Meltdown chats with Breaking Benjamin
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00:00Hey guys, backstage here at DT with Ben from Breaking Benjamin, of course, the big show tonight, nothing more,
00:05as well as the guys from Bad Wolves and Five Finger Death Punch.
00:08How's the tour been going so far, man?
00:09Everything's been going great, man.
00:11These guys are awesome, and it's just been a lot of fun, and we're really, really...
00:16There we go.
00:17Hey, let's try it again. Go ahead.
00:19Hey, how's the tour been going?
00:22Hey, listen, the first job a singer has to do is learn how to turn the microphone on,
00:26so we'll just keep going, man. Go ahead.
00:27My microphone is just on all the time.
00:29That's right. Somebody turns it on for you.
00:31Yeah, there you go. Yeah, that's all right, man. So everything's going well out here?
00:34Yeah, no, everything's going great. Everybody's been really cool, and it's been a lot of fun,
00:38and we're really, really just honored to be a part of it.
00:41Yeah, a couple more shows left to go here. I think five or something like that?
00:43Yeah, something like that. It's been a long run, but it's been going by quick because it's been so fun,
00:49and everybody's been really awesome, so it's just a great time.
00:53Yeah. I was flipping through your Instagram the other day thinking that no one was going to talk to you,
00:56and I saw your birthday cake. We share the same birthday.
00:58Oh, really? Cool.
01:00Pisces.
01:00Pisces, yeah.
01:01Your creative type?
01:03Well, I guess so. I mean, yeah, I guess I've always been kind of artsy and stuff like that,
01:09so I guess it really fits the mold of what it says Pisces are.
01:15Yeah.
01:16Plus, I'm left-handed, and I think that's something that's Pisces, too. Are you?
01:20No, I'm right.
01:20Yeah, it's all right.
01:21But I can't play an instrument or sing or anything.
01:24Oh, it's all good.
01:26But I do like to do creative things.
01:28So tell us about this new record, about the band, how things are going so far in 2018 here.
01:33Yeah, I mean, we just cut a record not too long ago, put it out.
01:37It's called Ember, and we're just out here supporting it,
01:40and everybody's been really awesome supporting it, like all the fans and everything like that.
01:43So we're just riding the wave again and having a really good time.
01:47And I didn't do a lot of – I didn't do all of the writing on it,
01:52so it's really cool to be able to, like, listen to it and not –
01:55and be able to, like, enjoy it that way because when I do, like, all of the writing on it,
01:59I can't really, like – like, am I too into myself here, you know?
02:04So it's cool to listen to a song that somebody else wrote.
02:06I can kind of, like, enjoy it more because I didn't really write it
02:09and I didn't have anything to do with it other than the vocals and stuff.
02:13But, yeah, it's been really cool.
02:14It's been really fun, and people are really enjoying the album and enjoying the tour.
02:18And so I think all the bands get along so well
02:22and everybody's really cool and down to earth and everything like that.
02:24And I think that that vibe kind of, like, comes across to the crowd
02:28and they get the sincerity that we're all, like, buds out here and having a good time.
02:32Now, being a Pisces, like we were just talking about,
02:34I kind of like to be in control of things.
02:36Do you seem like the kind of person that likes to be in control of things as well?
02:39I think I like to be in control of things that I can't be in control of more so
02:43than wanting to be in control of everything.
02:48But, no, I mean, I just kind of, like, let it be what it is, you know?
02:53I can't control everything.
02:55As far as music is concerned, I don't like to control everything.
02:58I just like for it to be, like, done right.
03:00That's all.
03:01If I don't have to control it, then I'm cool with that.
03:04Now, as far as Breaking Benjamin is concerned,
03:06I mean, you've obviously been there since the beginning of your band.
03:08What are the benchmarks of success that you look to reach?
03:13Well, I mean, I'm grateful for what we have, you know?
03:16So I've already exceeded beyond anything I could imagine doing in this business.
03:23Yeah, I mean, you know, you start out, you just want to play music, you know?
03:26You don't expect to have platinum albums or anything like that.
03:30Like, I didn't have any expectations like that.
03:33Those things are amazing, and they're things that our fans have given to us.
03:36But I didn't go into being in a band and be like,
03:39I'm going to have this and I'm going to have that.
03:41That wasn't, like, my goal.
03:43My goal was just to make music and play music.
03:45And back in the day, I mean, I was playing, like, three hours
03:52and getting, I think, like, $300 for it.
