Today I bring you the full-length “talk and play” interview I did with Kneebody’s Ben Wendel.
Ben’s the first non-drummer to appear on the 8020 podcast, but if ever we were going to broaden from drummers, he gives us a good excuse: he’s been writing his own drum parts since way back.
In fact, many of the famous drum beats from Kneebody songs, and Ben’s own bands, no matter the drummer, were Ben’s creation.
Before the interview, we chose 3 “Ben-composed” drum parts from 3 famous songs: 2 from his groundbreaking 2012 album Frame, and 1 from Kneebody. Nate Wood made all 3 famous, but they were all Ben’s creation.
Then, we played through the songs, and I interviewed Ben about them. And in the course of our conversation we touched on the evolution of his influences, what it’s like to play with Nate, what he likes in a drummer, and more.
Know you’ll enjoy this one!