Ben Davis Interview

Ben Davis is a name that you probably don't know - besides from it being seemingly common. But you know the bands that Ben has been involved with - Milemarker, Sleepytime Trio and Bats & Mice. With his latest album he is looking to rock you hard while being soft. We asked him some questions, including his thoughts of the capital of indie rock Chapel Hill. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with the answer to the bonus question (this bonus is going to be asked of all future bands we interview until someone gets it right - then we'll have a new one). But he did come quite close.

Besides from being a veteran rock star, what do you do in Chapel Hill?

Well, being a rock star takes quite a bit of time and effort, but I do manage to work at UNC full time at the School of Public Health – I do Multimedia development for courses and webcasts and videoconferences.

I used to see you workout alot. What is your workout strategy?

My strategy is to complete a different exercise for every beer I drank the night before – That's why you say me in the gym almost everyday – Hey – are you watching me now too?

How much of Aided & Abetted was generated from collaboration and how much by yourself?

Well, the record was a hugely collaborative effort. From the production to the music. I wrote all the basic structures and parts of the songs. I made demo's with vocals, keyboards, bass and drums and divied up the songs to friends. Then different people came in and created their own guitar parts, drum parts and others added new twists to existing parts. On 2 songs we wrote the tunes as a band with Tim Herzog on drums, myself on bass and Aimee Argote on guitar – So there were all kinds of approaches. We did all the basic tracking at Polyphinic Studios in Chapel Hill and then I did a ton of overdubs myself with a computer – which we then mixed altogether.

How were you able to carrell all these people to record?

That was one of the toughest parts of the record and the reason it took forever to finish. Everyone who played on the record has at least one or 2 full time bands. So I had to schedule recording time around 10 different bands touring and recording schedules, the studio schedule, people traveling from Baltimore, Chicago, and Richmond. It was crazy.

I just read the review of your album on DTH Online and besides from the review being bad (as in thought), there is no mention of how you rock the house in CH. How many people know who you are in CH?

Honestly – that was a little frustrating – cuz I work at UNC, at least 5 people involved in the record work at UNC and they didn't even bother to mention that or check into it –Our press person tried to push that angle on them and they were L-a-z-y over there.

What current bands do you find as genre-shifting?

Rah Bras – check em out

Who and how do you tour with your collaboration?

The current touring band is called the calculators – Tim Herzog on bass, Aimee Argote on Guitar from Des Ark - Luke Herbst on drums from Allnight, Bats and Mice – and Ileana Rodriquez on Keyboards from The Devil – It's a collaborative effort and people help out when they can –

What is your favorite place to play?

My favorite place to play is GO! Studios in Carrboro

Worst?

Never – no worst places – ever show is an adventure

If you could change something about CH what would it be?

I would say the rent and housing prices – that is out of control and is painful to the hundreds of killer musicians in this area

What do you aspire to with your music?

Play and record it

Bonus: What does George Washington and the square root of three have in common?

They both involve the number 1?

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