The Amsterdam musician and visual artist Bby Eco (Joris Benjamins) is making a soundtrack for the sky. Operating as a vessel for interpreting and expressing the hidden treasures of the natural world, he gathers field recordings and folds them into his songs. The artist shapes his tracks with a sensitivity to nature and a deep curiosity for sound. He calls it eco-pop: a space where new worlds emerge and feelings take root. His recent album, Grow!, pulls from his own life and creative impulses, finding a balance between tension and tenderness. Recently, I hit up Bby Eco, where I asked him about the scene in Amsterdam, what he’s up to besides making music, his interest in psychedelic rock, and more. Read the interview, and listen to his new double single Fi ⋰ Sol, below.

How would you describe the music you´re making these days?

Bby Eco: Sky music.

What does the term eco-pop mean to you?

Haha, I coined it … Because I think my music is made for anyone (pop), with Bby Eco sound. 

When you are out doing field recordings, what are you searching for?

Memories of the world.

Talk to us about the music scene in Amsterdam.

Although it's relatively small, I think there's a lot of space to make your dreams reality, wherein many micro influences meet each other with a strong community. My friends do amazing things with Seedlink⁺ (and in Tokyo too). I also think that corecore and Vereniging van Horen Zeggen make very exciting nights to go to. I host events with O2c sometimes, with an emphasis on live performance and play. 

I read in a past interview that you grew up listening to a lot of sixties and seventies psychedelic music. Who are your three favorite artists or bands from that era?

Haha, yes true. Definitely way too much Jimi Hendrix when I was young. Also one of my favorite songs from that time is “The Sky Children” by Kaleidoscope, beautifully weary and hypnotic. The feeling of psychedelic music has quite impacted my music as well. I like the imaginative approach to sound as it broadens storytelling in songs and animates the lyrics a lot too. It creates a lightheartedness that still allows for fierceness and melancholy at the same time. Also to me, this idea of the psychedelic trip or journey very much extends to ambient music and classical composition as well. A perfect symbiose of those, that is very dear to me, is Peter Michael Hamel. Let it play.

What is your preferred DAW to make music on, and why?

I only really know Ableton, but it makes my eyes go a bit blurry sometimes. Best to close them and listen. 

What have you been listening to lately?

Nav Katze, Wondha Mountain, Sun Electric, a fungus ... So many good musics. When I was recording Fi ⋰ Sol I was listening to 48 Variations For Piano by John Mcguire a lot, it has the same effect on me as listening to a waterfall. Free flowing, constant yet ever changing.

What are you up to when you´re not making music?

I've been out filming a lot this year . . . Most recently in Skye, Scotland with Finn Rabbitt Dove. We were wild camping there for four days and going crazy exploring and capturing these primeval landscapes. Finn and I met in Japan when I was touring there in 2023 and through him I also met Junpey, who shot the new video for ''Fi'' with me in Tokyo. He's the goat. I also like cooking a lot.