November 21, 2024 • 30 mins
#150. Ron talks with Miami guitarist Ben Katzman about competing on Survivor, teaching young people to shred, Jews who rock, why being yourself is the best recipe for success.Sponsored by DistroKid. Get 30% off your membership at distrokid.com/vip/independentmindedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you put aside twenty five cents every week for
a year, what could you get at the end A
few cups of coffee, maybe a candle, Or you could
get a year of the best reporting from all over
the world. Go to Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty
four right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for
twenty five cents a week for your first year.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
This is a Black Friday sale.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So it won't last long. Washingtonpost dot com slash BF
twenty four.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and north Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(00:51):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
turn up that cheer with iHeart Radio on the Roku Channel.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Happy streaming. What's up? Everybody? My Name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show called the Bridge and what
I do every weekday morning is I bring you the
best of South Asian music and culture from around the world,
and that includes some of the most exclusive access to
the South Asian music industry. I'll bring you world premieres
(01:28):
and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
Speaker 6 (01:36):
You're the one that should be worried.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
You're a freak. You're reading for Beg Trouble, Beg Trouble.
Speaker 7 (01:48):
Independent mind. It is made possible by distro Kid. And
that's not all that distro Kid makes possible for music
makers like you and me. Getting your songs on the
web to let the people know you're still doing the
thing is essential. So if you're in a band, you're
in a label or a pr company, you gotta press
all the things and upload all the music and the
artwork to get your masterpiece into the wastelands of Spotify
(02:10):
and YouTube. Sounds daunting. Yeah, that's why distro Kids Digital
distribution service takes care of all of it for you,
with a user interface that guides you through all the
technical specs for your files, plus promo tools that'll help
you find new and simple ways to tell your fans
about your art. I should know. I've been using distro
kids since the Dinosaur age, well around twenty sixteen or so.
(02:32):
Now I'm giving you thirty percent off your membership. Look
how far I've come. Just go to DistroKid dot com
slash vip slash Independentminded.
Speaker 8 (02:42):
Try it for a year.
Speaker 7 (02:43):
See what happens DistroKid dot com slash vip slash Independent Minded.
Speaker 8 (02:58):
Welcome back.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Your dreams or your ticket?
Speaker 8 (03:03):
Uh well, welcome back?
Speaker 7 (03:06):
You know that was the opening credits to that are
filmed in the neighborhood that I grew up in Brooklyn. Oh,
no way, Yeah, Lafayette High School and under the l
there that's my parents went to that high.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
School, and all, yeah, I what's up with?
Speaker 8 (03:21):
What are your neighbors with? Vinnie Barbarino?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Hey, up your nose?
Speaker 9 (03:24):
What a rubble holes, mister kat so good.
Speaker 7 (03:29):
Every new episode of Independent Minded is a new encounter,
a new personality to bounce off. And this exchange is
the beginning of my shared experience with Ben Katzman. No
question posed, not even a proper introduction, justin impromptu exchange
of classic TV theme songs and our fondness for them.
Ben already seems like a guy I'd love to hang
(03:50):
out with. Maybe go see White Lion or Steel Panther.
Ben hit the die bar for some PBRs and whiskey shots.
If I were on the show Survivor, I feel like
a guy like Ben Katsman would be my greatest Ally.
Speaker 8 (04:02):
I was a fan.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
I had watched most of the seasons, and I was
always obsessed with like the characters like Coach and Jerry
Manthe and the people who are unapologetically themselves, people like
Christian HUBICKI. It was like a later player, but I
never like thought twice about going on this show.
Speaker 8 (04:18):
Start with the drug prill outplay outred Saba.
Speaker 7 (04:30):
Ben Katzman was on Survivor, a reality TV og I've
watched on and off since its premiere in the year
two thousand and That's the whole reason Ben comes into
my orbit for episode one and fifty of Independent Minded.
As a fan of the legacy reality show, of course,
I wanted to hear about Ben's experience, and when I
find out Ben also makes independent music that sounds like
(04:52):
this the plot, Dickens and I talk about his reality
TV experience teaching young people to shred Jews who rock
and why being yourself is the best recipe for success.
Let's kick things off with fire sprite off the Survivor
(05:14):
inspired new album Tears on the Beach. Then my conversation
with Ben Katzman right here on Independent Minded.
Speaker 10 (05:21):
Rydallos pas podcast Rydallos pais podcast, plugging of pet Bo,
Make God Using, plugging their project Making.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
The Famous, helping about.
Speaker 10 (05:36):
Just my Mason, talk about all the bushit that they do.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
We sat the sign.
Speaker 11 (06:08):
Army Army in a game of.
Speaker 7 (06:20):
Y S.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
S S.
Speaker 6 (06:59):
What a I'm Ben Katzman. I like to shred the
lead guitar and scream on the mic. I'm from Miami, Florida,
and I guess what I do is I like to rock.
Speaker 7 (07:08):
When you get a press release promoting music made by
someone who was recently on a reality show, you set
the bar low. I guess I expected.
Speaker 9 (07:17):
You expected some.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
Boring hipster bedroom music, and instead he got a shop
full of rock.
Speaker 7 (07:28):
Accurate, but Ben Katzman is full of surprises. He applied
to be on Survivor almost as a goof.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
My whole thing was like, don't even get into that headspace.
It's like, don't even think about like if they're gonna
call you back or not, Like I do believe like
in life, when you choke the aspiration, you'll find it
hard to breathe. So I was just like, this would
be funny if it happened, And I think when you
don't take things too seriously, they end up working out
(07:54):
for you anyways.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
But then when they called me, I was like, I was.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
Like, oh yeah, oh shit, this has happened. And I
think they were trying, like my audition video is really dumb.
I think I told a story about how I forgot
I took edibles for going to dinner with my parents
and all that, and I was like, if they respond
to this, I'm in, you know, like, there's no reason
they should cast like the Adam Sandler Billy Madison type persona.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
On reality television. There's a fine line between reality and
a pose. Survivor has always been a show that puts
individuals to the test, but at the end of the day,
it's still edited for maximum storytelling potential, and for an
aspiring rock star like Ben, it could have been an
opportunity to ham it up to hype his music. Instead,
(08:40):
he gave the network the genuine article.