03:55And I was like, wow, I just made $300 in three hours.
03:59You knew what you liked.
04:00Yeah, I was, like, so, like, ecstatic about it.
04:03Like, I couldn't believe it because back then, you know, it's,
04:06well, $300 is a big deal, but back then it was like, wow,
04:08I just got paid $300 to play music.
04:11And it was, like, this amazing thing to me, you know.
04:14So it's just, I never, I just kind of take it as it comes
04:18and I don't really have any expectation.
04:20And even something like that was something I thought was just awesome at the time.
04:24I ate like a king.
04:26I just ordered a pizza.
04:29Yeah, order the lobster.
04:30Yeah, not even lobster, just me eating like a king as a pizza and some wings.
04:34So that's what I did.
04:36Hey, speaking of eating, growing up in the middle of Pennsylvania,
04:39are you a wet-bottom fan or a dry-bottom fan?
04:42I don't know what that is.
04:43A souffle pie.
04:44Oh, God, souffle pie.
04:46I like souffle pie.
04:48It's not bad.
04:49Actually, my family growing up, they had a clothing store that Mennonites,
04:55we would take clothes that had little flaws in them,
04:58and then Mennonites would sew them.
05:00And Mennonite is, like, a less strict but almost just as strict version of an Amish.
05:06Yeah, so I'm around all these Mennonites all the time,
05:10and they would always bring that, always, because that's their thing.
05:14You know, that's like an Amish thing is shoofly pie.
05:16So they would bring shoofly pie in all the time.
05:19So I ate it constantly, and it was good.
05:22I love it.
05:23I really don't have a preference.
05:25I'll eat anything.
05:25But I don't know.
05:26It was always the same.
05:27It was never, like, wet-bottomed or dry.
05:29I don't know what that is.
05:30They say there's a difference.
05:31They're guys that you're either on one side of the fence or the other.
05:34Yeah, I don't know the difference.
05:35I only ever had the one kind, and it was good.
05:38Yeah.
05:39You know, this will be the first time I've seen you guys, I think, since the Shinedown tour.
05:42We actually took a plane full of listeners two years ago and saw you guys in Vegas.
05:46Cool.
05:46And as I was walking through, I saw Vinnie Paul.
05:48I'm like, VP, what's going on?
05:50He's like, help down.
05:50What's happening?
05:51You know?
05:51And did you ever get to meet Vinnie?
05:53Or did you know him a little bit?
05:54I don't know him, but I did meet him very briefly.
05:57We did a radio festival with them, and I met him and Dime at the same time.
06:00That's how long ago it was.
06:02Yeah.
06:02It was just really briefly, and they were really cool.
06:05But, man, it would be awesome to have been able to.
06:08Well, he saw you that night.
06:10Yeah.
06:10Yeah.
06:11Yeah.
06:11So I met them.
06:13Yeah.
06:13Yeah.
06:13But, yeah, I didn't really get to.
06:16I'm, like, kind of scared to.
06:17I'm still that way.
06:19Really?
06:19Yeah.
06:20I'm still that way with people that I really, like, admire.
06:23Yeah.
06:24Yeah.
06:24Yeah.
06:24I'm still that way.
06:25Wow.
06:26I would have never guessed that.
06:27Yeah, I am, man.
06:28All these years, huh?
06:29Yeah, no.
06:30Dude, I'm just a normal guy.
06:32Like, I don't really do anything, like, rock star-y, you know?
06:37Like, I go to the grocery store.
06:38Sometimes there'll be somebody there, and they'll be like, what are you doing here?
06:42I'm like, getting toilet paper.
06:44Hey, guys.
06:47Like, how do you get it?
06:49You know?
06:50So I'm just a normal guy with a really cool job.
06:53So, yeah, people like that, sort of, like, I'm like, uh-uh.
06:57Yeah.
06:57So you guys got this tour wrapping up here in a couple days.
07:00I'm sure you're going to probably take a little bit of time off, tour through the winter and the whole thing.
07:03Yeah, this five-finger thing is going on for a long time, which is really cool because we're all having a great time and everything.
07:09But so we're just going to take a couple breaks in between the legs of it and just keep on trucking.
07:13Well, Ben, good luck.
07:14Safe travels.
07:15Thanks so much for taking some time with the Riff.
07:16Thank you for having me, man.
07:17You guys are awesome.