Fanatic Promotion: Matt Bennett to release debut “Terminal Cases,” a concept album about divorce based on the films of Robin Williams.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Matt Bennett to release debut “Terminal Cases,” a concept album about divorce based on the films of Robin Williams.

Project that was shelved indefinitely after Williams’ 2014 passing now arrives June 10^th. Listen to “Fisher King” here.

+++

Matt Bennett as photographed by Robyn Von Swank

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

Hear “Fisher King” from “Terminal Cases,” the debut album by Matt Bennett

[STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/matt-bennett-fisher-king

+++

Matt Bennett discusses Terminal Cases

“I could start on my bedroom floor, circa 2006, listening to Lou Reed’s Berlin for the first time. Or I could start as a boy watching ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ for the zillionth time.”

Los Angeles based musician, Matt Bennett is discussing his upcoming debut album Terminal Cases, a concept record about divorce, inspired by the films of Robin Williams, and scheduled for release on June 10^th.

“I first got the idea for Terminal Cases one afternoon while watching the movie ‘Jumanji,’ he recalls. I wrote a song based around it that told the story of a man revisiting his childhood home and not recognizing any of his surroundings.”

Bennett then spent the next year and a half watching and re-watching Robin Williams films, writing and re-writing. And in his viewings he noticed that in Williams’ movies, there is often a character named Jack (see: “Jack,” “Hook,” “Fisher King”), and that the films often deal with aging – either too slowly, too quickly, or with the reticence of a man child to “grow up.” They also often dealt with divorce.

“That last realization came at a crucial time for me,” Bennett explains. “My parents had just announced their plans to divorce.”

Around the same time, Bennett’s dream job ended. He had been one of the co-stars of the Nickelodeon series “Victorious” for over three years and one summer afternoon he found out that the show had been abruptly cancelled.

“With no job and very little structure to my days, my life seemed directionless,” he recalls. “I realized change could only come from within, so I started making this album.”

In addition to being inspired by Robin Williams, Bennett also took a nod from another of his heroes, Lou Reed.

“I decided to structure the project around the album Berlin,” Bennett explains. “I had been fascinated by Berlin since I was in high school, especially the song ‘The Kids.’ It’s a tragically beautiful song and I tried channeling that energy into my song ‘Doubtfire.’

Bennett worked on Terminal Cases every night for a year and a half with the intention of somehow getting it into Robin Williams’ hands, and he had most of it written when the legendary actor unexpectedly and tragically passed in 2014.

“That’s it,” Bennett thought. “There’s no way I can release this album now. It’s dark and strange and completely wrong.” Bennett sat on the material for much of the following year.

“But there was something in these songs that lingered with me,” he says. “I needed to get them out of my head, and completing this album has been very therapeutic for me. It was a great experiment to write these songs, to record them, and now to release them.”

Terminal Cases by Matt Bennett arrives on June 10^th, 2016. Matt Bennett is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

+++

Matt Bennett is a comedic actor and musician best known as a co-star of the Nickelodeon series “Victorious” and recently seen in the festival circuit hit film “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.” He recently appeared as a guest star on the hit show “The Big Bang Theory” and can also be found hosting his monthly variety show “This Show Is Your Show” at The Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.

+++

Matt Bennett – Terminal Cases

(Fanatic Records – June 10^th)