Speaker 6 (08:42):
I don't think I need to sell anybody on my accomplishments.
I think I just need to be me.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Black Friday is coming, And for the adults in your life.
Speaker 12 (08:51):
Who love the coolest toys, well there's something for them
this year too. Martisian is the premiere craft cocktail maker
that automatically makes more than sixty seasonal and classic cocktails
each and under thirty seconds at the push of a button.
And right now, Bartisian is having a huge sight wide sale.
You can get one hundred dollars off any cocktail maker
or cocktail maker bundle when you spend four hundred dollars
(09:14):
or more so, if the cocktail lover in your life
has been good this year or the right kind of bad,
get them Bartesian at the push of a button, make
bar quality Cosmopolitans, Martini's, Manhattan's, and.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
More, all in just thirty.
Speaker 12 (09:30):
Seconds, all for a hundred off. Amazing toys an't just
for kids. Get one hundred off a cocktail maker when
you spend four hundred through Cyber Monday, visit Bartsian dot
com slash cocktail. That's ba r tesia n dot com
slash cocktail.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
If you put aside twenty five cents every week for
a year. What could you get at the end A
few cups of coffee, maybe a candle, or you could
get a year of the best reporting from all of
the world. Go to Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty
four right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for
twenty five cents a week for your first year. This
(10:10):
is a Black Friday sales, so it won't last long.
Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty four.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and North Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(10:39):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
tirn up that year with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Happy streaming. What's up? Everybody? My name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show The Bridge and What I
Do Every weekday Morning is I bring you the best
of South Asian music and culture from around the world,
and that includes some of the most exclusive access to
the South Asian music industry. I'll bring you world premieres
(11:16):
and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
Speaker 13 (11:21):
The siding on what to listen to is hard. Using
Zoomo to stream music from iHeart Nineties Radio is easy.
Or play iHeart Country or hip Hop beats your choice,
all for free.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Stream easy with Zoomo Play.
Speaker 13 (11:33):
Get live and on demand entertainment with no logins, no
sign ups, no accounts, no hassle. This November, get cozy
and stay in from Movie Night with Air Force One
starring Harrison Ford and Glenn Close, and The Art of
War starring Wesley Snipes, all streaming free on Zoomo Play,
Go to play dot Zoomo dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Now life is hard, Zoomo is easy.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
And I think you know, Survivor isn't like getting signed
or getting featured in an article. It's a TV show.
I think to where I'm at in my life is
like I had my head so far up my ass
in my twenties, I was constantly boasting about all the
cool and crazy achievements I had while somehow not making
(12:12):
that much money. There's like, none of this stuff really matters.
Like what matters is that I like playing music and
I want to be myself, So I'm gonna try and
sell that, if anything, rather than I feel like.
Speaker 8 (12:24):
I was in this fair Did we tour with that band?
Speaker 7 (12:27):
You know, Ben's got the resume. He shared stages with
influential indie acts Gorilla Toss and Mannekin Pussy. Though I
doubt that admission would have sweetened the pot for Survivor casting.
The point is that this dude is the real deal.
His website is Ben katzmanshreds dot com. Even though ben
Katzman dot com is available.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Posit really a test A poster posts here also.
Speaker 7 (13:03):
But as Ben pointed out, Survivor is a TV show
with a line between what really happens and dramatic storytelling
is blurred in some respects. At least one of Ben's
storylines in his season was his battle with anxiety. You
genuinely had panic attacks on this island.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
I think those panic attacks a night terrors started happening
around a point where.
Speaker 8 (13:24):
I already had it eaten a few days.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
They didn't tell me it was winter and Fiji, so
I only had like a denim jacket.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Of course, a shredder is going to bring his denim
jacket on Survivor. Hopefully it had some Mano war patches
sewn on the back. Survivor is one of the few
reality shows that I've ever cared about. Sure, the gameplay
is cool, the production values are top notch. There's always
(13:51):
an intriguing character of three to root, four or against.
But the main reason I've watched more than half of
its forty seven seasons has always been the exotic locale
and watching humans wither against unrelenting nature, blistering heat, bug bites, storms, chafing.
I've always admired how that aspect of the show can
change the narrative.
Speaker 8 (14:11):
On a dime.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
You start the game at one beach, that's like super comfortable.
I loved the beach we started at. You could sleep
on the sand, you were tucked away from the wind.
But when we made the merge, it was like you're
sleeping on dirt. The smoke was getting into your mouth
no matter which way you sat around the fire, and
the game is obviously way more intense at that point.
(14:34):
I think it was like all the elements at once,
and I'm like, normally an anxious person. I'm not gonna lie,
but I deal with it by playing music or like
a crank in Metallica.
Speaker 8 (14:52):
I didn't have all those normal outlets to deal with it.
Speaker 6 (14:56):
It was like something would wake me up in the
middle of the night. My heart would be racing and
it was like this uncontrollable fear that had no rationale,
and I'd have to sit there and wind myself down
from the anxiety of it all. I think I was
just rubbed completely rob anything that would have made me
feel quote unquote normal.
Speaker 7 (15:15):
You know, Ben makes it to the Merge for the
survivor Layman. That means he survived at least through the
midpoint of the season, the part where the opposing tribes
become one. It's also the part where a strategic gameplay
typically takes over.
Speaker 6 (15:28):
I don't think I've talked about this much, but like
I remember making it to the Merge and everybody was
quoting me like let's rock, but it didn't feel endearing,
you know. And then all of a sudden, there's this
majority alliance I'm not in and one of my number
ones is voted out, and it was just like, oh man,
it's like being back in, like like nobody wants to
(15:49):
work with you based on a lie somebody else told,
And you'll find out who the bitter Betty on our
season is. When people see the anxiety attacks, they don't
see the context of which it's.
Speaker 8 (15:59):
In because it wasn't just the conditions.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
It was partially the game, but there was more so
a theme of like, oh man, I'm dealing with something
I dealt with as a kid than I thought I
had figured out, But now I don't have.
Speaker 8 (16:10):
The tools that I normally use to deal with it.
