Ben Burgess

She don’t wanna be lonely

Q&A

Who inspired you to make music in general …and especially to the song „She don’t wanna be lonely“?

I can’t say that there’s one person, in general, that inspired me to make music. I can say that I write from experiences in my life and at some point I’m sure we’ve all made bad decisions about dating someone that we know we shouldn’t. That’s where Ben, Mitch, and I drew inspiration from for “she don’t want to be lonely “.

Do you remember your first ever self written song?

The first song I remember writing by myself was a song called “Mr. Dougherty”. I think I was watching a talk show and there was a girl with Tourette’s syndrome. In the middle of a conversation she just screamed “hey Mr. Dougherty”. I don’t know why that stuck with me but I ended up writing a song about someone I had never met named Mr. Dougherty. At the end of the day, the song end it became autobiographical and I was actually Mr. Dougherty.

What was the first ever Pop song you listened to?

That’s very hard to say. My parents used to play me there 45s, so I grew up on Elvis, The Champs, The Chordettes, and other 50s acts.

What is your creative process like?

I really want the listener to not have to work hard to get invested in the story, so, I try to write songs that I’ve “lived”, because if I’ve lived them I’m pretty sure someone else has been in the same situation. Musically, there are so many ways that I create songs, I can’t say that there’s a specific process. The key for me is to catch a vibe either musically lyrically or melodically that’s the foundation for a song, to me.

What do you prefer, a live gig or a studio session?

I love both for very different reasons. I was performing long before I ever recorded in the studio, but, recording in the studio can be much more creative. Performing is all about connecting with the audience. You can feel what is working and what is not… you can feel if you’re losing them or not. Recording the studio is a bit more self-indulgent and there’s a bit more guesswork to what people will like, but, it’s very free and creative in spirit.

If you could create an „All Star Band“ who would be the members?

I would have my friends in the band. To me there’s nothing better than playing music with your best friends. So… David Baron on Keys, Mitch Allan on bass, Nathan Chapman on Acoustic guitar, Evan Taubenfeld on electric guitar, and Ben Burgess on vocals and drums.

You wrote and produced a lot of songs, which one do you mean stands out from the crowd? (or is the latest always the best one?)

I would say that Meghan Trainor “all about that bass“ stands out in the crowd, just because of how unavoidable it was when it had it’s moment. As creators I think above all our hope is that our creations eventually get consumed by the public. I don’t have a song or production that stood out more than that.

When do you decide that a song is ready for a release?

And I suppose when you feel comfortable listening to it in front of your peers.

What is the most useful talent you have?

I feel like that’s a tough question and it would be a better question for my co-writers or the artists that I work with. If i had to answer I will probably say my ability to know when a song is “right“ or not regardless if it’s mine or someone else’s

How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?

That’s a great question but also a very very long and complicated potential answer. I’ll condense it by saying I think that the Internet and social media has been incredible for allowing musicians to connect with their Fanbase without a record label. 

What’s next for you?

Hopefully I get to continue writing recording and releasing music. I feel very blessed to be able to call this my job.