Minute Taker is the creative alias of singer, songwriter and producer Ben McGarvey, whose music fuses the emotional honesty of classic songwriting with the atmospheric world-building of MTV-era synth-pop and cult cinema. From his synth-packed home studio on the misty Pennine moors outside Manchester, he crafts haunting, narrative-driven songs exploring themes of queerness, memory and transformation.
His new album The Oblivion is his most ambitious project to date — a cinematic, synth-saturated record exploring escapism, self-destruction and the quiet revelations found in the night. Inspired by 80s pop icons including Kate Bush, Depeche Mode and A-ha, alongside the retro-futurism of Blade Runner and The Terminator, the album traces a nocturnal journey through emotional extremes and existential questioning.
The film trilogy Nocturnal Monologues, featuring visual interpretations of songs from the album, was commissioned by Waterside and premiered at Prism Festival, November 2024. It explores desire, addiction and escapism, ultimately arriving at something more grounded and quietly transcendent.
