Ben Lee life and biography

Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Although he was probably more widely known for his romance with young actress Claire Danes of movies such as the Mod Squad and the television series My So-Called Life Australian alternative rock prodigy Ben Lee earned admirable critical credibility at a relatively early age. His home-recorded single debut as a 14-year-old in the band Noise Addict attracted the interest of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Beastie Boys' Mike D. The single earned Lee a record deal before he was even out of high school.

By that point, though, Lee had already been honing his craft for years, having written his first songs at the age of ten. At 13 the Sydney native had formed Noise Addict. It's not surprising that Lee's age was as much a topic of discussion as was his music. Reviewing his 1995 debut solo album Grandpaw Would for Rolling Stone, Christina Kelly wrote, "it's hard to believe lyrics this dead-on were written by a kid this young. Then you realize that only a 15-year-old could write songs with such a perfect combination of innocence and cynicism."

"I Was I Was Him" brought immediate attention to Lee and Noise Addict bass player Daniel Kohn and drummer Saul Smith. A tongue-in-cheek ode to Lemonhead Evan Dando "I Was I Was Him" included the oft-quoted lyrics, "He's got six different flannel shirts, Airwalks not thongs/He even understands the words to Pavement songs." Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill reportedly later covered the song. A new version of "I Wish I Was Him" first appeared on The Taste in My Eyes, a 1994 EP issued on the Australian label Fellaheen. When Noise Addict's American debut, the EP Young & Jaded, was released on the Beastie Boys' label Grand Royal in 1994, it included the original recording of "I Wish I Was Him," along with a cover version of the Jonathan Richman song "Back in Your Life." The same year, the band also released the EP Def on the Ecstatic Peace! label.

Although Noise Addict was often likened to fellow Australian teen rock band Silverchair, a number of writers noted that the primary similarity between the two bands was the age of their members. Unlike the grunge-oriented Silverchair, Lee and Noise Addict demonstrated more of a pop sensibility. As Sara Sherr wrote for the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, "Lee mixes elements of innocence and wisdom, catchy songs with witty, poignant lyrics about girls and pop music, and the struggle to be yourself in a world populated by interchangeable scenesters."

In 1995, Lee took a brief hiatus from Noise Addict to record Grandpaw Would. An engaging outing, Grandpaw Would was praised in the Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock as "a joy: one catchy little pop song after another." The album featured background vocals by Rebecca Gates of the Spinanes on "Pop Queen" and Liz Phair on "Away With the Pixies." Lee returned to Noise Addict which now featured new guitarist Romy Hoffman to record 1996's Meet the Real You. It would be the last album Lee would record with Noise Addict before splitting from the group to concentrate on a solo career.

The following year Lee issued his first post-Noise Addict album, Something to Remember Me By, which was recorded at the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal studio in Los Angeles. Writing for the Detroit News, Tom Long called the album "a personal, complex and affecting work that doesn't necessarily show a wisdom beyond his years; instead it shows a wisdom about his years, and may be one of the best albums of 1997." The album again teamed Lee with producer Brad Wood, who had worked on Lee's first solo record and Noise Addict's last. Wood had also worked with alternative rock acts Veruca Salt and Liz Phair.

Something to Remember Me Byfeatured some reasonably well known alternative rockers backing Lee, including Hole's Melissa Auf der Maur and That Dog's Anna Waronker on backing vocals. The album tackled more weighty themes than his previous outings, which Lee said he did consciously. "It's not a light album, something you can really put on in the background," Lee told Steve Appleford of Rolling Stone in 1997. "There's no reason to let people off lightly just because they've already paid for the record."

By the age of 20, he had already released his third solo outing, 1999's Breathing Tornadoes. The album, which incorporated more musical technology than previous efforts, demonstrated Lee's continuing musical growth and garnered the Aussie even more critical accolades. Newsweek praised the record's "infectious electrofolk." Lee told Billboard's Carrie Borzillo, "I just feel I've been so literal so many times in the past; this was the first time I experimented with different degrees of abstraction. I wanted to talk about more complex feelings, and the only way to do that was with more complex lyrics." Evelyn McDonnell dubbed it "infectious" and "charming" in her review for Interview, while Esquire said the album "hit the pop-alternative nail on the head."

For his fourth solo album, Breathing Tornadoes, Lee worked with producer Ed Bueller, who was well known for his work with British acts like Suede and Pulp. "I didn't want to be in the situation where you fall into old habits, and before you know it, you're making the same jokes and using the same sounds," Lee told Borzillo. The album, Lee's first for Capitol Records, was recorded in a New York apartment. It featured the single "Nothing Much Happens," which was co-written by former That Dog violinist Petra Haden.

To promote the album, Lee was slated to tour the Northeastern United States, as well as open several shows for the band Cracker. In a 1997 article in Entertainment Weekly, Lee exhibited his knack for digging beneath the surface of issues, which apparently extends beyond his songs, as he discussed his career. "I'm dealing with my soul and the souls of the people who listen to me," Lee told writer Matt Diehl. "However I'm judged, I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all."

Lee's fourth album, hey you. yes you., was released in 2002. The first single from the album, "Something Borrowed, Something Blue", reached number 67 on the ARIA Charts and number 22 on the 2002's Triple J Hottest 100. The second single, "Running with Scissors", peaked at number 82 on the ARIA charts.

In late 2004, Lee left Steve Pavlovic's Modular Recordings and started up his own record label, Ten Fingers. The first release on the label was the single, "Gamble Everything for Love", followed by the album, Awake Is the New Sleep in February 2005, which went double platinum in Australia. A defining release in his career, the album showcased a much brighter, positive side of Lee's personality, in contrast to his previous darker musings. Awake Is the New Sleep received several nominations for the 2005 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, and Lee won Best Male Artist, Best Independent Release, and Single Of The Year for "Catch My Disease", which Lee wrote with Mcgowan Southworth.

Ben Lee released his sixth album, Ripe, on 18 September 2007 with Benji Madden and Mandy Moore making appearances. Mandy Moore sung a light-hearted, 50's style duet with Lee called "Birds and Bees". "Mandy was very sweet and did her best Olivia Newton-John for me. I'm really psyched about this recording," Lee says.

Albums:
-Grandpaw Would (1995)
-Something to Remember Me By (1997)
-Breathing Tornados (1998) #13 Australia
-hey you. yes you. (2002) #45 Australia
-Awake Is the New Sleep (22 February 2005) #5 Australia (2x Platinum)
-Ben Lee Sings Against Me! New Wave (2007)
-Ripe (18 September 2007) #11 Australia
-The Rebirth of Venus (6 February 2009 Australia and 10 February 2009 US) #21 Australia
-Deeper Into Dream (October 2011)

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