WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS - SPECIAL THANKS APRICITY AGENCY
Today marks a major moment for Melbourne-born, GRAMMY®-nominated, ODESZA-supported, and Foreign Family Collective artist Mild Minds (a.k.a. Benjamin David) as he drops the title track of his upcoming album, GEMINI, set to release on February 21st, 2025.
The single, GEMINI, isn’t just another standout track—it’s the heartbeat of the album, embodying the themes and sounds that shaped it. For Benjamin, this one’s personal. As a Gemini himself, the word holds a nostalgic charm—even if he doesn’t quite buy into astrology. The sentiment taps into the early 2000s, an era that inspired both the track and the album as a whole. Think garage beats, signature melancholic undertones, and a longing for a slower, simpler time. It’s a sonic time machine, blending the old and the new with the effortlessness we’ve come to expect from Mild Minds.
Of course, the sophomore album always carries its own weight—after all, “the difficult second album” isn’t a cliché for nothing. But for Benjamin, it’s been about staying grounded, remembering why he started making music in the first place, and leaning into the joy of the process.
GEMINI promises to be a journey worth taking. Read on to dive deeper into the world of Mild Minds and the story behind the music.
MD: Hey Benjamin, welcome to F Word! How are you? How has your day been?
Benjamin David: It’s just beginning, really.
MD: I’m in London, and it’s 6 p.m. now. We’re in pure darkness, and it’s very cold!
BD: It’s getting dark earlier here, around 5:30/6 p.m.
MD: Not to trump you, but it’s dark here at 4 p.m.…
BD: That’s crazy.
MD: Hopefully, this will be a good start to your day! How has the lead-up to the single release of GEMINI next week been so far?
BD: I finished the album probably about a week and a half ago, so it’s been pretty intense, and I haven’t really had the chance to sit back yet. But seeing people connecting to the new songs—it’s just starting to move a lot on streaming, and that’s good. As soon as I finish songs, I feel suddenly like I don’t know them anymore. It takes a few months to get back to normal and see how people feel about it.
MD: I can imagine it’s quite metaphorical, as you’ve held these tracks so close, and then you’re physically and mentally releasing them into the world.
BD: Your perspective shifts. You can go from loving a song to it not even sounding very familiar, even though it’s all in your head.
MD: How do you overcome those feelings?
BD: I think the only way is when you have a lot of time after you finish the song to sit on it before submitting so that you feel super sure—a lot of this was rushing to a finish line—but if you have time to sit on a song and are 100% certain you love it, and it sounds good in every single way, and you’ve heard it a million times, finished, then you feel a lot more secure.
MD: A snoop on Instagram gave away that it’s your favourite track yet. Is that correct?
BD: That is is reference to this album, i think it was one that defined the direction quite a bit, so its a personal fave.
MD: Can you tell us what makes this one stand out for you?
BD: It’s probably the oldest one on the LP—I started it in 2021—when I was really excited about exploring a more UK Garage influence, as opposed to the House/Dance stuff I’d been doing. I found this really good vocal loop, and the song just came out in a really original, linear way. So I’ve always felt excited about it. That might just be totally personal, so we’ll see.
MD: What’s the story behind choosing GEMINI as the album/single title? Does it have any personal or symbolic significance for you?
BD: Yeah, well, I am a Gemini. I don’t really have any connection to astrology, but I have, for some reason, felt connected to that word and idea. A lot of people get really into astrology and take it quite seriously. Even though I don’t believe in it at all, I think I was influenced by constantly being told i was a gemini as a little kid. That word hits home with me because I’ve met other Geminis, and I felt we had this twin connection. It sounds ironic to say when I don’t believe in it, but maybe it’s more spiritual—in the sense that even though I don’t believe, in those rare occasions those connections felt real.
The whole astrology thing was also very popular in the 2000s. So, I think I have a connection with that word and era, a lot of the influences on this album came from them so it really felt like it tied in.
MD: I think in general there’s such a resurgence with the ’90s and ’00s—why do you think that is?
