MP3 Ben Kuzay - In the Halls of the Punisher

A never-before-heard blend of ambient, classical, and experimental rock that centers around the bass guitar. Covering an amazingly wide array of genres, and featuring everything from the most blazing fast bass tapping you've ever heard to the most slow, s

12 MP3 Songs in this album (37:15) !
Related styles: CLASSICAL: Musical Theater, METAL/PUNK: Guitar Virtuoso

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Details:
Ben Kuzay is a bass guitar virtuoso who began his musical journey at the age of 13, with his first bass guitar. Ben is completely self-taught. He started by learning Metallica songs out of tablature books, then at 15, he moved on to Black Sabbath. Throughout Ben's high-school years he studied Geezer Butler's style, which you can hear elements of in his playing to this day.

In his freshman year, he performed Cliff Burtonâs âOrionâ (a Metallica song) at the solo ensemble contest, receiving first place. The solo ensemble committee rated this a class B solo (this rating system is based upon the technical ability a song demands). In his senior year he wrote the score of one of his original bass-solo compositions, entitled âThe Fiery Abyssâ (obviously unconcerned about the opinion the conservative judges would have of this). Ben performed this at the regional solo ensemble contest, receiving a star-first, then went on to perform it at the state solo ensemble, where he also received first place, and was rated the highest possible in all categories of performance, at both competitions. âThe Fiery Abyssâ was rated a class A solo.

After high school, Ben began pursuing music professionally, and immediately began playing with various bands around Milwaukee, Wisconsin; groups ranging in style from black metal to instrumental hard rock. The most notable of these was Joel Wanasek, an instrumental power-thrash trio, of which Ben remains a member to this day.

In his late teens through early twenties, Ben's explorations brought him upon several more bassists whom he immediately took a liking to, and who quickly became some of his biggest influences: David Harbour, Steve Digiorgio, and Stuart Hamm.

Ben moved to Florida in September, 2002. He lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida until May, 2005, when he relocated back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During his time in Florida, he was a member of Wykked Wytch (Aug. 2002- Dec. 2002), Awakening (Mar. 2004- Feb. 2005), and played with countless other bands and musicians, which gave him diverse musical experience. It was in Florida that Ben recorded his first solo demo, a 4-song cd entitled "An Engulfing Spiral Fury". This demo has become legendary in instrumental circles world-wide, for even in his early days of composing instrumental songs, Ben already had a unique and memorable style, in both his composition and his playing.

Upon returning to Wisconsin in May, 2005, Ben began putting together his debut solo album. He took some songs he'd written over the years, and continued writing more songs, and entered a recording studio in September, 2005, with the intention of recording a full-length album. After several recording sessions that were going nowhere, it became apparent to Ben that he had to go to a different recording studio.

In April, 2007 Ben Kuzay entered JTW Studio (owned and operated by Joel Wanasek), and began recording his debut album "In The Halls Of The Punisher", out now on his own record company Evil Ink. The recording of this album was completed in October, 2007, and the album was released December 21st, 2007.

Since Ben's return to Wisconsin, he has played countless session gigs with several different and diverse groups; played on recordings with some of the most highly acclaimed musicians in the world; and given bass lessons, as well as guitar lessons, to many satisfied students- the whole time never losing focus of his solo music.

With the album "In The Halls Of The Punisher" Ben is utilizing methods of expression never before conceived. An album made for the sake of art, Ben sums its conception and reason for being in this wise, "Great art is made not by attempting to make great art, nor by catering to a "target audience". All great expressions in the history of mankind, whether it be architecture, music, painting, or literature, have been the creation of individuals who took only themselves and their personal tastes into consideration when composing, or building, the artistic piece. The notion of "target audience" automatically puts falsehood into the finished piece. It may make a quick buck on trendy simpletons of the day, but will be forgotten in the annals of history, along with its near-sighted author. I created each song on this album in the exact same way I would have if I was the only living soul on this planet, and knew it was only going to be listened to by my ears. I made this album in my image, and to my liking, to the best of my ability. My goal is to reach as many people as I can, without sacrificing an ounce of personal integrity."