Speaker 9 (16:12):
So how am I going to deal with it out
here in the wild?
Speaker 7 (16:16):
You know?
Speaker 8 (16:17):
It was like a new test.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
While in Fiji, Michael conquers his panic attacks, but does
he conquer survivor he makes it all the way to
the final tribal council where the million dollar winner is
crowned in front of a studio audience.
Speaker 8 (16:30):
It kind of like it's funny.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
It's like you're on the internet reading the same way
you would read your album reviews or something like you're
reading all these people have a commentary on you, but
like you're missing from like three episodes other than a
one liner here or there, And it's like, how do
you deal with like being able to explain whatever you
lived through that the audience has no context for. And
obviously I think the producers and editors are more concerned
(16:56):
telling the story of how the winner won rather than how.
Speaker 8 (16:58):
The loser lost.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
I did go out there and play a game where
I did wear my heart my sleeve and I was
honest and I did have moves. But sometimes you end
up in front of a jury that's bitter and the
audience doesn't know why it's bitter, but they can tell.
Speaker 8 (17:12):
And it's like, maybe it doesn't need the over.
Speaker 9 (17:15):
Justification of my storyline.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
And then it reminds me like, well, why did you
go and Survivor to like launch your music career or
to play survivor whatever reason? I was like, I want
to go have a human experience, And like I always
have to remind myself like whatever I lived through was
the game and whatever people are watching is the TV show,
And the two deal with each other, but they're not
the same thing.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
You know, if you want to know if Ben Katzman
one Survivor Fiji, the Internet can tell you. I don't
want some nerd giving me guff for spoilers, I will
tell you this much. Chisel Chin host Jeff Propes never
snuffs Ben's torch. He's on the island and in the
game for the duration, which is an achievement in itself.
Speaker 12 (17:57):
Black Friday is coming, And for the adults in your
life who love the coolest toys, well there's something for
them this year too. Bartisian is the premieer craft cocktail
maker that automatically makes more than sixty seasonal and classic
cocktails each and under thirty seconds at the push of
a button. And right now, Bartisian is having a huge
sight wide sale. You can get one hundred.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Dollars off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker.
Speaker 12 (18:20):
Bundle when you spend four hundred dollars or more so,
if the cocktail lover in your life has been good
this year or the right kind of bad, get them
Bartesian at the push of a button, make Bark quality Cosmopolitans, Martini's, Manhattan's,
and more, all in just thirty seconds, all for a
hundred off. Amazing toys aren't just for kids. Get one
(18:44):
hundred off a cocktail maker when you spend four hundred
through Cyber Monday. Visit Bartisian dot com slash cocktail. That's
BA R T s I a n dot com slash cocktail.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
If you put aside twenty five cents every week for
a year, what could you get at the end A
few cups of coffee, maybe a candle. Or you could
get a year of the best reporting from all over
the world. Go to Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty
four right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for
twenty five cents a week for your first year. This
(19:19):
is a Black Friday sale, so it won't last long.
Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty four.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and North Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(19:48):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
turn up that cheer with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Happy Streaming What's up, Everybody? My name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show called The Bridge. And what
I do every weekday morning is I bring you the
best of South Asian music and culture from around the world,
and that includes some of the most exclusive access to
the South Asian music industry. I'll bring you world premieres
(20:24):
and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Deciding on what to listen to is hard.
Speaker 13 (20:32):
Using Zoomo to stream music from iHeart Nineties Radio is easy.
Or play iHeart Country or hip hop beats your choice,
all for free. Stream easy with Zoomo Play, get live
and on demand entertainment with no logins, no sign ups,
no accounts, no hassle. This November, get cozy and stay
in from Movie Night with Air Force once starring Harrison
Ford and Glenn Close, and The Art of War starring
(20:52):
Wesley Snipes, all streaming free on Zoomo Play, Go to
play dot Zoomo dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Now life is hard, Zoomo is easy.
Speaker 7 (21:00):
And then, just like all Survivor contestants before him, months later,
Ben has to watch his experience unfold on a TV screen.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
It's a weird thing as a human to experience that,
and I meditate and do all sorts of hippie shit
to try and calm down. But I did have a
very human reaction to it, being like the fuck did
I just live through a second time?
Speaker 10 (21:21):
You know?
Speaker 6 (21:22):
But I'm still glad I went on the show, and
I'm still glad I made the friends I did, and
I'm trying to make the most out of it too,
you know. I'm glad I got to represent the freaks
and the weirdos because that's who I am. And I
see the people that come to my shows that are
(21:43):
survivor fans that have anxiety, or are artists or you know,
and like they resonate with it. Now I'm on tour
and people are coming and buying my record and sending
me amazing messages of how they feel seen.
Speaker 9 (21:54):
And I've got nothing but gratitude for stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
You know, I do think the human experience version of
it still rocks.
Speaker 7 (22:01):
And it's that human experience that inspires Ben to give
birth to a new rocking album, the aptly titled Tears
on the Beach.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
On the Beach Suck My Life like a.
Speaker 8 (22:17):
Waves down, but my fires, not.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
God is my number one.
Speaker 11 (22:28):
Beside Zuma. Survive, My mustag roll these posts and by sleep?
Speaker 13 (22:40):
What leave from the.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Is this what?
Speaker 7 (22:51):
It's not the live fun, but Survivor's only a small
motivation for me wanting to talk to Ben. Once I
find out about his past, that he's a metal head,
all bets are off.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
I was always like into music, but I remember the
thing that started it all was I heard the Power
Rangers theme when I was like two years old.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
It had so much.
Speaker 9 (23:16):
Adrenaline and like hard rock guitar and just like the chorus.
Speaker 8 (23:20):
Was larger than like like go Go Power Rangers.
Speaker 6 (23:29):
But then when I was like a kid, I really
got into like more aggressive rock music like Deep Purple
and the Ramones.
Speaker 9 (23:36):
And I remember my mom got me this book like
Juice Who Rock or something. I opened the book in
the center base was Jeane Simmons and Paul Stanley, And
it was right at that age where like cartoons were
starting to be considered lame, but everybody's getting into music.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
It was like the.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Perfect cross section like cartoons and heavy metal, you know,
But I'd never fit in.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
I was always like an emotional kid.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
People always called me emotional, so it was like drawn
to like Metallica, Mega Death and all sorts of music
that was just way more emotionally extreme than like whatever
was considered popular at the time, like Usher or something.
