Ben Kweller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ben Kweller | |
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 Kweller at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Benjamin Lev Kweller |
| Born | June 16, 1981 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Origin | Dallas, Texas, US |
| Genre(s) | Rock Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitar Piano Harmonica Drums |
| Years active | 1993 - present |
| Label(s) | ATO |
| Associated acts | Radish The Bens |
| Website | www.benkweller.com |
Ben Kweller (born 16 June 1981, San Francisco, California) is an American rock musician.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Ben Kweller was raised in a Jewish family in Greenville, Texas,[2] and was exposed to music at a very young age by his father Howie. He began playing drums at age seven (so Howie had a drummer to play guitar with), and then took up guitar and piano. At age nine, he entered a songwriting contest sponsored by Billboard magazine and won honorable mention.[3] In 1993 Kweller became friends with another young local musician, drummer John Kent (who now acts as President of Blackland Records), and the two formed a band, which they named Radish. Radish played locally in and around Greenville and recorded two independent releases, Dizzy and Hello with Martin Baird at Verge Music Works recording studio in Dallas, Texas.
[edit] Radish
Guitarist Nils Lofgren, an old friend of Howie Kweller's, was impressed with Radish and recommended them to Roger Greenawalt, who had produced Lofgren's most recent album at the time, Damaged Goods. Greenawalt, who had also suggested the addition of bassist Bryan Blur to the lineup, took Radish into a studio where they recorded a demo tape which was subsequently shopped around to record labels nationwide, who were looking for "the next Nirvana". After an unexpected bidding war, Ben Kweller, at the age of 15, and Radish were signed to Mercury Records. Regardless of a much-hyped beginning, which included appearances on The Weird Al Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Late Show with David Letterman, Radish failed to strike big success with its first major-label record Restraining Bolt, despite a cult following in England, where the band toured several times (including opening a day of the Main Stage at the 1997 Reading Festival), and released two singles. In 1998 Radish went to Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama to record the follow-up to Restraining Bolt, provisionally titled Discount Fireworks and then retitled Sha Sha after the song of the same name. Recorded with producer Bryce Goggin, the album was never released, and Radish soon secured a release from their contract with Mercury Records.
[edit] Solo career
At age 19, Ben Kweller moved to New York with his girlfriend Liz Smith, where he began his solo career. He played acoustic shows and self-released four EPs, comprising some of the unreleased Radish Discount Fireworks recordings and other songs recorded in his apartment on a laptop computer. It was one of these EPs, Freak Out, It's Ben Kweller, that caught the attention of Evan Dando of The Lemonheads, and Dando invited Kweller out on tour with him, playing across America and Europe.
In 2001 Ben Kweller signed to ATO Records, and released a 5-track EP entitled EP Phone Home. In March 2002, Sha Sha, Kweller's first solo studio LP was released. Sha Sha included the very radio-friendly and popular single "Wasted & Ready". The record kept many of the familiar sounds of Nirvana, but also worked in other pop music influences such as Weezer [4] and Ben Folds. The album grew in popularity with a grassroots effort based on his website and a promotion group called TeamBK, which promoted via word-of-mouth advertising. To support the release of the album and EP, he put together a live band, initially comprising Josh Lattanzi on bass, Fred Eltringham on drums, and Mike Stroud on guitar and keyboards.
In 2003, Kweller toured Australia with Ben Folds and Ben Lee as The Bens. [5] The trio produced an eponymous four-song EP, with each member taking lead vocals on one song, and a final song in which they all contributed vocals. In an interview on October 14 2006 Ben hinted that The Bens may do another album.
On My Way (2004), Kweller's second LP, went in a new direction. The album, produced by Ethan Johns, was recorded 'live' - there were limited overdubs and no use of headphones. [6] After the release of On My Way, Kweller embarked on more touring, playing to his largest audiences ever, including a US tour co-headlining with Death Cab for Cutie [7]. By this point, the lineup of his live band had changed to include John Kent on drums and Jason Roberts on guitar and keyboards, after Mike Stroud left to concentrate on his own band Ratatat and Fred Eltringham left to play drums in The Wallflowers.
