Ben Lee: “Light”

Today’s song is “Light” by Ben Lee, a track from Awake Is The New Sleep that clocks in at almost 10 minutes:

Amoeba: What’s In My Bag

Ben Lee is featured in Amoeba Record’s latest episode of “What’s In My Bag.”

Watch the video over at Amoeba or below:

Ben Lee at City Winery – 2012

Here are some photos + video of Ben Lee playing at City Winery in NY last night.

Ben only played songs from his most recent albums — several from Awake is the New Sleep, the latest Noise Addict record, and Deeper Into Dream.

The setlist included “Begin,” “Apple Candy,” “No Right Angles,” “Rise Up,” “Faster Side of Normal,” “Lean Into It,” “Pointless Beauty,” and “Gamble Everything For Love.”

“The Debt Collectors”:

Ben Lee Documentary

Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s many-years-in-the-making documentary on Ben Lee is making the festival rounds. I can’t wait to see it!

Watch the trailer:

Blast from the Past: Ben Lee

Here’s an old video of Ben Lee + band playing “Cigarettes Will Kill You” live:

Exclusive Ben Lee Interview: Deeper Into Dream

Ben Lee’s new album Deeper Into Dream comes out this Tuesday, October 11th.

To celebrate the new album, you can read an interview I did with Ben about memorable tours, favorite lyrics, song inspirations, and dreams.

After The Show: The first time I saw you in concert was Fall 2003 when you toured with Phantom Planet. Do you have a favorite tour (or favorite band with whom you toured) that you remember fondly?

Ben Lee: I remember that tour fondly as I was newly single, and it was very easy to meet girls at a Phantom Planet show! But really there have been so many great tours. The Bens’ tour of Australia was amazing.

ATS: Thematically and sonically, how does your song “Sleepwalking” from Breathing Tornados compare to your new album Deeper Into Dream?

Ben Lee: Well, I produced the new album myself at home. Breathing Tornadoswas produced by Ed Buller, so the sonic palette differs a lot, both intentionally and by circumstance. It’s interesting you made a connection thematically though – I guess the dream world has been a big interest of mine for longer than I realized. I always had this strange aspiration of living life more from a mythological dream-like perspective rather than a rational one.

ATS: There’s a rumor that you were once a member of a band called Gerling. True/False?

Ben Lee: I subbed in when their guitar player left briefly in the 90s. I was so used to being a frontman that I even did the talking between songs – it’s so embarrassing now to remember that! It’s an honour to have shared a stage even briefly (and arrogantly) with Crossy and the Presser.

ATS: 

What was your inspiration for “Pop Queen” and “Away with the Pixies”? Did you write those songs about the same girl?

Ben Lee: Not so much. More just an indie rock ideal. I was 15. Girls were the only thing I was thinking about.

ATS: Now that you have a family, are you more reluctant to go on tour? Has your view of touring changed?

Ben Lee: It’s definitely hard to justify touring for just promotional reasons anymore. I have to make money now! That’s definitely changed…I still love playing, though. My attitude is to look at each opportunity as it comes up and see if it makes sense for me and the family.

ATS: Care to shed some light on “Stumbling Block” from Grandpaw Would? Particularly what you were thinking with the line “Locker room dialogue boils the fat”?

Ben Lee: Hmm. Not sure I can remember exactly. I think it had something to do with Silverchair and their song “Tomorrow.” And yes obviously about bullies and the teen macho thing that goes on.

ATS: What’s one of your favorite lyrics that you’ve ever written? What about a lyric that someone else has written?

Ben Lee: ”Please, taste the sea you sail, baby I believe, there’s no way you can fail” – No Right Angles. It sings nicely, and it’s always a message that I need to hear.

By someone else – So many. How about “You’re either busy being born or busy dying” by Dylan.

Exclusive Ben Lee Interview: September 2011

Ben Lee’s new album Deeper Into Dream doesn’t come out until October 11th, but until then you can read an interview I did with him about memorable tours, favorite lyrics, song inspirations, and dreams.

