Ben Kweller

Ben Kweller

Ben Kweller is a singer-songwriter from San Francisco, United States, active in indie rock, indie pop, indie folk, rock and related singer-songwriter material. He is also associated with the groups Radish and The Bens, and the title Rudderless appears in his discography credits. He releases music on ATO Records.

Early life and musical background

Kweller is born in San Francisco in 1981 and moves with his family to Emory, Texas, in 1982. In 1986 the family relocates to Greenville, Texas, where his father, Howard Kweller, becomes the town’s first doctor. He begins playing music very young: Howard teaches him drums at seven, and the two jam together most nights, with Howard singing and playing guitar while Kweller keeps time. They play songs by The Beatles, The Hollies, Jimi Hendrix and other 1960s artists. At eight, he learns the piano figure to “Heart and Soul” and starts writing songs using the same chords. By nine he has written a dozen songs and receives an honourable mention in a Billboard magazine songwriting contest.

Radish

In 1993 Kweller forms Radish with drummer John Kent and bassist Ryan Green. The group plays locally around Greenville and records two independent releases, Hello and Dizzy, at Verge Music Works in Dallas with Martin Baird. Green later leaves, with Lorin Hamilton filling in briefly before Bryan Bradford, also known as Bryan Blur, joins for most of the band’s run. Kweller sends Dizzy to Nils Lofgren, who recommends the band to Roger Greenawalt. A demo is cut and shopped to labels, leading to a bidding war and a contract with Mercury for Restraining Bolt. Radish appears on The Weird Al Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Late Show with David Letterman, and builds a cult following in the United Kingdom with the Top 40 single “Little Pink Stars”. The band tours in Europe, including support slots for Faith No More and a main-stage appearance at Reading Festival 1997.

In 1998 Radish becomes a quartet with Joe Butcher on lead guitar and Debbie Williams on bass. The group records a follow-up album, provisionally titled Discount Fireworks, at Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama with Bryce Goggin. While the album is being mixed in New York, Kweller and Kent meet bassist Josh Lattanzi, who becomes the band’s fifth and final bassist. The album is never released after PolyGram’s merger with Universal Music Group, and Radish is later released from its Mercury contract.

Solo career

At 19, Kweller moves to New York with his girlfriend Liz Smith and begins a solo career. He plays acoustic shows and self-releases four EPs, including material from the unreleased Discount Fireworks sessions and songs recorded in his apartment on a laptop. One of these EPs, Freak Out, It’s Ben Kweller, brings him to the attention of Evan Dando of The Lemonheads, who invites him on tour across the United States and Europe. Jeff Tweedy, Juliana Hatfield and Guster also notice him and take him on tour.

In 2001 Kweller becomes ATO Records’ first worldwide signing and releases the five-track EP EP Phone Home. His first solo studio album, Sha Sha, follows in 2002 and includes the single “Wasted & Ready”. The record features John Kent on drums and Josh Lattanzi on bass, and ranges across pop, folk and punk influences. It gains popularity through website-led promotion and the fan effort known as teamBK. Kweller tours with a live band that includes Lattanzi, Fred Eltringham on drums and Mike Stroud on guitar and keyboards, and the line-up later performs on Austin City Limits.

In 2003 Kweller tours Australia with Ben Folds and Ben Lee as The Bens. The trio issues a self-titled four-song EP, with each member singing lead on one track and all three sharing vocals on a final song. Later that year Kweller sings lead on Guster’s “I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today” from Keep It Together, a song he co-writes with the band after a late-night session in their Brooklyn studio. The track appears in The Wedding Crashers.

On My Way follows in 2004 and is produced by Ethan Johns. It is recorded live with limited overdubs and no headphones. After its release, Kweller tours widely, including a co-headline run with Death Cab for Cutie. His live band at this point includes John Kent on drums and Jason Roberts on guitar and keyboards, after Mike Stroud leaves to focus on Ratatat and Fred Eltringham leaves to join The Wallflowers.

Kweller records his third self-titled album in 2006 with producer Gil Norton. Unlike his earlier studio albums, he plays all the instruments himself. He continues touring with an expanded band that includes Dan Horne on bass, Mark Stepro on drums, Jay Barclay on guitar and organ, and Jason Roberts on lead guitar. He also plays the Austin City Limits Music Festival that year. In 2007 he co-headlines with Gomez, then returns to the festival later that summer. He begins recording Changing Horses in Austin after that performance, working with the trio on the train tracks and pedal steel/dobro player Kitt Kitterman. He re-signs with ATO Records in 2008 and releases Changing Horses in 2009.

His fifth studio album, Go Fly A Kite, is released in 2012 on his own label, The Noise Company, after he parts ways with ATO Records. He also announces a planned split record with Waylon Jennings in 2013.

Other collaborations and performance history

Kweller’s solo tours include support and co-headline dates with artists such as Evan Dando, Jeff Tweedy, Juliana Hatfield, Guster, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Folds, Ben Lee and Gomez. His work with Guster leads to a co-written song used in a major film soundtrack placement. He also performs at Reading Festival with Radish and at Austin City Limits Music Festival in multiple years.