Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Bostick.
Ben, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It has been a long road to becoming a professional country singer living in LA. Three years ago, it wasn’t even on my radar. I was born in South Carolina, and I grew up playing music casually. There is really no other way to play music in a rural place. All my growing up, I never met a professional musician. It just wasn’t a career choice. So I played music because I loved it, and that was that. Work was what you did to make money, music was something you did to have fun.
During my freshman year of college at the University of South Carolina, I got a wild hair and applied to transfer to New York University. It was the only school I applied to as a transfer, and I didn’t tell anyone I did it. But I told myself that if I got in, I would go. If I didn’t get in, life would stay its present course. As fate would have it, NYU accepted me, so off I went that next fall to the Big Apple.
I was blown away by the city, and I was intimidated by the other students. There were film students–people my age making movies with film cameras! I had never even seen a professional camera before. I met poets, musicians, actors, and all sorts of artists that made art for a living. Thus, began my life experimenting with different careers.
In high school, I had jobs like roofing houses, bussing tables at the Macaroni Grill, mowing lawns, etc… When I left New York my first job was as a cowboy on a ranch near Elko, NV. Then I decided I wanted to be a journalist, so I got a job with a paper in Seattle, WA. My girlfriend in Seattle was working on a movie, and she was able to get me a menial job as a PA, so I quit the paper and joined the movie. We followed that movie down to LA, and I worked as a PA and 2nd Camera Assistant for about a year, before I decided I’d like to live in Paris for a while. So, I enrolled in a master’s program at an ill-fated international film school outside of Paris. While the school was having its issues, I teamed up with another student, Nathan Silver, to write a feature length screenplay. We decided to drop out of school together to go back to the states and make the movie, come hell or high water. We ended up making the movie, The Blind, on a low budget, and it premiered at the Torino Film Festival in Italy. I kicked around New York for about a year afterward, working corporate gigs as a production coordinator before I finally decided to come back to LA.
I came back to LA because I had good chemistry with a screenwriting partner here, and we planned to write some scripts. When I arrived, he let me know that his band was looking for a second guitar player, so I joined The Public Trust. When I became somewhat acquainted with the LA music scene, I decided to try playing some of my solo music at open mics. I found the open mics to be a real drag, waiting through hours of mediocrity to play one or two songs was hellish. So, I took my act to the streets and started busking on the Santa Monica Pier. After a couple sessions on the pier, I realized I could make enough money busking to quit all other forms of work. And so, I did. Two years later, here I am. I released my first full length album this past summer, and I play gigs all around California. When I’m in town, I still play on the pier a couple times a week, but I play there less and less as my career advances.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. The biggest struggle for me was mental. It just seemed preposterous to quit all work to become a professional musician. Everybody knew that the music industry was dying a slow death, and I had no industry connections anyway. Plus, I still had my childhood conception of work as a way to make money and music as a fun diversion.
Once I finally took the plunge, the struggles became more practical. Busking is inherently unpredictable–you may make a lot of money one day and almost nothing the next day–so I had to learn to budget and spend to accommodate such an erratic income.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a performing musician, a singer-songwriter, independent to the core. I call myself a country singer, but music sounds different than modern pop country. My music is more in line with what Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, and Chris Stapleton are doing than what you’ll hear on country radio.
What makes me stand out is my songwriting. I love writing songs, and I am constantly trying out new tunes at shows. I’m on a mission to find the truth through music, and each song is a step in that direction.
I’m most proud of my independence. Other than PR, I handle everything myself, from booking to bookkeeping. I have total control over my music and my lifestyle. I’m living the dream!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I will be recording my second album in January 2018. It’ll be called “Hellfire.”
I’m also considering doing a serial album, starting the month after I release Hellfire. It will be called “Out of the Depths.”
“Hellfire” is a meditation on modern misery. “Out of the Depths” is a hero’s journey out of that hell.
Pricing:
- Ben Bostick – Album – Vinyl LP – $20
- Ben Bostick – Album – CD – $10
- My Country – EP – CD – $5
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.benbostick.com
- Phone: 917.399.3384
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrbenbostick/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benbostick/
Image Credit:
Anthony DiCaro
Michael Angelini
Cari Nelson
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
