BEN'S FILE
NAME: Benjamin Bartley
OCCUPATION: Monical's Pizza Guy
BIRTHDATE: August 22, 1987
BIRTHPLACE: Peoria, IL
BAND POSITION: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
INFLUENCES: METALLICA!!! Pink Floyd,
Led Zeppelin, Incubus, Sublime, Breaking
Benjamin, Collective Soul
HOBBIES: Snowboarding, Paranormal
Investigation, FPS games, Nintendo Wii,
Drawing and Photoshopping
NICKNAMES: Cap'n Crunch, EL CAPITAN!
OCCUPATION: Monical's Pizza Guy
BIRTHDATE: August 22, 1987
BIRTHPLACE: Peoria, IL
BAND POSITION: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
INFLUENCES: METALLICA!!! Pink Floyd,
Led Zeppelin, Incubus, Sublime, Breaking
Benjamin, Collective Soul
HOBBIES: Snowboarding, Paranormal
Investigation, FPS games, Nintendo Wii,
Drawing and Photoshopping
NICKNAMES: Cap'n Crunch, EL CAPITAN!
Well, it all started when Ben was just a wee
little lad, about 10 or 11 years old. He was at
his aunt's house hanging out with his cousin
Erica who, at that time, was a huge KISS fan.
They were in her room listening to a Metallica
CD--The Black Album. "Enter Sandman" was
the song playing at the time. Ben fell in love
with that song the first time he heard it so Erica
let him borrow the CD (he has yet to return it),
and he listened to it all the time. Since that day,
little lad, about 10 or 11 years old. He was at
his aunt's house hanging out with his cousin
Erica who, at that time, was a huge KISS fan.
They were in her room listening to a Metallica
CD--The Black Album. "Enter Sandman" was
the song playing at the time. Ben fell in love
with that song the first time he heard it so Erica
let him borrow the CD (he has yet to return it),
and he listened to it all the time. Since that day,
he has become a die hard Metallica fan. As a kid,
Ben had also wanted to play drums, but he only
got as far as air drumming, mostly to Metallica
songs--no surprise! At age 13, Ben was watching
Metallica's Behind the Music on VH1 when he fell
in love with James Hetfield, the rhythm guitarist
for Metallica. In the middle of the TV show, he
ran out of his room and told his mom that he
wanted to play guitar. His older brother, Kris,
tried to play guitar when he was younger, but it
didn't work out very well, so Ben picked up his
old guitar and plucked around on it for awhile.
After a couple days of self teaching, a local
neighbor showed him tablature. Although Ben
didn't know how to read it at first, he locked
himself in his room until he figured it out. He
picked up on it very quickly, and soon after, he
taught himself every single Metallica song. When
he ran out of Metallica songs, he started to teach
himself other songs of any musical genre. Around
the age of 15, after searching for band mates for a
few years, he found his neighbor, Jon Cowell. He
had heard from friends that Jon could play guitar
exceptionally well. One day, Ben saw him on the
street and asked him if he could hear Jon play.
Ben was very impressed with Jon, as were the
Cowell's with Ben's playing. After this, Ben was
invited to a practice with Jon and ex-drummer
Taylor Moss. They jammed around for about a
year, and then Taylor moved so Ben and Jon had
to find a new drummer. They auditioned a few
people and got ahold of Chris Broshears. They
played a few shows as a three piece band. Then
after going through a few bass guitarists, Rich
Goossen took the position. These four are the
2MASS Denial of today.
Ben had also wanted to play drums, but he only
got as far as air drumming, mostly to Metallica
songs--no surprise! At age 13, Ben was watching
Metallica's Behind the Music on VH1 when he fell
in love with James Hetfield, the rhythm guitarist
for Metallica. In the middle of the TV show, he
ran out of his room and told his mom that he
wanted to play guitar. His older brother, Kris,
tried to play guitar when he was younger, but it
didn't work out very well, so Ben picked up his
old guitar and plucked around on it for awhile.
After a couple days of self teaching, a local
neighbor showed him tablature. Although Ben
didn't know how to read it at first, he locked
himself in his room until he figured it out. He
picked up on it very quickly, and soon after, he
taught himself every single Metallica song. When
he ran out of Metallica songs, he started to teach
himself other songs of any musical genre. Around
the age of 15, after searching for band mates for a
few years, he found his neighbor, Jon Cowell. He
had heard from friends that Jon could play guitar
exceptionally well. One day, Ben saw him on the
street and asked him if he could hear Jon play.
Ben was very impressed with Jon, as were the
Cowell's with Ben's playing. After this, Ben was
invited to a practice with Jon and ex-drummer
Taylor Moss. They jammed around for about a
year, and then Taylor moved so Ben and Jon had
to find a new drummer. They auditioned a few
people and got ahold of Chris Broshears. They
played a few shows as a three piece band. Then
after going through a few bass guitarists, Rich
Goossen took the position. These four are the
2MASS Denial of today.
