Ben Finley is a collaborative performer-composer, grounded in acoustic and electric bass playing (in multiple tunings and often with effect palettes). He grew up on a music festival farm (Westben). There, he witnessed many ways of making music, entwined with land and creatures. Dreams instilled: what might a holistically sustainable (culturally/ecologically etc.) festival look like? He currently leads two music groups: Pluto Theremin, a solo/band project that reimagines the edges of electrified creative bass playing + layered poetic vocals; and Weaving Locus, an experimental acoustic-ish quintet. He plays, composes, and records with various creative music ensembles and in internationally acclaimed productions and community projects across Canada and the US. Ben is the co-founder and creative director of the Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity’s international/multi-generational Performer-Composer Residency and is Westben’s Sustainability Coordinator. He is a current Ph.D. candidate in the Critical Studies in Improvisation program at the University of Guelph, studying music festivals/creative music practices as sites of eco-cultural regeneration.