Speaker 9 (24:20):
I love that stuff.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
I played in a metal band my entire teenage time
called Acidosis, and we were like huge in the local
South Florida scene and stuff, I'm.
Speaker 11 (24:42):
Going rockbout that ra you were fy rock a rap.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
Throughout those years of playing in a metal band, I
learned I had to book my own shows, and I
started booking all my friends and then I was like
fuck it, I'll start a label, and like they're all
making all sorts of music. And even though I loved
heavy metal, I listened to everything, you know, like Enya
or Ennio Morricone or the Beatles. There's no preference. It's
just got a rock hard and not like genre wise,
(25:19):
it's gotta be like true.
Speaker 9 (25:20):
I guess.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
En Anio Morricone and the Beatles those couldn't be like
three more different styles. But at the same time, like
I'm a big fan of all three of those artists myself.
Speaker 8 (25:37):
Yeah, they're all intense in their own ways.
Speaker 7 (25:39):
You know, if intensity is Ben's thing, and he certainly
found the right instrument to fall in love with.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
The way I play is very aggressive too. It's like
very trebling, very abrasive, but still melodic. I just like that,
like you plug a guitar and just has this loud
(26:07):
sound that makes the hair on the back of your
neck just immediately stick up.
Speaker 7 (26:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
No, Gallagher is technically not a great guitar player. He's
a good one, but it's like the way his guitar
sounds where he's got like three amps running and he
strikes those big cores and it just it makes you
feel like you're a part of something bigger.
Speaker 7 (26:42):
Ben loves the guitar so much that he teaches young
kids in his Miami hometown how to play, and through teaching,
Ben gifts younger artists the perspective of playing music is
a path to personal growth instead of an effort to
build a career for the sake of success.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Sometimes I'll have a student that's having a sad day
and I'll be like, why are you said, He's like
my crush rejected me.
Speaker 9 (27:01):
I'm like, well, here's a band that sings NonStop about
being a lonely boy.
Speaker 8 (27:06):
You might like the Smiths.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
You know, it creates a way to pair real life
emotions with music and almost like a music therapy kind
of when it's a lot of fun to see kids
just step into themselves. And that's the main reason I
(27:38):
like to teach. I'm not looking out for trying to
have like the next Eddie van Halen. Although ironically enough,
two members of my band, who are like eighteen and
twenty one are my.
Speaker 8 (27:46):
Former students, so to speak. Oh yeah, I mean, I
was like, you know what, these kids want to rock.
We're going on tour my student do O. He's like
the Randy to.
Speaker 9 (27:56):
My assie, and his dad even me legal guardianship to
take him on tour.
Speaker 7 (28:02):
Of course, Ben has a student named Dio. They're touring
under the band's official name, Ben Katzman's De Greaser.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
What is De Greaser?
Speaker 6 (28:10):
Supposedly I played Danny Zuko in my high school production
of Grease, and I felt like I had a lot
in common with them, which is maybe not a great thing.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
That's cool, baby, I mean, you know how it is.
Speaker 9 (28:27):
And then when I started a band, I was like,
I'm trying to undo these sad boy, bad.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
Boy qualities and become a mature adult.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
I love that, dude.
Speaker 7 (28:34):
Give me, give me a couple of bars a summer
loven before we hang.
Speaker 8 (28:36):
Out some eleven having so fast. I'll tell you my
favorite line though. I mean, that's cool, baby.
Speaker 9 (28:43):
You know how it is rocking and rolling and whatnot.
Speaker 7 (28:48):
It's this mature adult's punk rock attitude is independent mindedness
that makes riding his post survivor wave complex. On one hand,
he's got a bigger platform to promote himself, Ruben elbows
with more power players, he's got network execs in his context,
but he's still got to be true to himself.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
People say, well, why don't you go on TikTok. It's
like being successful in anything takes a lot of work.
So you can do one of two things. You can
focus on being a great artist, or you can focus
on being a great content creator. Rarely do the two coincide,
And the ones that I think are considered great are
all funded by some major label that are pushing their
(29:30):
stuff in a modern version of Paola, which is like,
you know, record labels are paying TikTok to.
Speaker 9 (29:35):
Push songs for sure, It's not a conspiracy theory. You
got to do it because you love it.
Speaker 6 (29:40):
I've spent so many years trying to grind it, and
I think when you're in the grind and you start
making a living off your art, you forget that the
reason you're doing it is because you need to express yourself.
You have this innate need to be an artist. You're
not making art to be successful, but you would like
that to happen, and we're all shooting for it. And
it's like I said about getting cast on the TV
show Things, you don't pay much attention to end up
(30:02):
working in your favor. And it's like, how do you
find that fine line of like, I care so much
about my art, but I'm not gonna focus so much
on making it.
Speaker 9 (30:11):
I'm just gonna hope that whatever I'm doing in the moment.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
Attracts whatever I need, which is a completely asinine thing
to do when you're trying to plan your life. You know.
It's like spinal Tap says, there's a fine line between
clever and stupid.
Speaker 9 (30:24):
And you gotta find that balance of like, I'm passionate
about what I do.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
I love what I do, but I'm not gonna choke
the aspiration or I'm gonna find it hard to breathe
and I think if you love music, you're gonna make it,
you're gonna release it, and you're gonna do whatever you
can to promote it. But you can't put too many
expectations on it. You can't put up imaginary goals. It's
all like small goals, like I want to put out
an album and I want to get written about. I
(30:51):
want to put on an album, and I want to
book a show. I want to book one show, I
want to book a few shows, Like everything's got to
be incremental.
Speaker 7 (30:59):
Ben Katzman doesn't know it, but he's describing my own
musical evolution to a t and likely the same growth
path for a lot of guests on this podcast, and
maybe some of you listening to having low expectations, taking
baby steps. It all seems foolhardy if you're aiming for
the stars. But if your goal is to be an artist,
streams are no streams sales or no sales. This is
(31:21):
the secret sauce.
