This article is about the Australian born musician and actor, Ben Lee. There is an article about the managing director of Honolulu, Benjamin Lee, popularly known as Ben Lee.

Ben Lee is an Australian born musician. He began as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band, Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up, around when he turned 18. He is also an actor, having starred in the 2003 Australian film The Rage In Placid Lake . For many years he was dating Claire Danes but their relationship ended in 2003.

History

Ben Lee's musical career began in 1993 with the band Noise Addict, who were signed to Steve Pavlovic 's independent label Fellaheen Records , on the strength of a self-produced and distributed four-track demo recorded in Lee's bedroom. Pavlovic's connections brought the band to the attention of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and The Beastie Boys' Mike Diamond , both of whom released the band's material in the US. The group put out several releases, including its one and only album in 1995, but broke up not long after its releases. He was also briefly a member of the alternative act Gerling.

Lee's solo career started at the age of 16, while he was still in Noise Addict, when he began recording his first solo album, Grandpaw Would, in both Sydney and Chicago with producer Brad Wood . The was followed by the 1997 album, Something To Remember Me By, also produced by Wood.

1999's Breathing Tornados marked a new direction for Lee as he introduced synths and increased instrumentation into his sound. The album was a huge success, with the first single, Cigarettes Will Kill You, finishing second in that year's Triple J Hottest 100. Lee also enjoyed success with the single Something Borrowed, Something Blue - from the album Hey You, Yes You - reaching no 22 in 2002's Triple J Hottest 100.

2003 he teamed up with Ben Kweller and Ben Folds for a side projected entitled The Bens. They recorded four songs together in Nashville, resulting in a self-titled EP.

In late 2004, he left Steve Pavlovic's Modular Recordings and started up his own record label, Ten Fingers . The first release on the label is the single, Gamble Everything For Love, followed by the new album, Awake Is The New Sleep, in February 2005.

Discography

Albums

• Grandpaw Would (1995)
• Something To Remember Me By (1997)
• Breathing Tornados (1999)
• Hey You, Yes You (2002)
• Awake Is The New Sleep (2005) #7 Australia

EPs and singles

• Cigarettes Will Kill You (1999) #46 Australia
• Something Borrowed, Something Blue (2002)
• Running With Scissors (2002)
• Gamble Everything For Love (2004) #39 Australia
• Catch My Disease (2005)

External links

• Ben Lee
• Ten Fingers Records