SCAD Radio: Hey! Thank you for joining me professor. To everyone tuning in, I’m talking with Ben Hopson — Industrial Designer, Kinetic Designer, and professor at SCAD. We’re just doing this little fun series of interviews [check out the first installment here] because people seem to be curious about what their professors are listening to. Kind of a morbid curiosity, I guess… what do my professors do in their real life? Like, are they people?
Ben Hopson: Right, right, well we’re not!
Radio: Robots!
Hopson: *robot voice* ROBOTS.
Radio, Hopson: Hahahaha
Radio: To start off, how would you describe your music taste (genre specific? all over the place?)
Hopson: It’s pretty broad but I think the main ones for me are gonna be, ya know, classic rock, indie rock, electronica, and then I listen to a lot of African Diaspora music. A lot of reggae, jazz and blues and things.
Radio: So kinda all over the place!
Hopson: Yeah! But not a lot of hip hop or pop, classical or anything like that.
Radio: Do you think that there’s a reason that you listen to those genres or is it just like~ whatever. Is there some kind of connecting factor between those?
Hopson: I think that as I get older I notice that people tend to gravitate towards the tunes they liked when they were younger. I think that high school and college seem to be where everybody’s musical tastes just crystalizes, and really, I mean, I listen to new things too, but it’s rare that i’m listening to an entirely new genre from what was my main deal as a younger person. You listen to music probably hours a day in your free time, but when you get older, you don’t have the 30 hours a week to explore every different musical genre, so you kinda get stuck in your stuff or whatever.
Radio: It’s comfortable so, you already know that you like it— so it’s good to go.
Hopson: Yeah!
Radio: So is there a preference for older music or newer music, or does it just depend— fitting into the genres you already like.
Hopson: I mean, most of the stuff I listen to is gonna be 20th century music, yeah.
Radio: Cool, cool, and how has music played a role in your life? Like, as a person, because i’ll get into how music plays a part in your professional work as well. Just in your everyday life.
Hopson: Yeah, I mean I listen to music all the time, I listen to it when I’m working, I listen to it when I’m, ya know, parenting, or in a car. I mean, it’s everywhere. I don’t know…
Radio: Just soundtrack to your existence—
Hopson: I don’t know, I just listen to it a lot! I love it!
Radio: Yeah! And then how do you think music plays a part in your professional work, so do you listen to stuff while you’re making stuff, and if so is there a specific genre that gets you into the zone to work?
Hopson: I move around from genres, but i’m always listening to music working.
Radio: Yeah, me too, I kinda listen to a lot of bouncy stuff when i’m working because I need to move my body..
Hopson: Like faster things?
Radio: Yeah, maybe stuff that doesn’t have a lot of words, like a lot of EDM and stuff, atmospheric.
Hopson: M-Hmm! Yeah!
Radio: Do you think there’s any stereotypes when it comes to majors and taste? So, that could mean music, style— just wanna know if you think there’s stereotypes within professors of different majors.
Hopson: Gah, I have no idea, I have no idea what everybody listens to haha.
Radio: Yeah because you’re kinda in your own bubble! I’m the only industrial design student participating in the Polychoral Professors so I was like, “I have to represent” hahaha.
Hopson: Well, I’m glad you’re there. I think, honestly if I were to bet money, if I talked to each of the Industrial Design professors, I don’t know what genres they all like, but I would put money down that they mostly listen to stuff they listened to in high school and college. That it’s–that stuff.
Radio: Cool! And then, I remember that you told me once about how you made an analog device for a Modest Mouse music video. I thought that was really cool because my brother listened to them while I was growing up, which got me into stuff I listen to now. Was that especially exciting for you? What was the process like, working with musicians in that way?
Hopson: That was exciting for me! I was a Modest Mouse fan at the time I got that gig. That was really fun, but I also have to say, I never got to meet the band. They’re out in Portland, and my buddy is an art director in Portland, so he met them and got me that gig. But I made the thing and shipped it to them. What was funny was that the thing I made, he had to wear— I don’t know if you’ve seen the video— but it’s a wearable kinetic sculpture, and I had to size it for him. So what I had them do was take pictures of his arm, front and side next to a ruler, so I had these big blow ups of Isaac Brock’s tattooed arms in my studio, because I had to size everything to his forearms.
Radio: Hahaha, so what was the process? Like, did they just tell you what they kind of wanted and you ran with that? Did you listen to the song first, before you made anything?
Hopson: I didn’t get to listen to the song first. My friend had a really clear vision for the video and he was able to share some images of the look he was going for, and the sequence of scenes the device would be a part of. All I knew was that basically it had to be some kind of mechanical drawing device that was wearable and involved thread, spooled out thread. That was all I had to go from, so I sketched some things and made some little mockups, and we chose a concept and did it.
Radio: Well that’s cool, I thought that was a really neat thing. B: Yeah it was fun!
Radio: Just a couple more questions, what are your five favorite musical artists of all time, if you could just pick.
Hopson: This is impossible hahaha. Impossible. I can give you my favorite, but other than that, narrowing it down is really hard. I sent you a playlist, that’s about as much as I can narrow it down. But my favorite band by far is the Grateful Dead. I listen to more Grateful Dead than anything.
Radio: Man, I totally understand that. Is there any specific music you’ve been especially obsessed with recently? I know you said you don’t seek out new genres or anything, but has there been anything old that’s resurfaced that you’ve been listening to on repeat?
Hopson: I think in the last, probably, three years i’ve been getting into a lot of reggae, I just had listened to some, but i’ve just been finding more stuff I like recently. I don’t know if there are any other genres or artists… it’s all over the place for me.
Radio: Just reggae as a broad music genre.
Hopson: Yeah, like usually older stuff, like the stuff I like is kinda more 70’s reggae.
Radio: Sweeeeet, and then last question— how do you listen to music? So do you primarily use streaming services or do you also listen to analog stuff, like vinyl or CDs?
Hopson: Oh, sorry yes, I’m all streaming, I have no cool gear. No cool gear, hahaha.
Radio: Hahaha, I was just talking to my friend and she was like, “I feel like Industrial Design Professors, they’ve got to have analog setups and vinyl.” I don’t know why, I guess maybe because we’re very physical, or we have a lot of things? That we just care about physical objects in that way?
Hopson: I would love to have that, I just somehow don’t. But, I would love to.
Radio: I know right, I haven’t hopped on vinyl because it’s just such an expensive hobby. I’m kind of a CD person because they’re cheap and you can find cool $2 stuff everywhere. Vinyl takes dedication.
Hopson: Ohhh yeah, you gotta want it.
Radio: Maybe one day hahaha.
Hopson: Just gotta start slow, yard sales.
Radio: Yeah, those are important!
Radio: So yes! That was the interview! Thank you so much for talking with me about all this music stuff!
Hopson: Yeah thanks! It was nice to talk!
If anyone reading wants to check out some of Hopson’s work, you can visit his website at https://www.benhopson.com/, and if you’re interested in Kinetic Design, what it is and how it’s become a Minor at SCAD, check out a cool video about it here. Thanks for tuning in here at SCAD radio! Have a nice day and stay safe 🙂