Speaker 9 (31:23):
It's not just about how good you are in today's market.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
There's a million amazing things, and sometimes mediocrity rises to
the top because it's so accessible. But how do you
make your imprint on this world unique to you? How
do you make your art be as you as possible?
And that's what I always tell my students or people
that come up to me at shows. I'm like, try
and be the thing people can't forget. And I know
(31:49):
for me it might be my character or my personality.
But if I'm going to talk the talk, I'm going
to rock the rock too. You know.
Speaker 7 (32:10):
Ben's got another artistic passion. He made the illustration that
adorns the cover of Tears on the Beach.
Speaker 6 (32:16):
I grew up watching cartoons like Rocco's Modern Life and
Doug and Old Looney Tunes and Pink Panther, and I
think I am like the human version of SpongeBob for sure.
Speaker 8 (32:28):
But it was just a thing to pass the time.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
And I originally wanted to be an animator for Nickelodeon
when I was a kid, and then I got better
at music, and I remember like being like, I won't
get anywhere. People think my art's kind of bad. But
now we live in this like nostalgic socidey where it's
like my art definitely has like this nineties pastiche to
it or something, but I more so I don't even
do it to be taken seriously as a visual artist,
(32:51):
I just do it because it's like again, it's like,
how do you make your stuff as you as possible?
So if I'm making my own T shirt designs or
album cover or single covers.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
That's another way of putting my own stamp on it.
Speaker 6 (33:04):
And it also helps me get off the phone because
when I'm working on doodles, I'm not on the computer,
I'm not on the phone. I'm like totally present, which
is not something I am very often, but it's something
I try to be and I think too.
Speaker 8 (33:17):
It's like the ethics of di wise, like you don't
need to be a super.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
Professional with everything sounding and looking amazing to get your
mark on the world. It's like why love bands like
Guided by Voices. It's like he did everything on an
eight track, you know, and it's like all preference. But
don't let like the trappings of not enough money or
connections hold you back from making your own shred, you know.
Speaker 7 (33:50):
Ben Katzman continues to make his own shred. He and
his band spent this fall on the road, rocking up
and down both coasts in support of De Greaser's new album.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
It's been great. I mean, it's weird.
Speaker 6 (34:01):
It's like we've been selling out a ton of shows,
but then we'll like play shows that like nobody comes to,
or like twenty people in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 8 (34:11):
But the cool thing about it in this phase.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
Is even with just twenty people, it's twenty people who
are fucking stoked, and you're going to deliver for them
because that's like they paid their money the same way
somebody had unpacked show will and I love to rock
regardless of how the crowd is, and I'm.
Speaker 8 (34:28):
Just loving that people are loving the album.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
You know, We've sold a ton of copies of this
first pressing and people are loving it. You know, it
seems to be and I've sold more merch than I
ever have. And I know I'm talking in like Gene
Simmons terms, and I'm not saying it like money this,
money that, but it's like, I don't think people would
be buying it if they didn't care for it.
Speaker 8 (34:49):
And I just remember, your fire's not out when you're
walking out.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
This is called Fire's fut.
Speaker 7 (35:03):
Not unlike Ben's bank making hair metal idols, Survivor is
about fan service. It's entertainment that rides the coattails of
its own legacy, and many of the show's forty seven
seasons feature celebrities and often returning contestants. Even though he's
had the experience and his music career has taken off,
is Ben Katzman interested in being one of those players.
Speaker 9 (35:25):
If the opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
Regardless of how the outcome was or how I might
have been treated or what was shown, I still had
the time of my life. I would do it again,
just because there's nothing quite like being disconnected from society,
especially in today's day and age, and making friends and
playing a game and being on an island. It's like
full permission to let your inner child, inner teenager fly high,
(35:51):
you know. And I just loved every element. Even the
suffering was like, dude, we're suffering, but we're suffering on.
Speaker 9 (35:57):
Survivors, So you never know.
Speaker 6 (35:59):
If they hand that feed comes and knock in, who's
to say I wouldn't be rocking, you know.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
And although the tribe is already spoken, Ben's mission statement
remains louder than those words.
Speaker 9 (36:17):
The true winds in life come from being yourself and
you know, just going.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
For it.
Speaker 7 (36:47):
On the bee. I know.
Speaker 11 (36:55):
This still remains a piece of bay.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
To read.
Speaker 7 (37:12):
Find out more about Ben sampled the new album and
check out upcoming tour dates at Ben Katzmanshreds dot com
and follow Ben on social media at BKD Greaser sixty nine.
Big thanks to Ben for the rad conversation and special
thanks to Jess Correctlyiano and Dan Manning at terror Bird
Media for connecting us.
Speaker 8 (37:33):
And you know I got.
Speaker 12 (37:34):
Horns up for you.
Speaker 7 (37:35):
Loyal podcast listener, go full metal and subscribe and leave
a kind review for Independent Minded on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Share the links, tell your friends, buy some music at
Baldfreak dot com. And if you want to say hi
or send me your music, you can do it at
Ron at baldfreak dot com. Plus keep up with the
latest freak news on social media at Baldfreakmusic. Independent Minded
(37:59):
is a bald Freak Music production. And me, I'm still
Ron Scalzo up.
Speaker 14 (38:38):
I have a way to make your morning more efficient.
You can get caught up on the news in about
seven minutes. That is my promise to you as the
host of the seven podcast from the Washington Post. And
in that time I will run down seven stories everything
from the most important headlines to fascinating new information you
might miss otherwise, Hannah Jewel, go follow the seven right
(39:02):
now wherever you're listening, and we will get you caught up.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and Premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and North Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(39:29):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
turn up that cheer with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel.
Happy streaming.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
What's up everybody? My name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (39:45):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show called The Bridge.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
And what I do every weekday morning is I bring.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
You the best of South Asian music and culture from
around the world, and that includes some of the most
exclusive access to the South Asian music industry. I'll bring
you world premieres and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only
on Ruckas Avenue Radio.
