Ben Lee was discovered as a 14 year old indie punk rocker in Sydney Australia by Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth.
That began a career that has lasted over 25 years of making albums, producing, composing for film and tv as well as exploring many areas of personal interest from working with the dying to psychedelics to political activism.
He has collaborated with a variety of artists like Ben Folds, Sarah Silverman, Lena Dunham, Harmony Korine, and most recently legendary US author Tom Robbins on a “childrens psychedelic musical about alcohol” called ‘B is for Beer’
In this episode we talk about:
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how we put together a band and got his first record deal at age 14
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Seeing music as functional and a vehicle that allows him to explore things and take him on adventures.
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Always being a student of information
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Not ever having a long term plan for career but following what interests him
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Figuring out and creating a formula for songwriting early on that gives him structure to create
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Breaking away from the psychology of being a musician in Australia and moving to the USA where there is no limits on your dreams and testing those limits
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his social experiment of saying he was the greatest Australian musician and realizing he didn’t like being the bad guy
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Being an artist is about being your own brand of insanity and fighting for the right to be the artist he wanted to be
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Shaping his decisions based on what he feels is cool
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Having a lot of confidence in his musical career and direction but not always in his personal life which led him down seeking paths
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Our experience with a cult community and me watching my friends lose themselves and him diving in to see what they were doing
- The current political climate and how this is how we find our true allies and lifelong friends. You may lose friends due to political views and that is part of life.
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his work with the dying and becoming a death doula
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how capitalism can keep us from pursuing our interests
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Which keychain he chose from my line and why!
LINKS to other things/people/music we mentioned!
PS. If we mentioned something and I forgot to include it here leave a comment and I will track it down for you!
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F THE SHOULDS. DO THE WANTS.
Forget what you have been told you should do or should be.
Instead ask yourself, “What do I want?
Learn how to listen to what it is that you truly feel & want so that you are living your most present, aligned, and alive life.
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