BD: I think it keeps happening naturally with every era. We’re probably about to see a 2008 resurgence—honestly, we already are, with a lot of the indie/dance stuff happening. We naturally cycle through eras. Five years out from an era, you can’t believe we’d ever repeat it, and the next minute, we are doing it.
So, I think it’s both nostalgic for people who grew up then and also refreshing because it always seems to be the perfect continuation from what just happened. Because we’re always cycling through eras, we naturally progress in a similar direction to when it happened the first time. Albeit often with a twist.
MD: Totally. In regards to the connection you have with the 2000s, do you also think it could have something to do with the feeling of the time? The simplicity, whereas everything seems so complicated right now with all the technological advances?
BD: Yeah, it was a time when we were a little more innocent, and we didn’t have so much technology—especially not social media. It wasn’t until 2007, when MySpace was happening. So, when I look at that era, I look at it fondly because we were freer to sit with our thoughts and hang out. I do miss that nostalgia, and I’m sure, without even thinking about it, that’s what appeals to people too. It was just as the internet was coming out, but we weren’t too distracted by it yet, time felt slower and less overwhelming.
MD: Your new single, GEMINI, features a unique structure where no section repeats. Can you tell us more about your decision to adopt this linear approach and how you think it shapes the listening experience?
BD: I think that when that happens, it’s a very unique thing. It doesn’t happen often with songs—most songs are fairly pop-structured—so if it happens, I go with it. It’s like finding gold when it works because it’s hard to make that intentionally. It just came together and grew in one way, then changes again, changes again, changes again… It feels pretty natural considering how many times it’s moving into something else. That was probably one of the reasons I liked it—it didn’t feel like I copy-and-pasted anything.
MD: What do you hope your listeners take away when delving into the single GEMINI?
BD: I usually just hope that they get some kind of emotional connection to it. Definitely between me personally and a few close friends, I’ve had that reaction where they also felt like it was one of their favourites. Like I said, I have a little bit of nervousness towards it because it’s not traditional—it’s not necessarily immediately a song that will make sense to a pop audience or be popular on streaming. So, I hope fans get it. You’ve got to see the art in it, as opposed to it being a super catchy song. I don’t think there’s an easy way to put it.
MD: I think it’s great that you’re shaking things up and evolving. You’ve shared that second albums come with unique pressures, so it sounds like there’s a bit of “the difficult second album” syndrome there. Can you share those pressures and how you’ve overcome them?
BD: So, I started this project while I was doing another pretty established project. The intention for this was to be completely liberated and free from that—there was no expectation because nobody knew me. The music just came out of me so quickly for that first album. Basically, the first nine songs I made were the album—there was one B-side or something. There was something really special about that spirit and rediscovering how to have fun with music and come at it in a totally new way.
As soon as I started making this album, it didn’t feel like that anymore. I immediately felt the pressure of, Okay, now I have a reputation to uphold, and fans were messaging me things like, “Make sure you take your time and make the album as good as the first one.”
MD: Ooof!
BD: Yeah! And that’s such a weird thing to say because I’m never going to make an album that sounds like what you want it to sound like. There’s no chance of that, it’d only be coincidence. It’s a hard thing to tell people—and you can’t really tell people—so I did suddenly feel that pressure.
My way around it was just constantly reminding myself why I started this project and to explore that excitement I had the first time around. I think it’s as simple as that. When you’re doing that, you have a lot of fun, and sometimes you’ll get to the end of an album or period and have made something quite different from what everyone was expecting. But then you make something else after that. It’s a constant free flow of ideas, as opposed to restraining yourself to fit expectations. You just want people to come along with you for that journey, as opposed to critiquing you.
MD: It’s great to recognise this and remind yourself of the fun element. It must be so easy to get stuck in other people’s opinions. But I think as long as you’re authentic to what you want, you can’t go wrong. Touching on social media’s visibility and accessibility, what are your thoughts on social media as a tool?