If you put aside twenty five cents every week for
a year, what could you get at the end A
few cups of coffee, maybe a candle, Or you could
get a year of the best reporting from all over
the world. Go to Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty
four right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for
twenty five cents a week for your first year.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
This is a Black Friday sale.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So it won't last long. Washingtonpost dot com slash BF
twenty four.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and north Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(00:51):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
turn up that cheer with iHeart Radio on the Roku Channel.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Happy streaming. What's up? Everybody? My Name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show called the Bridge and what
I do every weekday morning is I bring you the
best of South Asian music and culture from around the world,
and that includes some of the most exclusive access to
the South Asian music industry. I'll bring you world premieres
(01:28):
and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
Speaker 6 (01:36):
You're the one that should be worried.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
You're a freak. You're reading for Beg Trouble, Beg Trouble.
Speaker 7 (01:48):
Independent mind. It is made possible by distro Kid. And
that's not all that distro Kid makes possible for music
makers like you and me. Getting your songs on the
web to let the people know you're still doing the
thing is essential. So if you're in a band, you're
in a label or a pr company, you gotta press
all the things and upload all the music and the
artwork to get your masterpiece into the wastelands of Spotify
(02:10):
and YouTube. Sounds daunting. Yeah, that's why distro Kids Digital
distribution service takes care of all of it for you,
with a user interface that guides you through all the
technical specs for your files, plus promo tools that'll help
you find new and simple ways to tell your fans
about your art. I should know. I've been using distro
kids since the Dinosaur age, well around twenty sixteen or so.
(02:32):
Now I'm giving you thirty percent off your membership. Look
how far I've come. Just go to DistroKid dot com
slash vip slash Independentminded.
Speaker 8 (02:42):
Try it for a year.
Speaker 7 (02:43):
See what happens DistroKid dot com slash vip slash Independent Minded.
Speaker 8 (02:58):
Welcome back.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Your dreams or your ticket?
Speaker 8 (03:03):
Uh well, welcome back?
Speaker 7 (03:06):
You know that was the opening credits to that are
filmed in the neighborhood that I grew up in Brooklyn. Oh,
no way, Yeah, Lafayette High School and under the l
there that's my parents went to that high.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
School, and all, yeah, I what's up with?
Speaker 8 (03:21):
What are your neighbors with? Vinnie Barbarino?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Hey, up your nose?
Speaker 9 (03:24):
What a rubble holes, mister kat so good.
Speaker 7 (03:29):
Every new episode of Independent Minded is a new encounter,
a new personality to bounce off. And this exchange is
the beginning of my shared experience with Ben Katzman. No
question posed, not even a proper introduction, justin impromptu exchange
of classic TV theme songs and our fondness for them.
Ben already seems like a guy I'd love to hang
(03:50):
out with. Maybe go see White Lion or Steel Panther.
Ben hit the die bar for some PBRs and whiskey shots.
If I were on the show Survivor, I feel like
a guy like Ben Katsman would be my greatest Ally.
Speaker 8 (04:02):
I was a fan.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
I had watched most of the seasons, and I was
always obsessed with like the characters like Coach and Jerry
Manthe and the people who are unapologetically themselves, people like
Christian HUBICKI. It was like a later player, but I
never like thought twice about going on this show.
Speaker 8 (04:18):
Start with the drug prill outplay outred Saba.
Speaker 7 (04:30):
Ben Katzman was on Survivor, a reality TV og I've
watched on and off since its premiere in the year
two thousand and That's the whole reason Ben comes into
my orbit for episode one and fifty of Independent Minded.
As a fan of the legacy reality show, of course,
I wanted to hear about Ben's experience, and when I
find out Ben also makes independent music that sounds like
(04:52):
this the plot, Dickens and I talk about his reality
TV experience teaching young people to shred Jews who rock
and why being yourself is the best recipe for success.
Let's kick things off with fire sprite off the Survivor
(05:14):
inspired new album Tears on the Beach. Then my conversation
with Ben Katzman right here on Independent Minded.
Speaker 10 (05:21):
Rydallos pas podcast Rydallos pais podcast, plugging of pet Bo,
Make God Using, plugging their project Making.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
The Famous, helping about.
Speaker 10 (05:36):
Just my Mason, talk about all the bushit that they do.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
We sat the sign.
Speaker 11 (06:08):
Army Army in a game of.
Speaker 7 (06:20):
Y S.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
S S.
Speaker 6 (06:59):
What a I'm Ben Katzman. I like to shred the
lead guitar and scream on the mic. I'm from Miami, Florida,
and I guess what I do is I like to rock.
Speaker 7 (07:08):
When you get a press release promoting music made by
someone who was recently on a reality show, you set
the bar low. I guess I expected.
Speaker 9 (07:17):
You expected some.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
Boring hipster bedroom music, and instead he got a shop
full of rock.
Speaker 7 (07:28):
Accurate, but Ben Katzman is full of surprises. He applied
to be on Survivor almost as a goof.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
My whole thing was like, don't even get into that headspace.
It's like, don't even think about like if they're gonna
call you back or not, Like I do believe like
in life, when you choke the aspiration, you'll find it
hard to breathe. So I was just like, this would
be funny if it happened, And I think when you
don't take things too seriously, they end up working out
(07:54):
for you anyways.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
But then when they called me, I was like, I was.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
Like, oh yeah, oh shit, this has happened. And I
think they were trying, like my audition video is really dumb.
I think I told a story about how I forgot
I took edibles for going to dinner with my parents
and all that, and I was like, if they respond
to this, I'm in, you know, like, there's no reason
they should cast like the Adam Sandler Billy Madison type persona.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
On reality television. There's a fine line between reality and
a pose. Survivor has always been a show that puts
individuals to the test, but at the end of the day,
it's still edited for maximum storytelling potential, and for an
aspiring rock star like Ben, it could have been an
opportunity to ham it up to hype his music. Instead,
(08:40):
he gave the network the genuine article.
Speaker 6 (08:42):
I don't think I need to sell anybody on my accomplishments.
I think I just need to be me.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Black Friday is coming, And for the adults in your life.
Speaker 12 (08:51):
Who love the coolest toys, well there's something for them
this year too. Martisian is the premiere craft cocktail maker
that automatically makes more than sixty seasonal and classic cocktails
each and under thirty seconds at the push of a button.
