Benjamin Wesley

In the true sense of the term "band," Benjamin Wesley is not one. The project is an exercise challenging his capabilities - to see how many elements of a live performance may be manipulated on stage - alone. He sways through vintage rock grooves, airy electronic tribal beats and afro-pop infused dance arrangements while switching or simultaneously playing on guitars, keyboards, accordion, bass and harmonica while singing into listening ears about why it is hard living sometimes. These songs are the laments of reality, the confessions of an attraction to trouble and contemplations of everything beautiful and cruel. He developed an early interest in performance and poetry and was quick to play music. In 2003 he moved to Houston and played in various local bands; then left to study abroad in Germany. Upon his return, he joined folk-punk band ROSA (Plan-it-X records). Later, a group of friends including MC CORNBREADD and Wesley created a hip-hop-rock band called ThaFuckingTransmissions. At the same time, he started a four-piece (three bass), experimental rock band and side-project called Basses Loaded. All along, he continued to work on his solo project. Within five months, he had a six song set ready - which had a strict order to its performance and was performed a mere few times before recording the tracks over two late nights at the world renown SugarHill Studios with engineer Chris Longwood. The EP title Geschichte was taken from one of the tracks. In German, "geschichte" means both "history" and "story” which has a way of embodying the past, present, unreal and ideal all in one bubble. The songs are autobiographical and focus on the questioning of experience, knowledge, happiness, love, hate, dying and surviving. They are about progress and loss, squeezing lemons and climbing mountains, being selfish and wanting peace of mind. Since the self-release of Geschichte, it’s received noteworthy praise by the Houston Press, Houston Free Press and SpaceCityRock.com among others. It’s been nominated by the Houston Press Music Awards for Best Local EP, Best Local Song (“Have You Ever Died?”) and Wesley was nominated as Best Local Songwriter. He’s shared the stage with bands such as Her Space Holiday, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper and The Duchess and the Duke, to name a few. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.