ZACH BENSON RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE “IHATEHIMTOO”

You know when your best friend starts dating a total whack-off and you’re just waiting for them to break up so that you can have your good sis back? That’s “ihatehimtoo”. Pop artist and producer Zach Benson delivers a yell-in-your-car, thrash-in-your-room banger perfect for anytime you need a good teenage scream.

After spending a good part of lockdown back in his hometown, Benson felt really inspired by all of his favorite melodramatic pop punk and indie records from high school. “ihatehimtoo” takes listeners straight back to the Myspace era with its cyber soundscape and pop culture influenced lyrics. Benson’s co-writer on the song, Brandon Gorman, was a former bandmate from his teenage emo band days. Benson took his Warped Tour nostalgia and general frustration from the pandemic and channeled it into this angsty anthem, out now!

What’s your story as an artist?

I was born and raised in suburban Virginia, obsessed with music & pop culture. I pretty much took every opportunity I could to perform, whether it was playing drums in local bands or doing my school musicals or finding acoustic open mics. It wasn’t until college that I started to experiment with pop music production. From there it was a slow cycle of putting out a few songs, playing a few local shows, getting more and more involved in the scene until eventually I looked up and was like “oh shit, I’m really doing this.” Now I’m putting out my own stuff, writing and producing for other people, and trying to make music creation my full time gig. I’m trying to be the gay Jack Antonoff.

What inspired this single?

At the beginning of this year I was super burnt out. Probably a combination of lockdown fatigue and seasonal depression and not knowing what to do creatively after putting out an album last year (“hopeless, romantic.”). I didn’t even open my laptop to start a song for like two months, which is rare for me. My friend Brandon Gorman, who used to be in a band with me back in high school called Wild Love (they’re still together and still the best band in the world), reached out and kind of pulled me out of my funk by trying to write new songs with me.

“ihatehimtoo” was the second song we wrote together and it unlocked this creative space in my mind that I hadn’t opened for a while. He was the one to come up with the title and concept and from there it all just spilled out. It’s all about seeing someone you love spend all their time with some asshole guy and you’re just like “um no.”

What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?

All of my older songs are about relationships and love and all the gay stuff, which I love because I’m a hopeless romantic (lol). But for this latest run of singles, I really wanted to write about things outside of my relationship. Everything’s still autobiographical and comes from a real emotional place in my life, which I guess is the through-line for all of my songs. These new songs were just really inspired by frustration & nostalgia & all the feelings that come with being in lockdown at your parent’s house. I was a Warped Tour kid so I definitely had an arsenal of angry, melodramatic songs to pull from.

Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the single?

I recorded this one in my parent’s basement (since I was living at home at the time) and I had to wait until everyone was out of the house before I recorded the vocals just because there’s so much angsty yelling. I didn’t want my mom to be on the phone with someone important and all you hear is me screaming “HE’S SO DAMN STUPID”.

We also went back and forth over the artists to reference in that second pre-chorus lyric. Brandon originally had “Sing out of tune, Coldplay for you…” and I was like “we need to make it gayer.” So now it’s “Gaga for you.” THAT was fighting for gay rights.

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?

As an artist overall — “The 1975” by The 1975, “Give Up” by The Postal Service, Taylor Swift’s entire discography (especially “Red”), songs that have vocoders, Troye Sivan.

For this specific single — Maude Latour’s singles, “pink party” by Isaac Dunbar, the Spotify “my life is a movie” playlist, any album by a Warped Tour band circa 2011-2015.

Who is an artist or band you look up to today?

I’ve become such a Swiftie over the last year and a half. I’m also really excited by what Pinkpantheress is doing. Honestly, I get most of my inspiration from my peers in the queer pop scene online. Shoutout to Kit Major, Bentley Robles, Yavin, Kennen, Zee Machine, all 10/10.

Any future projects?

“ihatehimtoo” is the first single in a line of singles that may or may not be leading up to an EP next year. The big thing for me right now is planning a LOT of tour dates for spring 2022.