And right now, Bartisian is having a huge sight wide sale.
You can get one hundred dollars off any cocktail maker
or cocktail maker bundle when you spend four hundred dollars
(09:14):
or more so, if the cocktail lover in your life
has been good this year or the right kind of bad,
get them Bartesian at the push of a button, make
bar quality Cosmopolitans, Martini's, Manhattan's, and.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
More, all in just thirty.
Speaker 12 (09:30):
Seconds, all for a hundred off. Amazing toys an't just
for kids. Get one hundred off a cocktail maker when
you spend four hundred through Cyber Monday, visit Bartsian dot
com slash cocktail. That's ba r tesia n dot com
slash cocktail.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
If you put aside twenty five cents every week for
a year. What could you get at the end A
few cups of coffee, maybe a candle, or you could
get a year of the best reporting from all of
the world. Go to Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty
four right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for
twenty five cents a week for your first year. This
(10:10):
is a Black Friday sales, so it won't last long.
Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty four.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and North Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(10:39):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
tirn up that year with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Happy streaming. What's up? Everybody? My name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show The Bridge and What I
Do Every weekday Morning is I bring you the best
of South Asian music and culture from around the world,
and that includes some of the most exclusive access to
the South Asian music industry. I'll bring you world premieres
(11:16):
and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
Speaker 13 (11:21):
The siding on what to listen to is hard. Using
Zoomo to stream music from iHeart Nineties Radio is easy.
Or play iHeart Country or hip Hop beats your choice,
all for free.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Stream easy with Zoomo Play.
Speaker 13 (11:33):
Get live and on demand entertainment with no logins, no
sign ups, no accounts, no hassle. This November, get cozy
and stay in from Movie Night with Air Force One
starring Harrison Ford and Glenn Close, and The Art of
War starring Wesley Snipes, all streaming free on Zoomo Play,
Go to play dot Zoomo dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Now life is hard, Zoomo is easy.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
And I think you know, Survivor isn't like getting signed
or getting featured in an article. It's a TV show.
I think to where I'm at in my life is
like I had my head so far up my ass
in my twenties, I was constantly boasting about all the
cool and crazy achievements I had while somehow not making
(12:12):
that much money. There's like, none of this stuff really matters.
Like what matters is that I like playing music and
I want to be myself, So I'm gonna try and
sell that, if anything, rather than I feel like.
Speaker 8 (12:24):
I was in this fair Did we tour with that band?
Speaker 7 (12:27):
You know, Ben's got the resume. He shared stages with
influential indie acts Gorilla Toss and Mannekin Pussy. Though I
doubt that admission would have sweetened the pot for Survivor casting.
The point is that this dude is the real deal.
His website is Ben katzmanshreds dot com. Even though ben
Katzman dot com is available.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Posit really a test A poster posts here also.
Speaker 7 (13:03):
But as Ben pointed out, Survivor is a TV show
with a line between what really happens and dramatic storytelling
is blurred in some respects. At least one of Ben's
storylines in his season was his battle with anxiety. You
genuinely had panic attacks on this island.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
I think those panic attacks a night terrors started happening
around a point where.
Speaker 8 (13:24):
I already had it eaten a few days.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
They didn't tell me it was winter and Fiji, so
I only had like a denim jacket.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Of course, a shredder is going to bring his denim
jacket on Survivor. Hopefully it had some Mano war patches
sewn on the back. Survivor is one of the few
reality shows that I've ever cared about. Sure, the gameplay
is cool, the production values are top notch. There's always
(13:51):
an intriguing character of three to root, four or against.
But the main reason I've watched more than half of
its forty seven seasons has always been the exotic locale
and watching humans wither against unrelenting nature, blistering heat, bug bites, storms, chafing.
I've always admired how that aspect of the show can
change the narrative.
Speaker 8 (14:11):
On a dime.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
You start the game at one beach, that's like super comfortable.
I loved the beach we started at. You could sleep
on the sand, you were tucked away from the wind.
But when we made the merge, it was like you're
sleeping on dirt. The smoke was getting into your mouth
no matter which way you sat around the fire, and
the game is obviously way more intense at that point.
(14:34):
I think it was like all the elements at once,
and I'm like, normally an anxious person. I'm not gonna lie,
but I deal with it by playing music or like
a crank in Metallica.
Speaker 8 (14:52):
I didn't have all those normal outlets to deal with it.
Speaker 6 (14:56):
It was like something would wake me up in the
middle of the night. My heart would be racing and
it was like this uncontrollable fear that had no rationale,
and I'd have to sit there and wind myself down
from the anxiety of it all. I think I was
just rubbed completely rob anything that would have made me
feel quote unquote normal.
Speaker 7 (15:15):
You know, Ben makes it to the Merge for the
survivor Layman. That means he survived at least through the
midpoint of the season, the part where the opposing tribes
become one. It's also the part where a strategic gameplay
typically takes over.
Speaker 6 (15:28):
I don't think I've talked about this much, but like
I remember making it to the Merge and everybody was
quoting me like let's rock, but it didn't feel endearing,
you know. And then all of a sudden, there's this
majority alliance I'm not in and one of my number
ones is voted out, and it was just like, oh man,
it's like being back in, like like nobody wants to
(15:49):
work with you based on a lie somebody else told,
And you'll find out who the bitter Betty on our
season is. When people see the anxiety attacks, they don't
see the context of which it's.
Speaker 8 (15:59):
In because it wasn't just the conditions.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
It was partially the game, but there was more so
a theme of like, oh man, I'm dealing with something
I dealt with as a kid than I thought I
had figured out, But now I don't have.
Speaker 8 (16:10):
The tools that I normally use to deal with it.
Speaker 9 (16:12):
So how am I going to deal with it out
here in the wild?
Speaker 7 (16:16):
You know?
Speaker 8 (16:17):
It was like a new test.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
While in Fiji, Michael conquers his panic attacks, but does
he conquer survivor he makes it all the way to
the final tribal council where the million dollar winner is
crowned in front of a studio audience.
