Breaking Benjamin

With talents of Ben Burnley, Aaron Fink, Mark Klepaski and Jeremy Hummel, a hard alternative rock band formed in late 2000, composing the new band called Breaking Benjamin. The lineup consisted of Burnley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Fink on lead guitar, Klepaski on bass and Hummel on drums.

Before they had first formed, Fink and Klepaski made what could have possibly been the biggest mistake in their career by leaving the band called Lifer, which had just began to grow in major popularity. If it weren’t for Ben’s songwriting talent, Breaking Benjamin probably could have been a failed band and Fink and Klepaski wouldn’t be where they are today.

The bands major influences include Live, Bush, Pearl Jam, the Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana and Korn. This would explain why the style of Breaking Benjamin is reminiscent of these bands. At the age of 14, Burnley taught himself to play guitar by ear with only the help of listening to Nirvana’s song, Nevermind, over and over.

The first time that Breaking Benjamin began to be majorly known was when a local DJ of Pennsylvania named Freddie Fabbre put their song ‘Polyamorous’ on air in 2001. It was also in that year when the band signed with Hollywood Records, which helped them on their way to their first album, Saturate, released in 2002. Two years later the second album, We Are Not Alone, came out.

Before they signed on New Year’s Eve of 2000, Ben had been playing at local coffee shops, waiting to be approved. He comments, “I’ve been at this a long time… it wasn’t all that long ago that we survived by playing in coffeehouses for scraps…eventually you get to the point where you just don’t care anymore and give up, but of course, that’s when you get signed.” Klepaski also remarks, about their songs, “Listen to the radio today and you’ll hear a lot of bands singing and complaining about how miserable life is. Maybe it’s just me, but life can be bad enough-music can make you feel good. Our songs are positive and I think our fans appreciate that. Now I wake up every day and can’t believe it’s finally happening, and that we get to do this for a living. Talk about a dream come true.”

Discography

So Cold

• Released: 2004
• Label: Hollywood
• Genre: Rock

Saturate

• Released: 2002
• Label: Hollywood
• Genre: Rock

We Are Not Alone

• Released: 2004
• Label: Hollywood
• Genre: Rock