Interview With Singer-Songwriter Ben Disaster

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<h1>Interview With Singer-Songwriter Ben Disaster</h1><strong> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_koency.aspx'>koency</a></strong><br /><p>Life can be funny sometimes, and not always in a ha-ha way. While Ben Disaster was off on tour singing for Edmonton, Alberta punk band Let's Dance, copies of his long-awaited debut solo acoustic album were arriving in boxes back home. But a stage move gone wrong at a LD show in Brooklyn resulted in Disaster's palm being impaled by a broken bottle, severing the main motor nerve; doctors later described the injury as "the worst thing he could have done to his hand." For a singer-songwriter in his early 20s, the loss of function and feeling in his guitar-fretting fingers is a serious blow. But after undergoing surgery to reattach his nerves, Disaster is optimistic about his recovery. Suite 101 talks to the folk musician about his recent ordeal and his new record. Lloyd Tillman Is... Ben Disaster's Debut Album S101: Tell me about your new solo record on thoughtcrime ink. Disaster: The record is Lloyd Tillman Is…. It was recorded in late 2008, early 2009. I was waiting around on some funding to come in for the record and just a lot of disasters kept happening. Finally by the time I was home and ready to go promote the record and start playing shows with it, this injury happened. S101: What is the album about? What aspects of it do you like the best? Disaster: It’s definitely about a kid struggling and I’m sure a lot of people have inner struggles so I think there will be people who’ll be able to relate to some of it. Hopefully if they’re feeling down they can take something from it and maybe feel better. It was just more of a story, it wasn’t these extravagant song about made-up fairy tales. It was real and pretty powerful and I think I enjoy that element of it the most. Finding a Record Label S101: How did you hook up with your record label? Disaster: I recorded a demo a long time ago and passed it around to some friends and to the guys at thoughtcrime. After playing the Edmonton Punx Picnic a few years in a row, They really liked what I was doing and wanted to have it recorded and put it out. At the time I was just busking and writing songs and didn’t consider it as a real project; it just seemed like a good pastime and I wasn’t really focused on recording, just on writing songs and getting better. I thought it was a really wonderful opportunity that these guys wanted to pay for me to record and put out a record. Ben Disaster's Hand Injury S101: Your recent hand injury happened in the middle of a Let's Dance tour. How did you manage to finish the tour? Disaster: I would go to emergency rooms and medical centers and try to get as much free gauze as possible. Before and after every show, I would change the gauze and have a ritual: while everyone was celebrating afterwards I’d go to the washroom and pour half a bottle of rubbing alcohol and Polysporin on my hand and try and clean it out as best as I could. I thought I was doing a pretty good job but then it got really infected. S101: Could you move your hand at all? Disaster: Throughout the tour it seemed to get worse. It would get really stiff and the cut became really gross-looking and my hand became more and more numb each day, going throughout the hand and the fingers pretty much to the wrist. A Serious Blow to a Singer-Songwriter's Career S101: Did you realize how serious the injury was? Disaster: I knew how serious it was the day after it happened. The first night I was kind of in shock and the next morning I realized that I definitely did something that I shouldn’t have done to my hand, and as days went on I knew I had to get it checked out. S101: When did you finally get it treated? Disaster: When I got home, I went straight to a MediCentre. They told me my hand was fine and gave me these antibiotics that looked like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pills and cream that you’re not supposed to put on a gaping wound, and I questioned their diagnosis and went to the hospital. They said I needed surgery right away. When I went in to get surgery I was told I wouldn’t have feeling or full function again, but so far I’ve been able to move past the feeling and just think about the function and I’ve been doing pretty well. Ben Disaster Stays Positive S101: What’s it like being a guitar player and being told you might never be able to play guitar again? Disaster: It’s pretty scary but having a lot of friends who have had similar injuries and seeing how they’ve progressed, you know there’s hope. But it's hard not to play guitar or be able to write songs and practice for shows and play shows as a means of income and happiness. Upcoming Records, Videos, and Future Plans for Ben Disaster Although the road to recovery will be a long and arduous one, musician Ben Disaster is confident he'll be playing guitar again soon. Until then, he's got a few projects on the go to keep him busy, including a short film, some Western Canada dates with friend Dylan Thomas filling in, and more vinyl releases of previously unreleased recordings on the way.</p><strong>About the Author:</strong><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gw2gold.org/">http://www.gw2gold.org/</a><p> Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Interview-With-Singer-Songwriter-Ben-Disaster_33391.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Interview With Singer-Songwriter Ben Disaster_33391.aspx</a></p>

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Keywords : folk music,

Category : Arts and Entertainment : Music