Hessian Ben

Cheers! i’m Ben, 45/he/him, playing for about 30 years and kinda finally getting good at it. Mainly electric metal rhythm guitar (working on improving the leads), but i dabble with bass and drums, as well as other styles. Love blues, funk, soul, and classical, and i try to play them but am not great with any of those styles…. but i’m open-minded about trying! Joining here because i recently reminded myself that i DO NOT sing, and even aside from that, i’m at my best when i’m playing with other people who also love to get everyone’s horns in the air.

Before i even toss out examples of what i sound like, i’ll get the “personality” items out there. i’ve been around long enough to know that these are deal-breakers if any of the answers are “wrong”, so i don’t wanna waste anyone’s time if we won’t get along. So here’s all of that:

- Non/anti-religious (blasphemer/heretic) - Progressive liberal (i wrote in Sanders in 2016, and grudgingly checked the Biden box 4 years later) - Anti-fascist - Still drink, but not excessively (anymore; learned those lessons already, and absolutely cool if you don’t drink) - Not willing to work with hard-drug users (learned those lessons too, but if you smoke that’s no problem either)

Influences are a VERY mixed bag, but focus is melodeath, thrash, and classic metal, with a healthy dose of SOME hair-metal in there (Crüe, Guns, Skids, and Leppard, but not Poison, Winger, Warrant, or RATT). Came up on Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, and Testament, along with lots of their influences like Priest, Maiden, and 70s/80s/90s punk. Favorites to listen to lately is stuff like Revocation, Skeletonwitch, Nevermore, The Black Dahlia Murder, and GOATWHORE.

i work from home, but it is a solid 40/week, and i’m old enough that a real tour would have to be a very serious endeavor. i AM down for local shows, as long as a band can rehearse at least once or twice a week. i write riffs, and try to do “arrangements” (or at least suggest things that i think would sound cool). Finally, i’ve been working on my tracking/mixing/production skills more than my actual playing for the last couple years too - you can hear the results (including the reason that i need at least a vocalist) in the YT and IG links here.

So if you’re still reading, then YAY!!!! Let’s chat and see what’s up.