In 2006 he recorded his third LP, Ben Kweller with producer Gil Norton [8]. Unlike the previous studio albums, Kweller played all the instruments on this record himself.[9] Kweller continued to tour to support his self-titled album, and expanded his band into a five piece, which grew to include Dan Horne on bass, Mark Stepro on drums, Jay Barclay on guitar and organ, and Jason Roberts on lead guitar. Kweller continued to play guitar and piano on this tour, but it also gave him the opportunity to just sing on certain songs. The Canadian group, the Sam Roberts Band, and New York based Hymns (band), opened for Kweller. Roberts did double duty on this tour, playing guitar for Hymns, and keyboards, guitar and glockenspiel with Kweller.
His tie-in "Trio on the Train Track Tour" included a new live band comprising Chris Morrissey on bass, vocals & keyboard and Mark Stepro on drums, vocals, glockenspiel, percussion & "whatever else he feels like" during appearances in the United States. During the Australian leg of the tour, the band was comprised of Jay Barclay on guitar, keyboard & vocals, Dan Horne on bass & vocals, and Mark Stepro continuing his previous roles.
As part of his 2006 tour, Kweller played the Austin City Limits Music Festival, where he was plagued by severe nosebleed for the entirety of his set. After covering his guitar in blood, he attempted to stop the flow by inserting a travel-size tampon thrown onto the stage by a fan, which expanded painfully during a performance of "This Is War." After attempting to play "Falling" at the piano, which also became covered in blood, Kweller was forced to end the set early. [1] [2]
Throughout the summer of 2007, Kweller toured with the band Guster. Kweller also provided lead vocals on the 2003 song "I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today" from Guster's album Keep It Together.
On September 21, 2007, Kweller began recording his fourth full-length LP, Changing Horses in Austin, Texas. The new album is expected to come out in September 2008. [10]
His song 'Make It Up' is used in the Ray Ban sunglasses commercial.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Self-released EPs
- Melange, 1999
- Bromeo, 2000
- Sha Sha, 2000
- Freak Out, It's..., 2001
[edit] Albums
- Sha Sha, 2002
- On My Way, 2004
- Ben Kweller, 2006
- Changing Horses, 2008 (forthcoming)
- Not Holding Back (Due to be released in 2009, according to Kweller Publicist)
[edit] EPs
- EP Phone Home, 2001
- Sundress, 2006
- Live and Solo from the Artists Den, 2007 (Exclusive iTunes-only digital release.)
[edit] Singles
- "Wasted & Ready", 2002
- "Commerce, TX", 2003
- "Falling", 2003
- "The Rules", 2004
- "Sundress", 2006
- "Penny On The Train Track", 2006
[edit] Other releases
- This Is Next Year: A Brooklyn-Based Compilation : Compilation track, 2001
- This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul : Wait
- Stubbs The Zombie : A cover compilation of hits from the 1950s : Lollipop
- The Bens with Ben Folds and Ben Lee
- Bright Eyes - Four Winds (2007 · Saddle Creek)
- Helio Presents: The Smashing Pumpkins Tribute CD
[edit] Appearances in popular culture
- New Jersey pop-punk band The Ergs! released Ben Kweller EP (2002). It includes a song called "Ben Kweller."
- Rapper Talib Kweli sampled Kweller's "In Other Words," without permission, for his song "Ms. Hill". In part 7 of Kweller's video podcast series "One Minute Pop Song," Kweller said he found Kweli's use of the song "a little fucked up" due to the fact that it was sampled without permission. Link to episode
- His song "Sha Sha" appeared in A Guy Thing, starring Jason Lee, Selma Blair, and Julia Stiles.
- The song "The Rules" appears in trailer for the movie Choke.
[edit] References
- ^ Incident photo at Blogcritics.org
- ^ [1]Rolling Stone review ACL performance
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Live Performances and Interview on Maniatv.com
- Ben Kweller live on WOXY.com, October 13, 2006
- Comprehensive Radish and Ben Kweller discographies at Xanthein Archive fan site
- Interview with Jared Wilson of LeftLion Magazine
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