BD: I was actually talking about Spotify the other day and how I realised the perfect thing about it is that it’s not social media. It’s changed the way that people interact with music because it’s more about a listening experience for the listener—discovering and exploring. As an artist, you don’t have anyone on the platform able to get at you.
There’s a lot of—let’s put it this way—crazy/psycho people out there. You see them all over social media, where they just comment on everything they follow in a very negative way. They think their opinion is valid for everything, or they just like to argue. Those types of people who need to feel important—they don’t have access to you on Spotify. That’s a really beautiful thing because it allows you to stay in your own world and make the music you want.
Back in the day, you had to appease radio, a musical scene, music critics. More so now, they only really have access to artists us via social media. I think that’s probably the biggest negative of it. I’ve had a good time on social media, and I haven’t had any of that happen yet, but I do see it for everyone else. People get some kind of thrill out of being mean to somebody and taking their opinion out on you… honestly they don’t even realize they’re ‘that person’ half the time, its sad. so social media is obviously pretty bad in many ways, I would say.
MD: You mentioned the album’s sound explores the dialogue between club elements and melancholic emotion. What makes you want to explore this?
BD: I think I naturally gravitate toward those melancholic emotions. Usually, like 80% of the time, there’s something bittersweet in everything I make, and I think that it’s the perfect space between uplifting and sad. So, I tend to always go for that. The idea was to bring in a lot of these sounds—not so much the genres themselves but sounds from those genres—from late ‘90s and early ‘00s dance music.
There are some [songs] that are usually in heavy genre, and I take those into a softer, more melancholic landscape, whether that be breakbeats or really rave-y leads. There are a lot of rave-y sounds on this record, but in a totally non-rave-y context. I thought that was an interesting concept to explore and a way to bring trends into your own emotions and sounds.
MD: You’ve also announced the GEMINI album tour kicking off on February 7, 2025. What can fans expect from these shows? Give me three words to describe it.
BD: Nothing is going to sound that exciting [laughs]. Me, emotions, and energy.
MD: I’m here for that! Is there a particular venue or city on the tour where you’re especially excited to bring GEMINI to life?
BD: The first tour I ever did, first show was in LA, where I live, and it sold out a month in advance. That wasn’t through friends or anything—it was just the people. It was the first time I was playing my own shows, and it felt really crazy that it sold out so far in advance and that so many people came. It was a small 300-person crowd, and everyone really connected with the music.
So, I’m excited to do a venue that’s essentially double that now and have that connection again. Also, honestly, London has been on the radar for a long time. I’ve had this project for five years, and I’ve never played London, which is kind of crazy! There’s a lot of building happening there, so it would be good to solidify the connection.
MD: London is the place to be…
BD: Yeah, people do take good music on a similar level to how I take it. Whereas, I find in America for the most part, there’s a bit more of a commercial crossover thing happening with dance music. Plus a lot of the new influences im working on this album spawned in the UK.
MD: How are you feeling about the physical performance element?
BD: Yeah, it’s been really good. The project I was in before was more of a band, and even though I was the driving force behind that, I never felt that important on stage or that I connected intimately because there was a whole band playing.
So, this is why this was such a shock when I went off and did my own thing. I didn’t expect it to do that well. To have all those people seemingly so excited and connected to the music was kind of shocking. When it comes to putting your own emotion out there, I just trust what I’ve done. And when I see that reaction, I have no real feelings or thoughts about it—it’s like, Okay, now I have new music to add to that.
MD: If the single GEMINI was a colour, a taste, and a temperature, what would it be?
BD: Colour: blue. Taste: metallic. Temperature: 12 degrees celsius.
MD: You’ve got the single and album release and the tour—anything else we should know about?
BD: I’m just really excited to explore this new sound, and like I said, I’m already getting back in the studio with new stuff, which I feel even more excited about. So as long as I keep making music, it’s going to be a lot of fun!
MD: Fun is the name of the game! This is F Word magazine —what is your favourite “F” word?
BD: Freak.
