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CARRTOONS
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“New York multi-instrumentalist Carrtoons has attracted attention for his warm, throwback soul-jazz productions anchored by his versatile, melodic bass guitar lines. Collaboration-heavy records Saturday Morning (2020), Homegrown (2022), and Saturday Night (2023) spun off the well-streamed songs “Father,” “Groceries,” and “Spaceships” — all bringing a retro sound to modern playlists.
Born in Rosendale, New York, Ben Carr had a diverse musical upbringing. The youngest child of jazz violinist/educator Richard Carr, Ben was free to experiment with the instruments in his home but got serious about pursuing music after discovering Victor Wooten, bassist for Béla Fleck & the Flecktones. While playing in pop-punk bands in high school, he steeped himself in classic and alternative rock as well as hip-hop, from the Bad Boy Records catalog to Madlib. After earning a jazz performance degree from SUNY Purchase, Carr joined “future-soul collective” Mad Satta as a bassist. After notching highlights like opening for Thundercat and sitting in on sessions with Robert Glasper, he started releasing music under the Carrtoons moniker in 2017. The eclectic Saturday Morning, issued in 2020, proved to be the blueprint for much of his work as Carrtoons: lush, bottom-heavy R&B augmented by light vocals from the likes of Rae Kahlil, Julia Zivic, Topaz Jones, and Mad Satta leader Joanna Teters.
It was the 2022 follow-up, Homegrown (so named for Carr recording it almost entirely in his apartment), that attracted even more new listeners. “Groceries,” a collaboration with Lettuce keyboardist/singer Nigel Hall, became a runaway success, as did “Be There for You” and “Lighta” (featuring Khalil on vocals). Carr also began branching out as a producer in 2022, contributing to Austin-based BLK ODDYSY’s “Benny’s Got a Gun,” featuring vocals by Benny the Butcher and George Clinton. Before he went on tour for a year, Carr released Saturday Night in 2023, anchored by noteworthy tracks “Spaceships,” featuring Haile Supreme on lead vocals, and “Put Me On,” a duet between Teters and Reuben James.”