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BEN: I’d actually like to see Tori Amos do it. Wouldn’t that be cool? (laughs) NWMS: My good friend Jim told me to ask you that. I told him, ‘I’m not asking him that.’ BEN: (laughs) It’s a good question. I mean, who’s gonna say Sammy Hagar though? Nobody’s gonna say that. So I’ll say it. I say Sammy Hagar just ‘cuz no one else would say it ‘cuz I don’t give a shit about either one of them. (laughs) NWMS: Okay… Your songs have a lot of characters in them. There are a lot of different characters and stories and lives in the songs. Are those fictionalized or true stories or a combination? BEN: It’s always…yeah; it’s always just a combination. I mean really… to take all the mystery out of it all, it’s just what fits in the melody ‘cuz I think in melody and music easier than I do in words. So whatever picture comes to mind based on the melody, is probably a roundabout way of me realizing what I’m actually thinking about instead of being a combination of people and stuff. I just figure all of it right down to what syllables and stuff fit. It’s just kinda meant to be. So if something’s fictional, I never really question it. Usually it will end up having more significance later on. So I kind of let those things go not to get to like….you know…. really I find when I’m writing…. a lot, a lot of writing and stuff… kind of foreshadowing the shit that actually happens. That’s not uncommon. It’s almost become a joke. NWMS: Be careful what you write. BEN: Yeah, kind of but I’m not… you know, I’m not into like… sad is one thing and angry’s one thing but I’m not too into negative. So I try to keep somewhat positive. NWMS: So you write the music first then usually. BEN: Yeah, and I don’t even write the music really. I mean it just happens really fast. Music comes really fast before I’m even really able to… to wonder where it came from or what the chords are. It’s usually pretty well realized. Then the lyrics are a whole ‘nother story. That’s real hard for me to do. The only reason I write lyrics that don’t completely suck is just because I spend so much time on them because I don’t want to ruin my melodies and I figure well, I got a freebie with the melody so I guess it’s time to work. NWMS: How’s it been touring solo and not being a part of a band? BEN: I love it. I love touring solo. I think it’s great. I mean, you know… I’ve worried that after a while I’m gonna have to just do something to mix things up somehow and do something different and I have no idea what that would be right now ‘cuz I have no real urge or wish to do that. You know what I mean? So it’s like, ‘oh well’. NWMS: Well you wear so many hats, like on rockin’ the suburbs you played…. BEN: Played the instruments? NWMS: Yeah, the majority of the instruments. BEN: Yeah, I’ve been doing that more and more in the studio. I just released an EP and that came out last week and I’m doing another two EP’s this summer. Then I wanna do an album at the beginning of the year. NWMS: All different songs? BEN: All different songs. Well… on the album I might have a couple of things from the EP’s ‘cuz I think the EP… I'm making the EP’s as if they’re albums. They’re not like…. I’m not using that for like throwaways and stuff. It’s cool because the first EP’s called speed graphic and it’s been number one on iTunes for almost a week which is something, I mean… you know that’s it’s not really in stores so that’s the way people buy it which is… I’m liking that for right now. I think it’s really cool but I… what I was going to say is I started off with other musicians and slowly I’ve kind of just gone back to just doing it by myself. NWMS: I was really surprised when I found out you weren’t raised on the piano. I guess you started playing just as a way of composing. BEN: Yeah, I started playing piano ‘cuz I was making up songs. I had songs in my head. Yeah, I don’t know… I like crafting recordings. I think that’s fun. I mean, down to like choosing the equipment it’s recorded on. I’m into recording. I don’t really like writing songs very much but I like that I write songs. It’s just that I don’t really like the process because I’m really bad at crossword puzzles and that’s what it ends up being for me. I’m not that fond of singing in the studio because it’s really… it’s a real challenge… I’m not… I don’t really feel like a singer and it’s just like, finding the right thing but it’s all getting easier for me. NWMS: Have you ever thought about working with other artists? You said you enjoy putting albums together. BEN: Like producing other people? Oh yeah, I’m producing a William Shatner record in November. NWMS: Really? BEN: Yeah, I think it’s gonna be really cool. We’ve been talking about how we’re gonna approach it and I actually think that… and I’m not even gonna really push it. I’m not going to try to convince people that it’s gonna be really good because I just… I just wanna do it and then have people go ‘wow, that’s really good’. NWMS: What kind of style is it? I’m just curious. BEN: Well I mean… he’s an actor right, so he’s not going to try to sing or anything like that. I’ll be pairing him up with my favorite recording artist. We’ll get together in a room and figure out, ‘what can we do with this piece of prose’ or with… you know and to movie writers and playwrights and people I’d like to contribute. So, we’ll take the best of what we’ve got and throw stuff against the wall and see what happens to a certain extent. But I kind of know the effect I’m looking for. He’s capable of being really funny. NWMS: He’s incredibly funny. He can be hilarious. BEN: He’s… he’s definitely capable of surprising people and he’s also known as… he’s got a really talented voice. He’s got a really excellent speaking voice. It’s just that you never really know where he’s coming from so that just opens up… someone that you will listen to. When he starts speaking on a record, people will listen to it. They can laugh at it. They can…you know, try to write it off or whatever but you just don’t listen to it and I think the potential in that and that everyone that’s going to be working on this album I mean, if nothing else, they all love Captain Kirk. I mean, if… at like, the base you know? That’s not what Shatner’s thinking. That’s not what I’m thinking either but at least if you approach someone and say, ‘hey so-and-so, we’re gonna do this record' and they’re all going, ‘Are you kidding? You’ve been working with him?’ They’re all into it. They don’t have any idea what we’re going to do. They’re just into it. |
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