Colin Benders
Dutch musician and founding member of The Kyteman Orchestra.
Colin Benders (born 5 December 1986) is a Dutch musician best known for his techno music. He is a founding member of The Kyteman Orchestra.
Quick Facts
- Alias
- Kyteman
- Born
- 5 December 1986
- Birthplace
- Utrecht, Netherlands
- Genre
- techno
- electro
- hip-hop
- jazz
- Occupation
- conductor, live electronic performer
- Instrument
- Modular synthesizer
- trumpet
- bugle
- piano
- Associated acts
- The Kyteman Orchestra, Kyteman's Hiphop Orchestra
Facts from the source article.
Childhood
Benders grew up in Sterrenwijk, Utrecht. Primary school was difficult due to diagnoses including ADHD. At age eight he transferred to the Kathedrale Koorschool Utrecht, where he developed his musical talents. He served as precentor of the choir for an extended period but stopped singing at fifteen. After primary school, he attended the Secondary school for Young Talents, linked to the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, specializing as a trumpet player. The Royal Conservatory granted him special permission to attend, but he dropped out after two years.
Career
At eighteen, Benders moved to another part of Utrecht. He spent three years writing and recording his debut album The Hermit Sessions, completed in 2009. He then toured Europe with Kyteman's Hiphop Orchestra. He has played and toured with Krezip, Voicst, Wouter Hamel, and C-mon & Kypski. In October 2010, he performed two songs with Sting: Desert Rose and All Would Envy. Around 2012 he reduced his involvement with The Kyteman Orchestra to focus on electronic instruments. After the orchestra disbanded, he became an electro and techno artist, publishing online sessions and occasionally doing daily live streams during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. He uses a modular synthesizer for live techno.
Albums
In 2009, Colin Benders released The Hermit Sessions, an album blending hip-hop and jazz with tender melodies and raw beats. It became a major success in the Netherlands, reaching the top five on the national album chart, selling more than 75,000 copies, and staying on the chart for over two years. The record also swept all major Dutch music awards. Benders later formed the Kyteman Orchestra, an 18-member hip-hop group that includes opera singers and a choir. He described their sound as a mix of opera, hip-hop, drum & bass, electro, minimalism, and other genres. The orchestra performed at Dutch festivals like North Sea Jazz and Lowlands.
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