I have been influenced by many sounds, songs, and people...here are some of the great bands and artists I have played with: Her Space Holiday, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, Mucca Pazza, Baby Dee, Nina Nastasia and Jim White, James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand), The Duchess and the Duke, ADVENTURE(pawtracks), Madaline Adams, Ghost Mice, Defiance Ohio, and many Houston Bands such as Spain Colored Orange, Young Mammals, Hearts of Animals, , The TonTons, The Wiggins, WoozyHelmet, American Sharks, Chase Hamblin, Sad Gorilla, Robert Ellis, and many more. My other project, THA FUCKING TRANSMISSIONS, have opened for national acts such as Wale, SCARFACE, YOUNG MC, PUBLIC ENEMY, REDMAN, BUN-B, and GHOSTFACEKILLAH...just to name a notable few!
Sounds Like
HOUSTON PRESS: Benjamin Wesley, Geschichte EP: The driving force behind disbanded, fuzzed-out four-string symphony Basses Loaded and low-end minder for rap-rock rude boys Tha Fucking Transmissions, Benjamin Wesley is one of the most gifted, eclectically minded musical catalysts in town. So when he turns his considerable talents toward his own compositions, the results are suitably impressive. "Stepping past the bullshit, that's my hobby," he sings on "People Will Never Stop Being Crazy," and his shoes are spic-and-span on Geschichte (German for "history"). Wesley's six-song EP, the first thing he's released under his own name, is a seamless hybrid of organic and electronic sounds unified by evocative lyrics ("The smell of trouble hangs in the air like rain"). "Ghost Story" weds lonesome Neil Young harmonica and deceptively innocuous Krautrock keyboards, resembling a lost My Morning Jacket track, while "Have You Ever Died?" answers that discomfiting question with a stuttery drum-machine track, fluttery accordion and wheezy Casio keyboard melody. Geschichte is as arresting and engaging a solo work as Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which, as anyone who's heard Jeff Mangum's 1997 Elephant 6 landmark should know, is not a compliment to be taken (or given) lightly at all.
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. He’s currently working on a full-length album due out in 2009 with a North American tour to follow.
“Benjamin Wesley is one of the most gifted, eclectically minded musical catalysts in town. Wesley's EP, is a seamless hybrid of organic and electronic sounds unified by evocative lyrics and is as arresting and engaging a solo work as Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” - Houston Press
“The disc can't compare to seeing the guy live -- there's just no topping watching, open-mouthed, as Wesley nonchalantly plays bass, guitar, keys, and harmonica (and sings, obviously) all at the same freaking time. He is a wise-beyond-words sage who knows exactly what the fuck it is he's doing, even if you don't.” – Spacecityrock.com
“The multi-instrumentalist is no stranger to creating unique, original music. What separates the live experience is his lyrics – it’s much easier to focus on what he’s singing about when you’re not standing in awe of what’s happening onstage. It’s this combination of apocalyptic heartbreak and hopefulness, along with Wesley’s musicianship, that makes Geschichte–and Benjamin Wesley–one of a kind.” – houstoncalling.net
