"The music aims to be simple and familiar, skipping about genres like a retarded child, while the words cut lines of deep sarcastic scorn through the open door of the subconscious." - Ben Everyman
Listen to
Ben Everyman's
witty debut album IConoplastic
Saturday, February 12 at Cafe Deux Soleils.
1. Is Ben Everyman your real name? How did you come up with that?
The "Ben" is real, the "Everyman" is not. Well it is real, but it's not my real name.
Did you ever have someone say to you "Hey! You look like so-and-so.", usually in
reference to someone famous? It happens to me all the time. People have said I look like:
Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, several members of The Who, a retarded David Schwimmer, Spenny or Kenny from Kenny vs Spenny, Steve from Blue's Clues and many more. I've also had my sound compared to many people: Ween, The Eels, Leonard Cohen etc... So I guess you could say I was given the name.
2. What inspired you to make music?
The exact moment I decided to make music was listening to a friend play Stairway to Heaven on guitar. He had all the notes right, but he played it with a complete absence of feeling, like a computer program emulating a sheet of drywall... only worse. I said "Show me how to do that", so he did. I'm also inspired by the comical nature of everyday life. Escalators, animatronic characters and the process of applying makeup. Absurdity at its finest.
3. Imagine you’re watching a concert and one of the band members suddenly disappears into a cloud of black smoke. You get called to the stage to replace that band member. Who is that?
Devotchka, the girl who plays the tuba with the Christmas lights in it. But then I'd be like, "Fuck! I can't play tuba, I can barely play trumpet."
4. How has your music evolved since you first started playing music?
I found a love for simplicity that grows stronger by the day. When I started writing I
had normal aspirations, as most musicians (guitar players) do. I wanted to be in a rock
band and play awesome guitar solos to impress the panties off of girls and transgendered
people who identified as women. I'm a strong believer that less is more now. I want to
write a song using only one note - and make it listenable. I also no longer wish to
de-panty anyone. I've grown a lot.
5. Tell us about your upcoming album.
It's a stark, minimalist avant-garde indie-folk concept album. I think that covers all
the buzz words. Seriously, I want people to see how ridiculous things are. There's an old saying: Tell a man the normal is absurd and he'll know for a day - teach a man to see the absurd in the normal and he'll know forvever. The music aims to be simple and familiar, skipping about genres like a retarded child, while the words cut lines of deep sarcastic scorn through the open door of the subconscious.
6. What song are you currently listening too?
Hank Williams- Hey Good Looking
