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Interview with Ben Smith - drummer of Heart
By Wayne Dubay
Conducted on 09/11/04
Some may ask, who is Ben Smith? Some may already know. If you don’t know, Ben Smith is the talented drummer behind Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Ben hooked up with Ann and Nancy in Seattle when they were looking for a drummer for their band “The HeartMongers.” They must have liked what Ben had to offer, because he has been with Heart on and off now for a decade. Ben brings it on with a vengeance, and doesn’t miss a beat. Not only is Ben a true professional, he is one of the nicest guys’s on the planet. So here is an exclusive interview with Ben Smith of Heart! Enjoy!
Ben Smith, good to see you again man! How are you?
I’m doing great man! Thanks a lot for coming down to the gig. Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
Yes, unfortunately I have...(Laughs)Doesn’t it seem a bit weird playing here in Boston on 9\11? Three years since the trade center attacks in New York?
Yeah! But you know I think the great thing about that is, ah, we aren’t threatened by that right? The first tune we did tonight is “Sand,” which is about loss and death, and weird shit happens in the world, you know what I mean, so I’m honored to be here on this day. It’s an important day.
Do you remember where you were three years ago when that all happened?
Yeah, I was home trying to keep my three-year-old away from the TV screen. My wife was totally going “The twin towers are burning down!” I was like “No way, that’s not happening, you’re out of your mind right now.” You know cause I was playing with my son in the yard to keep him away from the TV.
That was one of the scariest things I have ever seen on TV man!
Yeah, it was terrible.
On a happier note, Heart is currently touring in support of the new album, JUPITERS DARLING. How’s the tour going?
The tour is going great. We’re in the last third of it now, and ah, we’ve had some really long runs, we’ve been doing a bunch of work, and I think the band is sounding great, and ah, we want people to feel like they are at a live recording every night. You know what I mean? We have one of the best house mixers in the world; we’ve got the best singers in the world. Everyone in the band is just happy to back Ann and Nancy, from whom we get a lot of respect. It’s cool.
You did a few shows in Europe prior to the U.S. tour, How was that?
It was great, but we rammed it. We did twelve shows in fourteen days. We were all on one bus.
Really?
Yes, totally.
Wow, so that was like the Partridge family huh?
Totally like the Partridge family. Nancy Wilson likes to play guitar and sing songs every night and call hootenannies, so towards the end of the tour I was like “ Shut up! Let’s just get some rest!” But the Europe thing went really well actually, we had people flying in from Germany and France, Italy, you know yelling at me and saying “How come you aren’t coming to our Country to do shows!?” A lot of fans. I’m looking forward to ah, really pushing this record more and hopefully getting another record done if Ann and Nancy feels like that is what they want too do, but it’ll take that to really push us forward. Europe was great.
Any cool road stories to share?
Oh man, what could we print? (Laughs) We did a gig in Detroit, where we had the toughest guy’s in Detroit, that you know belonged to some Italian social clubs. We had the toughest guys on the N.Y.P.D., and Zakk Wylde and his band from Oz Fest, so you know, we had some great times. Fourteen thousand people at the Pine Knob is a great gig.
So, Black Label Society was hanging out as well?
Yes, because Mike Inez our bass player, who played with Alice In Chains, and Ozzy, has know those guys for a long time. It doesn’t matter what bands or music people come out, they would see our band, and go “Oh my God!” We did a gig with Reo Speedwagon in Sturgis, and the Reo guys were great, totally nice guys, and they were standing side stage during our show, and were going “Oh my God!” So, we get a lot of respect, It’s cool.
Are you and Mike Inez behaving yourselves out there?
We’re trying. You know, we’re trying to represent our girls. Let’s put it this way, no one has ended up in jail, nobody has ended up with someone else’s bra on. So far so good. (Laughs)
Where are you from?
I grew up in California, until I was about eight years old, and moved out to the Northwest. I spent eight years in New York, where I really learned about music and how to make a living doing music. I now live in Seattle, where I hooked up with Ann and Nancy. They had a band called The Lovemongers, which they needed a drummer for.
How long have you been in Heart?
On and off for ten years.
You have a new member in the band, Craig Bartock who replaced Gilby Clarke, How well is he fitting in?
He’s doing great. The thing about Craig is, he is a super talented guitarist, and also is an excellent producer and writer. He’s a great guy.
I understand that Craig also co-produced the new album with Nancy?
Yes, he has co-produced and co-wrote almost all of the new record. Very talented musician, and he will also be doing music with Nancy on the new Cameron Crowe movie as well.
So, did you know Craig prior to him joining the band?
I just met him last fall or summer when him and Nancy were writing songs. They have a super strong bond musically.
What was the reason for Gilby’s departure from the band?
This is what I would say about Gilby. Gilby is so busy with his own life producing and writing, and working with artists that he really wants to develop. Gilby was a great addition to the band last summer, and we totally support him with his writing and production career. Gilby is a good guy, and he totally loves music.
As I said, Heart has a new album out called JUPITERS DARLING, What’s your favorite song on the record?
It’s hard for me to say what my favorite song on the record is, because there’s two things. One is, what songs did I do justice to, and feel like I supported, and the other thing is what do I feel like the strongest song is. For me, I think the strongest song is... now, I look at it two ways, because Ann and Nancy both sing so damn great on the record. For Nancy the strongest song for me is “I Need The Rain.” Totally strong song, that and “I’m Fine.” They are totally out of the heart. For Ann I think probably the strongest songs I love the most are “Enough, ”and “Fallen Ones.”
