Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Burke.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as a reader and a TV channel surfer when I was younger, getting up early and watching stuff I recorded onto the DVR. Mainly anything involving dinosaurs and creatures. That has guided me throughout my life as an artist, an urge to understand the natural world and how it connects to humanity. And as I continued to read, watch, and create I began to learn the skills needed to create my videos and my soundscapes.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a smoother road than many artists who have inspired me. I think any artist’s journey tends to be slightly bumpy. I am grateful to have supportive parents and family members who have invested in and helped me in my growth as an artist. Some struggles are the influence of others and the mental blocks that places like the internet can put on you. The search for originality and trying not to be generic is the never-ending quest that I have been put on, a massive weight on my shoulders. I’d also say my struggles with getting roped into hateful and isolating political ideologies held me back when I was an early teenager; the influences of trying to “own” and prove to others that my side was better caused my art to suffer. While I love the stories I made during that time, it impacted me, and I am still processing it to this day. Another is the trap of trying to make many things at once, trying to make as much as you can to fill up your page with as many thumbnails and videos as possible, another internet hurdle. I am still growing and trying to figure myself out as an artist, I am trying to get over the mental blocks that I have formed for myself and destroying the quality-over-quantity mentality.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a sound designer and stop-motion animator, and my field of study is sound design and mixing. My hobby and preferred visual art medium is stop-motion. I have taken a few stop-motion classes, but I am not going to school for anything like that. It was my gateway into filmmaking and sound design, but it isn’t my career path. I am mainly known for my stop-motion over most other things; that is what I post on my Instagram, YouTube, etc. Now that I am more into the sound department at SCAD, I am known for mixing and sound designing animations and live-action works. I’d say since coming to college, I have tried to incorporate any kind of stop-motion that I can in my classes and projects, but since joining the sound department, I have had to put my animations a little on the back burner. But I still work on personal work and use it as practice for sound mixes and other sound-related things. I think that I am most proud of my stop-motion works and the sound design skills that I have developed throughout my time in college. It’s such a humbling feeling to see my old stop-motion and sound mixes and see how much I’ve improved! And I don’t know what sets me apart from others other than my love for sci-fi, history, and the natural world, using those passions and interests to influence my work in sound and animation.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The easiest way to work with me is to contact me and show me your skills! I’d love to have animators and sound designers collaborate with me. I often work with 2D animators, sound designers, and musicians. I can’t do everything myself, and I am always open to people collaborating with me. Please reach out on my Instagram or YouTube for any collabs!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ben-burke.my.canva.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somebenguy/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-burke-burke-13a6aa155/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SomeBenGuy
