About Me

Hi my name is Ben.
Born and raised in the UK, I now call two countries home. Two countries and two continents.
I left home at 18 and moved to New York State, where I pursued God’s calling for me to serve as a missionary to inner-city Buffalo.

Down at my core, I am creative. As a child I wrote scripts for plays, drew comic books, sketched my Sonic and Knuckles. In my teens, my creativity flourished. I wrote poems, short stories, painted sunsets. I learned how to play drums and guitar, and my creativity took to musical forms also. I was part of a band called Interlude and was part of a friendship group which had a rich song-writing culture. A few friends and I would write songs together. I would bring my guitar and show my latest song and then Toby or Chris would play what they were working on. I would be in awe and then get working on something even better. I joined a Gospel choir, which was the best thing to hone my vocal skills. Honestly, my vocals were awful before that choir. I learned to belt it out and how to harmonize. Since then, I have poured creativity into anything I’ve put my hand to. From my leadership at Steps, to parenting my kids, to creative direction at my job with Newbird.

I love music in all its forms, but I gravitate towards indie, rock and acoustic styles. My style is earthy and laid back. I play acoustic guitar, drums and piano. I hope you enjoy my music and join me on this journey of sharing it with the world!

“I write gritty songs that flow out of times of worship, scripture reading or just jamming out. When I sit down with my guitar or at the piano I love to just jam chords and sing until something comes out of me. Some songs have taken a long time to develop, but some just flow and come to me fully in one sitting. For example, every line of Creator God was written in the same 2 hours. It just came to me and I wrote what was flowing. Be Still on the other hand, took a lot of development over a long time until I had it just right. I don’t think you can put my music in a box. It has elements of a lot of different styles. Music is language. It speaks to people of all languages, cultures and traditions.”

Ben

How I started in Music

I’ve loved music since I was a little boy, coming up with tunes and songs in my own little world. I was always quite a shy kid. I started writing songs when I was 15. I had to recite Bible passages at school, so I would play some chords on the guitar and sing the scriptures. A lot of my songs even today are scripture passages put to song, such as “Fruitful”.

I play guitar, drums and some piano, but I started out with drums. A Canadian called James taught me for a year and that’s really what kick started me as a drummer. From there my brother Sam taught me how to play guitar. Then I picked up piano from people here and there.

A little about my family

I come from a musical family and I’ve been really inspired by them to pursue music and experiment with instruments. My Mum and Dad are both musical and creative and I have four siblings who all play instruments better than I do.

My wife, Ruth, is an incredible singer and just a generally inspirational person in so many ways. She has persuaded me not to give up on my dreams. She is my best friend and my closest confidante.

I have five amazing kids that keep me on my toes. They’re all musical and we love to jam on the keyboard and sing together.