MOOSE JAW — A band from Moose Jaw with listeners spanning Europe and Asia is celebrating the release of its first new album in nearly a decade, building on unexpected international success that has seen its music featured in a trailer and documentary while reaching millions of listeners worldwide.
The Scott Benson Band released its latest instrumental hard rock album, Ascension, on July 24, marking its first full-length album since 2015 and the beginning of what members hope will be the next chapter for the local group.
Drummer Jared Dormer said the five-piece band has spent years developing its signature orchestral hard rock sound, blending heavy guitars with cinematic strings and sweeping arrangements inspired by movie soundtracks.
“We’re really focused on orchestral hard rock,” Dormer said. “When you think of movie trailers or epic movie soundtracks, that’s really what we’re striving for.”
Founded around 2012, the band took an extended hiatus after releasing its previous album in 2015 before an unexpected surge in online popularity reignited the project.
Dormer said the turning point came when one of the band’s songs went viral on TikTok after being featured by UFC Europe, the European social media arm of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, helping introduce the Moose Jaw group’s music to a much wider international audience.
“We found out we went viral on TikTok through UFC Europe, and our song was used more than 20,000 times,” he said. “We realized things were taking off in parts of the world where we’d never played before. That’s when we knew we needed to keep this thing rolling.”
Since then, the band’s music has continued reaching audiences far beyond Saskatchewan.
Last year, the band celebrated the 10th anniversary of its breakthrough track Requiem for a Dream by releasing Requiem for a Dream: Rewired, a remix project that followed the song’s viral success and international exposure.
Dormer said the group’s cover of Requiem for a Dream achieved platinum status in the United Kingdom, while other tracks have been featured in a Disney Plus anime trailer in Japan and a nature documentary in Germany.
“Without the global reach of streaming platforms, those opportunities simply wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
Unlike many rock bands, the Scott Benson Band performs exclusively instrumental music — something Dormer believes has helped its work connect with audiences regardless of language.
“The cool thing about being an instrumental band is that our music can transcend language,” he said. “We’re getting comments in many different languages, and everyone can relate because it’s instrumental.”
The new album, Ascension, was designed as a cinematic listening experience, with each track flowing into the next as part of a larger musical story.
“Each song takes listeners on a journey,” Dormer said. “We saw the album as an epic soundtrack.”
Although all five members are based in Moose Jaw, the Scott Benson Band rarely performs live. Dormer said the group’s cinematic sound relies on layered orchestral arrangements, multiple string sections and extensive production, making it better suited to the studio than the stage.
Instead, the group is focusing on streaming platforms, playlists and international marketing while beginning work on new music.
“We’re taking a short break,” Dormer said. “But we hope to get right back into the saddle with new music this fall and winter.”
Dormer also credited Creative Saskatchewan for helping fund part of the album’s production, allowing the band to bring its music to a global audience.
The Scott Benson Band’s Ascension is available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
For more information, visit “Scott Benson Band” and “Nebulus Entertainment” on Facebook.
