Ben Weasel
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Ben Weasel (born Ben Foster in Chicago, Illinois) is a punk rock musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of bands Screeching Weasel and The Riverdales.
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Early life
Ben grew up in Prospect Heights, Illinois where he was expelled from three different high schools for unruly behavior. He was eventually sent to the Elan School, a therapeutic community based school in Poland, Maine, to finish high school.[1]
When he returned to Illinois, he got a job as an usher at a movie theater, and formed the band Screeching Weasel with fellow usher John Pierson.
Musical career
After an initial break-up in 1989, Screeching Weasel broke up for a second time in 1994. Following the second breakup, Weasel formed a new band, The Riverdales, with Dan Vapid, and Dan Panic.
Weasel reunited with Screeching Weasel again in 1996. The band lasted until 2001 before breaking up again. Screeching Weasel would reunite again for a few shows in 2004, but have no plans to reunite again. The Riverdales also reformed in 2003, but are also now defunct again.
In 2002 Weasel released his first solo album Fidatevi. His second album, These Ones Are Bitter, was released in June 2007.
In addition to Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, and his solo work, Weasel frequently collaborates with the band The Queers co-writing many of their songs. Queers frontman Joe Queer recently stated he has a project in the works with Ben Weasel, Marky Ramone and B-Face.[2]
Weasel also ran his own Chicago-based record label called Panic Button Records, which he also started in 1997 with Jughead and sold to Lookout Records in 2001. In recent years he has released one solo album and is currently working on a follow up to it. He is currently starting a new label called, "Mendota Recording Company", which is set to be a digital download only record label.[3]
He has also played briefly with The Vindictives and Sweet Black And Blue.
Writing
In the early 1990s, Weasel published the fanzine Panic Button, which focused on punk rock and hockey. He published two one off zines through Oyster Publications, Brady Bunch Behemoth (1991) and Stab! Stab! Stab! (1992). Weasel also wrote for other various zines, including Razorcake, Non-Stop Banter, Jersey Beat, Hit List, 10 Things Jesus Wants You To Know. He also had a long-running column in MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL, one of the most prominent punk rock fanzines. Weasel wrote a novel in 2001 called Like Hell and put out a collection of his columns and articles in 2002 entitled Punk is a Four Letter Word. Both books were published by Hope and Nonthings, a small publishing house based in Chicago run by former bandmate John Jughead.
Discography
Studio albums
- Screeching Weasel - Screeching Weasel (1987)
- Boogadaboogadaboogada!- Screeching Weasel (1988)
- My Brain Hurts- Screeching Weasel (1991)
- Ramones- Screeching Weasel (1992)
- Wiggle- Screeching Weasel (1993)
- Anthem For A New Tomorrow- Screeching Weasel (1993)
- How To Make Enemies And Irritate People- Screeching Weasel (1994)
- Riverdales - Riverdales (1995)
- Bark Like A Dog- Screeching Weasel (1996)
- Storm The Streets- Riverdales (1997)
- Television City Dream- Screeching Weasel (1998)
- Emo- Screeching Weasel (1999)
- Teen Punks In Heat- Screeching Weasel (2000)
- Fidatevi- Ben Weasel (2002)
- Phase Three- Riverdales (2003)
- These Ones Are Bitter- Ben Weasel (2007)
References
External links
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