Born in Brooklyn and raised on Rock 'N' Roll, Ben picked up the guitar as a young child and hasn't put it down since. Ben soaked up his parents' record collection, from The Beatles to Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd to The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers to Led Zeppelin; these sounds were the soundtrack to his life. Every new chord he learned led to a new song of his own.
As a teenager, inspired by a slew of British bands (The Verve, Oasis, Blur), Ben began recording demos of his songs. In 2000, some of those demos made their way into the hands of producer extraordinaire Roger Greenawalt (Ben Kweller, Nils Lofgren, The Pierces) who produced Ben's EP "The Rain". After completing "The Rain Sessions" Ben set out to form a band; that band was Surefire. A perfectionist at heart, Ben rehearsed Surefire for years in his basement studio, amassing albums worth of material before ever playing a show. That diligence paid off and in 2003 Surefire took New York City by storm wowing music fans and critics alike.
As Surefire continued to hone their collective skills, Ben's love of recording led him to Clinton Recording Studios where he worked for world-renowned engineer Ed Rak (Miles Davis, Madonna, Duran Duran, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra). Ed Rak would go on to co-produced Surefire's debut EP, the "Solution EP". "Seems To Me", the lead track off of the "Solution EP" became an instant New York City classic, helping Surefire establish a name for themselves on the Lower East Side music scene and garner national attention with write ups in Teen VOGUE.
In 2004 Ben's band Surefire headed back into the studio, this time with Gus van Go and Werner F., whose production on The Stills critically acclaimed record "Logic Will Break Your Heart" struck a chord with the young band. These recordings along with Surefire's brilliant live performances supporting acts such as Arctic Monkeys, Mando Diao, Ambulance Ltd. and The Subways helped the band land a record deal with Lizard King Records (The Killers).
Come December of 2005, in recognition of both his achievements and his potential, Ben was featured in New York Magazine's year-end issue as one of the top reason's to love New York City right now. In July 2006 Ben opened the doors to his very own recording studio, Newkirk Studios where he has since worked with such artists as The Mooney Suzuki, Reno Bo, Radial Nerve, Buck Pryor and Change The Station – just to name a few.
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