs a million times, so it is nice to have something dialled in and we can just go for it, not think too much about it, you know? Maybe we’ll have a terrible show, but I don’t think so. We’ll see!”

Constant Smiles are set to release their latest album ‘Moonflowers’ on November 7^th on Felte Records. Subscribe to Handstamp Substack for future interviews, follow @itshandstamp on social media and just bloody listen to Chief Springs on your chosen platform, will you? Illustrations by the excellent Alice Bowsher.