Los Angeles Adam Gotsens photos.
From left: Mike Bednarsky, Shelton, Conn., native, and Benjamin Masbaum, are Ginkgo Balboa.
Mike Bednarsky, a Shelton native, is the lead singer of an up-and-coming new LA pop duo known as Ginkgo Balboa. Bednarsky gave gratitude to his Shelton roots in light of the band’s self-titled ep that will be released Friday, July 17.
Ginkgo Balboa’s sound is shaped by a mixed range of the Holy Ghost! and Justin Timberlake. The band uses electric guitar and bass to form a contemporary, indie sound with a rhythm of contemporary pop influenced by r&b and rock.
Bednarsky met his band partner Benjamin Masbaum after moving to LA in 2017. To learn more about the music industry the two were working for a music festival company. They started jamming together and writing songs. Bednarsky said he will tinker with instruments but mainly focuses on being the forefront of the band while Benjamin plays the keyboard and guitar.
“Someone described me as the Paul McCartney to Benjamin’s Thom Yorke from Radiohead. Benjamin’s like the quiet dude who just makes all of the bells and whistles happen, and then I’ll come in and I’ll write the hooks. I know what I want the lyrics to be,” Bednarsky said. “Usually I do the writing and then I also I’ll write the melodies of what we’re going to sing. Then he’ll make the rest happen instrumentally.”
Growing up, Bednarsky was inspired by his father Bruce’s legendary jazz guitar skills and singer-songwriter brother, Matt, whose song “You Know You Wanna Let It Go” was featured on CBS’s “The Young and Restless” in April.
“What I’m doing is more contemporary than anything my family has done. It’s cool to be able to call out the roots of that,” Bednarsky said. “Growing up, we would all jam and sing together. I kind of neglected guitar for a while. I was moved towards hip hop because words were always my thing. I leaned into the words and rapping, and creating. A way to be a creative and poet. I always wanted to be a rapper or a lead singer. So I would sit in my room and throw a little plush basketball at the ceiling and write melodies and hooks. I would think, ‘How can I transport these to the page? How could I find chord progressions and make these songs real?’ ‘I need to play an instrument to help make that accessible’. So, I would do that and then my engineer from the Bronx would do the hip hop stuff. The inspiration was always there.”
Bednarsky moved from Huntington to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Iowa in 2013. Bednarsky then lived in Harlem for three years before he returned to his college town in Iowa and applied to creative writing MFA programs. After he decided that LA was the right choice to jumpstart his career, so he moved in July 2017 with nothing but an acoustic guitar and suitcase. He focused on his solo set before meeting Masbaum. He was modeling, acting, and singing.
“With growing up so close to New York, it just felt too easy. I wanted to jump into the Lion’s Den which is what I consider LA to be,” Bednarsky said. “I also wanted a different vibe. Less hectic living and more of a mellow lifestyle. SoCal definitely did that.”’
After Bednarsky moved to Studio City in LA, he met people at festivals, bars, and hangouts after shows.
“I’ve never been someone who has been too shy to converse with other bands. It all stems back to the Shelton days of just promoting everything,” Bednarsky said. “Spotify is huge for us. That’s where we want a lot of our attention to be. With everything that has been happening politically, we are trying to pick and choose when it would be appropriate to share our music.”
The first single that described the band’s night and day elements, “The Other Day”, was released in May 2020 on Spotify and Instagram.
“It’s a good example of a high-energy dance element that we provide,” Bednarsky said. “Especially right now if you’re home alone and have to clean your apartment or something.”
The second single, “IDK Your Dog” hit streaming services on June 12. Bednarsky described the track himself as a seductive, R&B bedroom vibe.
“What we try to do for consistency is use a lot of instruments to make the sounds. Whether it’s us both playing guitar or keyboard. We try to use the same sounds for the songs to create a uniform voice,” Bednarsky said. “We want to flex our muscles in terms of what we’re capable of musically. Our vibe is the same throughout. We just want everyone listening to have a good time.”
However, the band’s biggest challenge along the way has been finding a solid fan base.
“We are still finding what the identifying factor is with our fans. There are a couple of local acts here that have paved the way for us. We’re just trying to take a page from the book of all of the great people that we are meeting,” Bednarsky said. “We know that people like our music, thankfully. We know that we have to double down on just getting that sound out there. This is a very competitive city across the board so we have to make ourselves memorable. The EP is the first step.”
Ginkgo Balboa, will be released to airwaves on Friday, July 17 that will be available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music. The tracklist includes six songs including: “Gut Reactions”, “IDK Your Dog”,”The Other Day”,“Pick-up Lines”, “The Taste of Colors”, and “God Save the Beauty Queen.”
“I’m excited about Pick-Up Lines because that’s another dance track with a lot of 80s influence. It kind of sums up the sound that I always wanted us to have,” Bednarsky said. “Ben brings in the rock influence. He comes from that side of music. Gut Reactions which is a more rock-oriented track.”
Bednarsky and Masbaum have been writing the EP starting last summer. The instrumentations were written first followed by the lyrics. Bednarsky said he writes a mix of personal experiences and ideas on the spots.
“I have my voice as a writer. The songs have been hookups, late nights, hanging out with friends, and so it’s all an extension of my personal identity. Being a lead singer and writer, I get to have that freedom,” Bednarsky said. “It draws from personal experience and then tries to tap into the really accessible stuff which is just the feeling that people get.”
Bednarsky returned to Shelton summer 2019 briefly to visit family. He’s not definite when he will be returning. In the meantime, Bednarsky and Masbaum are focusing on auditioning musicians to expand their band and a future music video for the song, “The Other Day”.
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Adam Gotsen photo.
Ginkgo Balboa, the band’s debut EP that will be released July 17.
It all starts with Shelton. I always had a lot of friends. I feel grateful to be in a community that was embracing music and the arts,” Bednarsky said. “I don’t meet anyone who isn’t happy for me to say that I’ve moved to LA. Everyone reacts with a supportive attitude.”
