Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Love.
Benjamin, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I grew up in the Bible Belt (Chattanooga, TN) in a predominantly Southern Baptist community, not the greatest environment for a closeted gay kid haha but I did my thing! My mom was a first generation South Korean Immigrant and my dad was a used car salesman. I started my first band “Rigoletto” in college and we did pretty good for ourselves. We opened for the Goo Goo Dolls and other national acts before I became very ill and had to move back in with my parents. Keeping my sexuality a secret had turned into a pretty shitty thing called manic depression and I was unable to even leave my bed, unfortunately resulting in the break up of the band I had spent 4 years building.
I remember my psychiatrist telling me that I should consider a new career since tour schedules and manic depression don’t mix. So there I was living on a mattress in my parents basement asking myself if I was really cut out for this music thing. I was totally lost but I picked my ass up and went to outpatient therapy everyday and educated myself on mental illness until I was able to manage my condition. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but I graduated outpatient therapy and then I wrote a fucking record!
This was the first album I had written as a solo artist. It was called “The Star Shaker” and it was about all the shit I had to go through to keep my relationship with my music alive. Then I packed my shit up and moved to LA. The South will always be my home but I needed to be in a community where I could walk down the street holding my boyfriends hand without getting called a faggot. So here I am in an apartment in East Hollywood writing music with some of the best musicians I have ever worked with, and on the verge of releasing our first single as a band! Exciting times!
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I had two songs that my brother let me download to his computer, via Limewire, when I was growing up haha, and they were James Brown’s “I Feel Good” and the Jackson 5’s “ABC”. I’ve always been fascinated with black music and culture. I think it’s the emotional content, the “soul”, within the songs that makes them feel timeless.
Emotions like love, joy and heartbreak have always been a part of the human experience and if I can express an emotion, honestly, with dynamic composition and lyrics then that song will always relate to the human spirit.
Besides that, I want the same things all artists do. I want to write a song that makes you cry, or want to have sex, or makes you feel less alone.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
As a gay kid born into a Korean, Southern Baptist, household I’ve had to learn how to live with and love people that have completely different viewpoints than my own. Like completely haha. Whether your ass is on FOX or CNN I swear to you we have MORE IN COMMON than not.
And it’s the artist’s role, to tell the truth, and be inclusive and not so fucking divisive. Sure “Kiss It Better” is about makeup sex, but it’s also about representing the gay community as realistically as possible. Gays have to make up sex too haha!
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Come out to a show! And follow us on Instagram. Also if you dig a song, share it with a friend!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.benjaminlovemusic.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thebenjaminlove
- Facebook: facebook.com/thebenjaminlove
- Twitter: twitter.com/thebenjaminlove
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/benjaminlovemusic/kissitbetter/\
Image Credit:
Eric Peters
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