Author: Emma Loggins
Date: 2007-07-11


Interview:
Ben Jelen’s latest CD speaks of his growth as an artist, songwriter and human being. “I feel like I have lived a bit more, I know who I am right now and I feel we captured that on the album,” he says. Jelen also dedicates a significant portion of his time to working with organizations and charities (United Nations, Natural Resources Defense Council, Live For Darfur, Amnesty International, Rock The Vote, among others) that he feels are affecting change in a positive and meaningful way, a common theme throughout Ex-Sensitive. Jelen’s career has given him the opportunity to work closely with such organizations and as a result, Jelen has developed a strong ethos for using his voice not only to express himself, but also to speak out on behalf of others.

You actually graduated with a biology degree from Rutgers University. At what moment did you decide that music is what you ultimately wanted to pursue with your life instead of biology?

I’ve only had a handful of those life-changing turns in my life and knowing that music was overtaking biology was one of them. In the middle of a degree with my Dad a doctor and Mum a nurse, it was quite a turn for me. During early college, I spent a summer in London as an intern at Battery Studios in Willesden green. I was extremely enthusiastic and arrived very early on the first day. One of the technicians gave me a quick tour of the place. The moment happened when I was in one of the control rooms, feeling the quiet in there, looking at the glowing lights and knowing that the feeling in my stomach had to be listened to. I wanted to be a part of that world in any way. Sure I finished my degree, but after that summer things weren’t the same.

For you, what is music about? And even more specifically, what is your music about?

Music is culture, entertainment, expression, communication, art. My music is about purpose, karma, love, death, life, what we’re facing as humankind and the increasingly materialistic world we’re living in.