I really dig “Make Me,” and “Things.” I notice a bit of Led Zeppelin influence in that song. A bit of Jimmy Page coming out of Nancy. (Laughs)
The girls are total Zeppelin fans! They have to reign themselves down from almost being in a Zeppelin cover band. (Laughs) I have never played a gig with them where we didn’t play a Led Zeppelin tune. Zeppelin Rules! (Laughs)
How much of the writing were you involved in?
Not that much, because Nancy, Craig and Ann worked really hard and got a ton of work done really fast. They asked Mike and I to come and play on the record. I did have a piece of one song that I wrote with my friend Sue Ennis who co- wrote some of the early Heart tunes.
How is it to work with Ann and Nancy?
It’s a total blessing man. They are the most talented people I know. They are a lot of fun, and I’m honored to be there. There’s no better band to be working with for me.
Also, Heart will be performing on the Ellen show October 4th, are you excited about that?
Oh Yeah. The TV gigs are always fun.
Is Ellen a longtime friend of Ann or Nancy’s? Or both?
I don’t know.
Ellen must be a Heart fan.
I think probably Ellen grew up listening to Heart, and went “Ann and Nancy Fucking Rock, and they aren’t taking a bunch of shit.” I think Ann and Nancy inspired a lot of people, and Ellen is one of them.
Now, you were on the Conan O'Brien show also right?
Yes, I think it was the end of June. When I lived in New York, I did a whole bunch of gigs with all the guys that play on that show, and my wife Lib worked with the Guitar player Jimmy Vivino. He’s a great guy. For me that was awesome, because I got to see my old friends from the show, and be in New York again. Plus we were really doing cool gigs there, which is exciting.
Do you have any hobbies you like when you are off the road?
Play with my son. Walk around the house naked with a Richard Nixon mask on. (Laughs) It’s totally hot. Dude, I’m totally hot. (Laughs)
(Laughs) Yes, you are, you touched my nipple, and I think it moved. (Laughs)
You’re still a little distracted right now aren’t you? (Laughs) Seriously, for hobbies, I don’t really have any. My hobby is, I live in a house that was built in 1904. So, my only hobby is trying to figure out what to do next. (Laughs) You know, what next, the interior paint, the roof, the electrical? Right now I’m turning the garage into a music studio. So for hobbies, I don’t really have any I guess.
Isn’t there anything else you do, like, I don’t know, suck farts out of dead seagulls, or...(Laughs)
(Laughs) I have friends that collect cocoons, or the insulators from telephone poles. (Laughs) I totally have friends that do that. (Laughs)
So your hobby is being a family man and great dad then.
I try to be when I’m not observing my religion as a cross dresser. (Laughs)
Do you play in any side bands when you aren’t touring with Heart?
I get hired by people who do recordings, and usually when they hire me, it’s because they know I can help them get something really strong done. I have a lot of projects I do. I do probably twenty or thirty records a year with different people. Of those records, I’ll go out and do a few dates with a couple here and there. Some of it’s in LA, some in the Northwest, and some in New York. So, I have a team of different guys I work with on and off. I’ve been playing gigs for thirty years, so now I’m finally starting to learn how to play. (Laughs) For the projects that I would call side projects that I really feel strongly about, there is a Brazilian girl out of Seattle Paula Maya, who I’m working with. I’m working really hard with her trying to get her going. She sings in English and Portuguese, her strongest market would probably be Brazil. I love her, but I really want to go to Brazil. Mike Inez, who has been doing the shows with Heart, and I are always working on new stuff together. So, Mike and I are working on a project, just having fun writing songs. There was a project Mike started with Randy Castillo, who was the drummer for Ozzy, who died of cancer a couple of years ago.
He did a record called New Tattoo with Motley Crue also.
Yeah, that was one of the last gigs he did before he died. He was with Ozzy and Mike for a great run over nine years or so, Lita Ford, lots of other gigs, and lots of records. Mike asked me to come in and do some tracks, and so we are working hard to get that going.
What’s one of your favorite bands besides Heart?
People who write good songs. I don’t care if it’s Joni Mitchell, ah, Henry Rollins, Sting, Zakk Wylde. What matters to me is people’s commitment to writing good songs and not over producing. I’m a song guy; I will never be the bad ass, super flashy drummer. People hire me because I work hard to support a good song. I like a lot of the modern rock bands, but my thing is, especially the producers, a lot of producers follow the cookie cutter thing, you know? What I like is the people who are not so cookie cutter, and like to really take risks.
Who inspired you to want to play drums?
I went to an all black High school, so funk and blues is what got me interested. I was out making a living when I was fifteen or sixteen years old. I listen to a million different drummers, so I would have to say, John Bonham, David Garibaldi from Tower Of Power, Jack DeJohnette who is an amazing jazz drummer among the many drummers I listen to.
You guys kicked the tour off in Seattle, and are ending it in Washington DC. Is there a special reason for that?
It’s totally the routing man. It’s just what ever gigs come up at the time. We work with great booking agents, and our management Carol Peters is working her ass off to get the new record noticed.
So there isn’t a political agenda or anything then?
Not at all. Nope.
Last question, Bush or Kerry?
I wish we had a stronger voice, and I wish we had a stronger personality to contrast against Bush on the Democratic side.
Anything you would like to say to your fans out there?
Yes, Support good songs, thank you for listening to music, and buy the record. Buy five copies. (laughs)
Thanks a lot Ben for talking with Glam-Metal.com, where we don’t care about your hair or dick size, it’s the music that matters.
Thank you for asking me to do it man. It was fun. |
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