| Ben Shepherd | |
|---|---|
Shepherd performing with Soundgarden in July 2011. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Hunter Benedict Shepherd |
| Born | September 20, 1968 Okinawa, Japan |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Genres | Alternative metal, grunge, alternative rock, heavy metal |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass, guitar, vocals, drums |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Sub Pop, A&M, Burn Burn Burn |
| Associated acts | Soundgarden, Hater, Wellwater Conspiracy, The Desert Sessions, Mark Lanegan |
Ben Shepherd (born Hunter Benedict Shepherd, on September 20, 1968) is an American musician, two-time Grammy Award Winner best known for playing bass in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up. A Soundgarden reunion was announced on January 1, 2010, with Shepherd rejoining the band.[1]
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Shepherd was born on an American military base in Okinawa, Japan. His family moved to Texas, then settled in Bainbridge Island, Washington, where Shepherd grew up, playing in numerous punk-rock bands with friends before he was a teenager. After graduating high school, he worked as a carpenter and a laborer. He became involved in the grunge scene when he worked as a roadie for Nirvana and played in Tic Dolly Row with Chad Channing. He was being considered for the open guitarist slot (after Jason Everman was fired) in Nirvana when he joined Soundgarden.
He first auditioned for the role of bassist in Soundgarden in 1989, immediately after Hiro Yamamoto left, but was turned down because he could not play the songs well enough. Jason Everman was hired as the band's new bassist, but for unknown reasons, was fired immediately after Soundgarden completed their promotional tour in mid-1990. Shepherd was then hired.
In addition to his role as bass player, Shepherd's role as a singer and songwriter increased during his tenure with Soundgarden. On his first recording with the band, the studio album Badmotorfinger, Shepherd took part in writing the following songs: "Slaves & Bulldozers" (music, co-written), "Jesus Christ Pose" (music, co-written), "Face Pollution" (music), and "Somewhere" (music and lyrics).
In 1993, Shepherd and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron formed a side-project band called Hater. Shepherd sang vocals and played guitar in Hater, in addition to writing several songs on the band's first release, a self-titled album. A second album called The 2nd was recorded in 1995 after Superunknown tour's end, but was not released until 2005, ten years late. During the lengthy hiatus, Shepherd found time to complete the tracks that would become The 2nd between his collaborations with Wellwater Conspiracy (another side-project with Matt Cameron and John McBain) and several other artists. Shepherd was the lead vocalist on the first Wellwater Conspiracy album, Declaration of Conformity.
In 1994, Soundgarden released Superunknown, which featured Shepherd compositions "Half" and "Head Down". "Head Down" was heavily influenced by The Beatles, while "Half" was marked by an Indian flavor and was the first song on a Soundgarden album for which Shepherd sang lead vocals.
In 1996, Soundgarden released Down on the Upside, in which six of the sixteen album tracks were lyrically and/or musically composed by Shepherd. The tracks were: "Zero Chance" (music), "Dusty" (music), "Ty Cobb" (music), "Never Named" (music) "Switch Opens" (music) and "An Unkind" (music and lyrics). Shepherd once said he penned the music for "Never Named" at the age of sixteen. "Ty Cobb" was the first song Shepherd wrote that was made a single.
In 1997, soon after the release of Down on the Upside, the band broke up due to a clash of artistic differences between Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell. After completing many other projects, some being alongside Soundgarden's drummer, Matt Cameron, Soundgarden announced its reformation in February, 2010. Later that year, and into 2011, Ben played and plays with Soundgarden again as their bassist.
In late 1997, Shepherd was part of the first, now rare, Desert Sessions collaboration (Volumes 1 & 2), on which he played bass.
In 1998, he quit Wellwater Conspiracy for unknown reasons. Matt Cameron took over lead vocals.
In 1999, he played bass on Mark Lanegan's album I'll Take Care of You.
In 2001, he co-wrote the song Blues For D [2] on Mark Lanegan's album Field Songs. He was also one of the largest instrumental contributors on this album alongside Mike Johnson.
In 2005, Shepherd formed a new band, Unkmongoni (the band's name was what Tarzan used to yell to the animals to run and be free), but the band no longer appears to be together. In that same year, the second Hater album, The 2nd, was released.[1]
Shepherd has one daughter named Ione. He currently resides in Seattle, Washington and has a house on Bainbridge Island. Shepherd is also the partial owner of an upscale Seattle bar called Hazelwood.[3]
In an August 2010 interview with Spin Magazine, Shepherd stated that he was "totally broke" and was sleeping on friends' couches.[4]
In a February 2011 interview, Kim Thayil stated Ben Shepherd recorded a solo album that was never released.
Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Bass, Piano, Vocals, Lap Steel Guitar (Wrote track 10: "Blues for D") (2001)
In the summer of 2010, Ben finished recording his latest solo project. It started out as an acoustic project, before morphing into a very electrified concept album in the end. The album was recorded by Dave French, at a few different studios including CHAOS in (Georgetown), The Studio With No Name (Interbay). The album was finished, mixed/mastered at Robert Lang Studios by Adam Kasper and contains a recording of frog ribbits. The album name yet to be revealed.
Featured musicians include:
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