Bio

BenKN skillfully mixes acoustic and electric guitar riffage with subtle synths, sampled-beats, and soaring orchestral compositions. Ben is also a talented illustrator who creates art prints for his songs with bandmate / collaborator, Taylor Gillis, out of their art studio they call,  Design it Together (www.designittogether.com).

Ben began playing shows in college while earning a degree in Anthropology and Fine Arts. He caught the bug to travel while training to be an archaeologist in Mexico, but after graduating, poured his energy into his first touring rock band, “the Orange”. Ben later moved to Los Angeles and joined the band Jupiter Sunrise as a songwriter, vocalist, and guitar player. He toured with Jupiter Sunrise throughout the United States and Canada for five years in a vegetable-oil-powered bus until the group’s final tour in 2006, having performed on the Warped Tour and earning features on CWTV’s “One Tree Hill,” National Public Radio, A.P. Magazine, and MySpace Music. BenKN continues to record and tour as a disarming performer, illustrator, and experimental multimedia artist, imbued with the texture of his experiences and a broad imagination.

In 2008, Ben released his first solo EP, We Are Giants Now via Collar City Records. His forthcoming record, “The Reverie of Ruby Star,” (working title) is currently being recorded.

Ben’s various projects and songwriting have earned him features on the CW’s 2008 Season Premiere of “One Tree Hill,” MTV’s “Road Rules” and “Real World, “NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and MySpace Compilation Vol. 1.

Ben performed as a guest vocalist for electronic artists, Arms and Sleepers, for their Spring 2010 European tour.

Over the course of his career Ben has performed on the Warped Tour & toured or shared the stage with Elliot Smith, Hello Goodbye, Coheed and Cambria, the Roots, They Might Be Giants, Onelinedrawing (Jonah Matrenga), Ludo, and many other artists of note.