the BENJAMINS this interview is with with ben (bass player) of the benjamins. the band goes by first names only. TR: Is powerpop the new garage band sound replacing three chord drunk rock? -Nah, three chord drunk rock will exist as long as there are boozers and/or folks that are modest about their playing abilities. C'mon, sometimes overproduction and too much fine-tuning can kill a great song. I'd probably be in one of those bands if Jay didn't write such great songs! TR: Do you think that the multitude of new bands, along with the greater separation of the mainstream/major acts from the indie-world, and the greater expense of touring than it used to be, will create a new music scene based on the local? -Good question! I think there are always going to be people who take pride in what a corporation can do and those who prefer the do-it-yourself ethic. All four of us have been in punk and/or ska bands that booked their own shows, hauled their own gear (well, we still do that), and made the records ourselves, but there are naturally advantages to working with a bigger company. However, I personally hope that more bands can retain their creative vision and do whatever it takes to make them happy. But since the concept exists for such, let's make this kinda scene happen! TR: Do you think cities/regions will further develop their own sounds? -It definitely does depend from city to city and region to region, hopefully they will as making great music is something that almost everybody is capable of. Well, except Fred Durst. TR: And do you think this will increase the amount of music venues where new bands can play? -I certainly hope so. I myself have wanted to open up my own venue in Milwaukee, there is just simply a need for more places for people to rock out at. If more stellar bands emerge, I'm sure there'll be more of an interest. And as I learned (before I dropped out of college) from my economics class, more demand means more supply. In simple terms, if more people are interested, more venues will spring up and more quality music shall be made. TR: Do you think there is an audience, will there be an audience for this localized music? -Most definitely. As long as something has a point of interest or something different about it, more people will definitely be into it. I'm telling you, more and more people will be into music when there are more bands that can entertain you. Kind of like the sixties and seventies... Since videos were not the most important thing, bands could put out two albums a year (rather than one every two years) and people could and would go see a concert even without knowing "the radio single". Granted I wasn't really around then, but I heard this all on VH-1! TR: Where did you draw your biggest crowd? -Milwaukee and other local spots, no doubt. There's no place like home... TR: Where did you play your best gig? -Probably last year's Summerfest, a show at our hometown festival where hundreds upon hundreds came to see us. Not just our friends and immediate family! There's nothing like being on a stage with tons of people watching you. Also, on this last tour we had great shows in Salt Lake City, and Green Bay is always great fun. TR: Where do you think indie music is going? More folk, more pop, more hip hop? -Really tough to say, definitely amongst all of those directions. As long as there are people like Beck (and his countless imitators, indie and mainstream) who combine genres, music shall not have a path. Look at it all now: N-SYNC, Green Day, The Get Up Kids, and Nelly (must be the money) all sell out wherever they play. Granted they might play venues of different sorts and on different scales, but they're played to enthusiastic audiences. Me in particular, I like all the artists I've just mentioned. Okay, maybe not. But there are people that do, and people who like many kinds of music have the concept done. Music is music. TR: Does it take a good booking agent or management to make it in this biz? And by making it all I mean is recording albums and touring in one van with a trailer. -Yes and no. It is often "who you know", but look at The Offspring who sold 8 million copies of their second record off the bat. That was before Epitaph was a monstrosity of a label. Proper management and booking folks will always help, but it's all very much to each his/her own. There's not one formula to success, that's for sure! TR: How long did you play together before you recorded the album? -The Benjamins started in early '98, Jon and I both joined later that year. We recorded the album last fall, so there you go. Then again, we'd all been in bands with one another prior to The Benjamins. TR: How does this album translate into a live show? -You'll just have to come down and see for yourself! TR: How important is humor/cynicism within your music? Is it what attracts your audience to your music? -I think that's another thing that you personally have to figure out for yourself. We don't like telling people what's good or not, but we are all definitely fans of both humor and cynicism. We have fans of all backgrounds and interests and we ourselves are quite different people from one another. If someone's gonna like us for the drumming, excellent. If they dig Jay's vocals first and foremost, great. If they like the neat guitar effects on "Wonderful", wonderful. Oops. If they like the lyrical allusion to Molly Ringwald in "Couch", splendid. As long as you can like something about it, that makes it all worthwhile. TR: How often do you tour? Nationally or locally? -We just two months of relentless touring and shall be back on the road in a few days. Warped Tour, here we come. You can find out all the dates via our website www.benjaminsrock.com... But we be takin' dis ill shit (just kidding, my Snoop Dogg phase is long-over) nationwide. TR: What does it take to have a hit song? -It all depends if you want a hit song. What does it take beyond the memorable song itself? A great producer, mixer and/or engineer, ndependent radio promotion, a top-notch publicist, record company backing, etc. Once again, there's no formula as hits are of different lengths time-wise and quality-wise. Basically it takes a whole lot of people to make a hit song! TR: Would you be happy being a one hit wonder? -Of course we strive for more than just having commercial success, but yeah, think of all the people we'd get to be amongst: Right Said Fred, Gerardo, Vanilla Ice, Tuff (who we share some gear with), 4 Non Blondes, Aqua, Wrex-N-Effex, Domino, Sir Mix-A-Lot, etc. etc. It's glamorous, folks. TR: Do musicians in general lose credibility with the mass popular audience as mp3's of your music become available over the Internet? -Ask us when we've got a "massive audience"! TR: What do you think is going to happen with Napster? -It looks pretty much done away with, I don't know. I personally prefer to listen to albums in the car, in the house or on the headphones. Listening on a computer just doesn't sound right to me. I love the feeling of opening up an album, having the lyrics in front of me in the booklet and looking straight at the art. Simply put, I just feel the art to be just as important as the music itself! That's what makes it an album, but hey, download if you want to download, kids. It's all about what YOU want and not buying into something just because a corporation is telling you to. Actually, on that note, Drive-Thru Records rules and all their albums should be bought by you, the reader. TR: Where do you get most of your music? Online stores, traditional record stores? -Oops, I partially answered that above! There's nothing like making that trip out to the record store and being anxious in the car ride home, w-a-i-t-i-n-g until you can put it into the CD player at home. Traditional record stores are the way to go, see "High Fidelity" and you will be convinced. TR: What bands do you feel aren't getting the attention they deserve? -A whole lot of bands, definitely. Naming a few perhaps? Superdrag, Nada Surf, Manplanet, Vitamin C, Destiny's Child, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears...the list just never ends as Creed is hogging all them magazine covers! TR: What bands from the Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois area should be be looking for/ listening to? -Manplanet from Minneapolis (www.manplanet.net), Sulu & the Response from Milwaukee, Allister from Chicago (www.allisterrock.com)...we've got too many friends that might be reading this! TR: What influence do you think our new president will have on indie music? -None, hopefully. Yes, politics do sometimes go well hand-in-hand. The Clash ruled, James Brown even ruled with "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" -- but I don't think you can ever hear too much music about falling in and out of love, having a little too much fun, getting in and out of trouble, or even horrible eighties sit-coms. You will always have "love song" bands and you will always have "we're so politically-oppressed" bands. The point is, you're allowed to say whatever you please through your art and that's what beautiful about living under a president and not a foreign monarch. God bless America! learn more about the benjamins at their website http://www.benjaminsrock.com