bench sailor

bench sailing is a sport

bench sailor is Michael William Moynihan Jr.’s signature solo project. On all bench sailor recordings, Moynihan writes and performs all the instruments and parts. Moynihan also currently mixes and masters all bench sailor recordings.

bench sailor was born out of Moynihan’s desire to incorporate all of his musical influences into one steaming stew of musical apotheosis. bench sailor combines a long list of styles including grunge, alternative, electro, house, funk, jazz, classical, and folk. Artists that have notably influenced bench sailor are Ariel Pink, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, David Bowie, Remi Wolf, Neil Young, and Migos.

bench sailor has released eight full length albums: Waste Love, Sunsets, Sunrises, Dew, Vision, Prism, Happiness, and Now What?

Please enjoy this complimentary preview of the song “Quivering Bushes” from Prism!

bench sailor on prism:

The title refers to my view of myself as an artist. I feel that I am something like a prism; all my life experiences are like the light that shines into my soul, my soul is like the prism which processes and refracts the experiences, and the art that comes out is like the rainbow rays of the light spectrum that shine out of the prism. On Prism, I was inspired to "let it flow," to simply allow the prismatic mechanism of my soul to do its job, and to not judge the music that came out. On the album, you can hear the entire spectrum of musical colors, from the oranges and silvers of "Too Much Drama (in the OP)," to the bright yellows and greens of "The More I Try," to the lavender and grey of "Quivering Bushes."

As with the past four bench sailor albums, I wrote, performed, mixed and mastered all the songs and parts! I thoroughly enjoyed playing a variety of instruments on Prism, including bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, synth, sax, clarinet, and flute. What's more, the songwriting and singing process has been incredibly rewarding.

Stay tuned for updates on the release of Prism, coming soon on April 12!