Perhaps some of you have been wondering what I've been up to...

Benjamin Strange · #1 11-03-2005, 05:02 PM

Greetings, people of earth!

It's been quite a while since I've been around these here parts, and I figured it was high time to drop by, say hello, and let you humans know what I've been up to.

My band has been gearing up for live shows; we begin to attack culture December 9th in Concord, CA, at Bourbon St. Bar. I reckon that this should be sufficient notice for all of you to score your plane tickets to San Francisco. For those of you who don't want to shell out $400 to see us, you can check out www.thegreatbetrayal.com and/or www.myspace.com/greatbetrayal to hear some of our crappy songs. I believe there are plenty of good reasons to come out to see us: you can see my skinny ass fighting the Strangeberger™, witness the RackofDoom™, hear me making whale noises with my bass, or ogle the many scrumptious women that have promised to come.

I've sold off almost all of my beloved Boogie amps, and invested the money in a real recording setup. I ditched my MBox and my laptop, and switched to Logic running on a fairly powerful Mac. For the first time I'm able to work on mixes beyond setting levels and panning stuff. I've been going through alot of old demos and reworking/remixing, which has been a real pain the the pancreas but has also been a good learning experience. So far I've only finished one tune so far, which can be downloaded here: www.benjaminstrange.net . Currently I'm reworking my cover of King Crimson's Discipline, which is also being remixed by former Nine Inch Nails engineer Brian Kraz. Hopefully I'll be able to release both simultaneously. After that, more progmetalindustrialemocore weirdness.

That's pretty much it; not much goes on in my life but music. What's happening with you guys?

DigMe · #2 11-03-2005, 05:15 PM

Welcome to TB, newb. Be sure and read the FAQs!

brad cook

page · #3 11-03-2005, 05:30 PM

You don't know me but you've been named in a few threads in the past summer after you left.

Floating teetH · #4 11-03-2005, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

What's happening with you guys?

crappy stuff first
my house is destroyed, along w/ my korg cx3. i also broke my collar bone in a terrible hammock accident, so i can't really play, get a good job.

good stuff
i got to see widespread panic in jackson and the gov't owes me $28,500.oo.

page · #5 11-03-2005, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Floating teetH

good stuff
i got to see widespread panic in jackson and the gov't owes me $28,500.oo.

You were at that show? I wanted to go but...........

Im assuming your a survivor of the Hurricane, are you staying in Jackson?

superbassman2000 · #6 11-03-2005, 07:26 PM

Hey!
i was just about to post a "what happened to ben strange" thread!

good to hear some new stuff from you!

Floating teetH · #7 11-03-2005, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by page

You were at that show? I wanted to go but...........

Im assuming your a survivor of the Hurricane, are you staying in Jackson?

you missed a good show. don't look at the set list, it will only make things worse.

i'm on the northshore, so i wish i was in jackson. at least it's not the northshore. it takes hours to drive a few miles here, what w/ all the extra people, so the northshore is even worse than usual. i end up chainsmoking in this terrible place.

oh yeah, i had been staying in N.O. for a few weeks looking for work when the storm came. we evacuated only to have to deal w/ another sort of natural disaster, Hurricane Brett.

Folmeister · #8 11-04-2005, 12:16 AM

Well. Isn't that special! Welcome back. Let me fill you in on a few details. It seems that someone opened up an Accugroove cabinet and found that the Accuswitch is actually a time machine. If you set it for eight ohms, we lose World War II and the Nazis conquer the universe with a super-race of robotic soldiers. If you set the switch for four ohms, human civilization simply comes to an end. Unfortunately, there seems to be some discussion about exactly how that happens.

Benjamin Strange · #9 11-04-2005, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

Hey!
i was just about to post a "what happened to ben strange" thread!

good to hear some new stuff from you!

Hm. Perhaps I should have started my own "What happened to Ben Strange" thread. I had heard that there were some rumours that were floating around about me here. Let me set the facts straight: I didn't do it, you can't prove it, and he was already dead when I got there.

Also, I've been starting to play with a pick lately, as my callouses have gotten so tough I can't feel the strings. Plus, I'm in a rock band and I'm supposed to use a pick to look cool.

Matt Till · #10 11-04-2005, 09:03 AM

Don't_Fret · #11 11-04-2005, 09:19 AM

When you take a break from TB, your life begins. I'm going to run for Senator. I might not be back for a little bit.

Benjamin Strange · #12 11-04-2005, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Sup

Word.

Dan Molina · #13 11-05-2005, 10:25 AM

Welcome back Ben. I LOVE you're band's sound. I'm looking for the same sort of sound myself, just with a heavier influence. Your tone on "Through the Skin" kicks my ass.

Dan Molina · #14 11-05-2005, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyboy15

Welcome back Ben. I LOVE you're band's sound. I'm looking for the same sort of sound myself, just with a heavier influence. Your tone on "Through the Skin" kicks my ass.

If you played the HoB or the Whisky i'd deifantely come to see you guys.

Benjamin Strange · #15 11-05-2005, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyboy15

Welcome back Ben. I LOVE you're band's sound. I'm looking for the same sort of sound myself, just with a heavier influence. Your tone on "Through the Skin" kicks my ass.

Thanks. So far I haven't had a whole heck of alot of influence - most of the songs were written before I arrived. In fact, I didn't play bass on this track; it's only a cheap Ibanez played direct into the board! (I play piano on this song.) Our music has certainly gotten heavier and weirder since I arrived.

I imagine we'll make our way down to L.A. soon enough. Dec 9th is our first gig, so a world tour can't be too far behind can it?

Matt Till · #16 11-05-2005, 10:47 AM

Thank you for heavying/weirding up the band. You guys needed it. Glad to hear you are being an influence. Now that you version of Discipline is moving around a bit, I wonder if it will reach The Fripponator.

Benjamin Strange · #17 11-05-2005, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Thank you for heavying/weirding up the band. You guys needed it. Glad to hear you are being an influence. Now that you version of Discipline is moving around a bit, I wonder if it will reach The Fripponator.

I hope not. That's a crappy sounding demo I knocked out on my laptop. Perhaps the new version will sound better, perhaps not. I'm still getting a handle on this mixing stuff, and my drum samples still suck. I'd have our drummer put real drums on it, but the song annoyed him so much that he could barely stand to listen to it.

Floating teetH · #18 11-05-2005, 07:52 PM

so tell him he's got to figure it out or it's time to learn starless

then spit in his eye

damn i'm the master of dealing w/ people when there are no risks involved

Matt Till · #19 11-05-2005, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

I hope not. That's a crappy sounding demo I knocked out on my laptop. Perhaps the new version will sound better, perhaps not. I'm still getting a handle on this mixing stuff, and my drum samples still suck. I'd have our drummer put real drums on it, but the song annoyed him so much that he could barely stand to listen to it.

I do think you are a tad too weird for your band.

You crazy prog metal kids...

Floating teetH · #20 11-05-2005, 08:21 PM

too strange is more like it

i'm weird