Read After The Show’s exclusive interview with Ben Lee:

After The Show: The first time I saw you in concert was Fall 2003 when you toured with Phantom Planet. Do you have a favorite tour (or favorite band with whom you toured) that you remember fondly?

Ben Lee: I remember that tour fondly as I was newly single, and it was very easy to meet girls at a Phantom Planet show! But really there have been so many great tours. The Bens’ tour of Australia was amazing.

ATS: Thematically and sonically, how does your song “Sleepwalking” from Breathing Tornados compare to your new album Deeper Into Dream?

Ben Lee: Well, I produced the new album myself at home. Breathing Tornados was produced by Ed Buller, so the sonic palette differs a lot, both intentionally and by circumstance. It’s interesting you made a connection thematically though – I guess the dream world has been a big interest of mine for longer than I realized. I always had this strange aspiration of living life more from a mythological dream-like perspective rather than a rational one.

ATS: There’s a rumor that you were once a member of a band called Gerling. True/False?

Ben Lee: I subbed in when their guitar player left briefly in the 90s. I was so used to being a frontman that I even did the talking between songs – it’s so embarrassing now to remember that! It’s an honour to have shared a stage even briefly (and arrogantly) with Crossy and the Presser.

ATS: 

What was your inspiration for “Pop Queen” and “Away with the Pixies”? Did you write those songs about the same girl?

Ben Lee: Not so much. More just an indie rock ideal. I was 15. Girls were the only thing I was thinking about.

ATS: Now that you have a family, are you more reluctant to go on tour? Has your view of touring changed?

Ben Lee: It’s definitely hard to justify touring for just promotional reasons anymore. I have to make money now! That’s definitely changed…I still love playing, though. My attitude is to look at each opportunity as it comes up and see if it makes sense for me and the family.

ATS: Care to shed some light on “Stumbling Block” from Grandpaw Would? Particularly what you were thinking with the line “Locker room dialogue boils the fat”?

Ben Lee: Hmm. Not sure I can remember exactly. I think it had something to do with Silverchair and their song “Tomorrow.” And yes obviously about bullies and the teen macho thing that goes on.

ATS: What’s one of your favorite lyrics that you’ve ever written? What about a lyric that someone else has written?

Ben Lee: ”Please, taste the sea you sail, baby I believe, there’s no way you can fail” – No Right Angles. It sings nicely, and it’s always a message that I need to hear.

By someone else – So many. How about “You’re either busy being born or busy dying” by Dylan.

Ben Lee: Deeper Into Dream

Ben Lee’s new album, Deeper Into Dream, comes out on October 11, 2011.

Click here for a free download of “Get Used To It.”

And Ben Lee is now on Twitter: @BenLeeMusic

Song of the Day: Ben Lee

Song of the day: “Is This How Love’s Supposed To Feel” by Ben Lee.

Live at the Troubadour:

Using Music to Learn Vocabulary: Part 2

“Using Music to Learn Vocabulary” (read part 1 here) is back with a second installment.

1. Jackalope: “We’re All Stuck Out In the Desert” by Johnathan Rice

A jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant’s tail (and often hind legs).

2. Polystyrene: “Something Borrowed, Something Blue” by Ben Lee

Polystyrene is a rigid clear thermoplastic polymer that can be molded into objects or made into a foam that is used to insulate refrigerators.

3. Carpetbagger: “Carpetbaggers” by Jenny Lewis

A carpetbagger refers to a northerner who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from the Reconstruction & refers to a political candidate who seeks election in an area where they have no local connections.

4. Aztlán: ”New Yorker Cartoon” by Jenny and Johnny

Aztlán refers to the mythical ancestral home of the Nahuas, one of the main populations in Mesoamerica.

5. Tucker Telephone: “I Don’t Mind” by Phantom Planet

Tucker Telephone refers to a torture device used at Arkansas’ Tucker State Prison Farm in the 1960s. The device, designed using parts from an old-fashioned crank telephone and batteries, administered electric shocks.