Speaker 8 (16:30):
It kind of like it's funny.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
It's like you're on the internet reading the same way
you would read your album reviews or something like you're
reading all these people have a commentary on you, but
like you're missing from like three episodes other than a
one liner here or there, And it's like, how do
you deal with like being able to explain whatever you
lived through that the audience has no context for. And
obviously I think the producers and editors are more concerned
(16:56):
telling the story of how the winner won rather than how.
Speaker 8 (16:58):
The loser lost.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
I did go out there and play a game where
I did wear my heart my sleeve and I was
honest and I did have moves. But sometimes you end
up in front of a jury that's bitter and the
audience doesn't know why it's bitter, but they can tell.
Speaker 8 (17:12):
And it's like, maybe it doesn't need the over.
Speaker 9 (17:15):
Justification of my storyline.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
And then it reminds me like, well, why did you
go and Survivor to like launch your music career or
to play survivor whatever reason? I was like, I want
to go have a human experience, And like I always
have to remind myself like whatever I lived through was
the game and whatever people are watching is the TV show,
And the two deal with each other, but they're not
the same thing.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
You know, if you want to know if Ben Katzman
one Survivor Fiji, the Internet can tell you. I don't
want some nerd giving me guff for spoilers, I will
tell you this much. Chisel Chin host Jeff Propes never
snuffs Ben's torch. He's on the island and in the
game for the duration, which is an achievement in itself.
Speaker 12 (17:57):
Black Friday is coming, And for the adults in your
life who love the coolest toys, well there's something for
them this year too. Bartisian is the premieer craft cocktail
maker that automatically makes more than sixty seasonal and classic
cocktails each and under thirty seconds at the push of
a button. And right now, Bartisian is having a huge
sight wide sale. You can get one hundred.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Dollars off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker.
Speaker 12 (18:20):
Bundle when you spend four hundred dollars or more so,
if the cocktail lover in your life has been good
this year or the right kind of bad, get them
Bartesian at the push of a button, make Bark quality Cosmopolitans, Martini's, Manhattan's,
and more, all in just thirty seconds, all for a
hundred off. Amazing toys aren't just for kids. Get one
(18:44):
hundred off a cocktail maker when you spend four hundred
through Cyber Monday. Visit Bartisian dot com slash cocktail. That's
BA R T s I a n dot com slash cocktail.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
If you put aside twenty five cents every week for
a year, what could you get at the end A
few cups of coffee, maybe a candle. Or you could
get a year of the best reporting from all over
the world. Go to Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty
four right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for
twenty five cents a week for your first year. This
(19:19):
is a Black Friday sale, so it won't last long.
Washingtonpost dot com slash BF twenty four.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and North Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(19:48):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
turn up that cheer with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Happy Streaming What's up, Everybody? My name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show called The Bridge. And what
I do every weekday morning is I bring you the
best of South Asian music and culture from around the world,
and that includes some of the most exclusive access to
the South Asian music industry. I'll bring you world premieres
(20:24):
and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Deciding on what to listen to is hard.
Speaker 13 (20:32):
Using Zoomo to stream music from iHeart Nineties Radio is easy.
Or play iHeart Country or hip hop beats your choice,
all for free. Stream easy with Zoomo Play, get live
and on demand entertainment with no logins, no sign ups,
no accounts, no hassle. This November, get cozy and stay
in from Movie Night with Air Force once starring Harrison
Ford and Glenn Close, and The Art of War starring
(20:52):
Wesley Snipes, all streaming free on Zoomo Play, Go to
play dot Zoomo dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Now life is hard, Zoomo is easy.
Speaker 7 (21:00):
And then, just like all Survivor contestants before him, months later,
Ben has to watch his experience unfold on a TV screen.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
It's a weird thing as a human to experience that,
and I meditate and do all sorts of hippie shit
to try and calm down. But I did have a
very human reaction to it, being like the fuck did
I just live through a second time?
Speaker 10 (21:21):
You know?
Speaker 6 (21:22):
But I'm still glad I went on the show, and
I'm still glad I made the friends I did, and
I'm trying to make the most out of it too,
you know. I'm glad I got to represent the freaks
and the weirdos because that's who I am. And I
see the people that come to my shows that are
(21:43):
survivor fans that have anxiety, or are artists or you know,
and like they resonate with it. Now I'm on tour
and people are coming and buying my record and sending
me amazing messages of how they feel seen.
Speaker 9 (21:54):
And I've got nothing but gratitude for stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
You know, I do think the human experience version of
it still rocks.
Speaker 7 (22:01):
And it's that human experience that inspires Ben to give
birth to a new rocking album, the aptly titled Tears
on the Beach.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
On the Beach Suck My Life like a.
Speaker 8 (22:17):
Waves down, but my fires, not.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
God is my number one.
Speaker 11 (22:28):
Beside Zuma. Survive, My mustag roll these posts and by sleep?
Speaker 13 (22:40):
What leave from the.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Is this what?
Speaker 7 (22:51):
It's not the live fun, but Survivor's only a small
motivation for me wanting to talk to Ben. Once I
find out about his past, that he's a metal head,
all bets are off.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
I was always like into music, but I remember the
thing that started it all was I heard the Power
Rangers theme when I was like two years old.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
It had so much.
Speaker 9 (23:16):
Adrenaline and like hard rock guitar and just like the chorus.
Speaker 8 (23:20):
Was larger than like like go Go Power Rangers.
Speaker 6 (23:29):
But then when I was like a kid, I really
got into like more aggressive rock music like Deep Purple
and the Ramones.
Speaker 9 (23:36):
And I remember my mom got me this book like
Juice Who Rock or something. I opened the book in
the center base was Jeane Simmons and Paul Stanley, And
it was right at that age where like cartoons were
starting to be considered lame, but everybody's getting into music.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
It was like the.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Perfect cross section like cartoons and heavy metal, you know,
But I'd never fit in.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
I was always like an emotional kid.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
People always called me emotional, so it was like drawn
to like Metallica, Mega Death and all sorts of music
that was just way more emotionally extreme than like whatever
was considered popular at the time, like Usher or something.
Speaker 9 (24:20):
I love that stuff.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
I played in a metal band my entire teenage time
called Acidosis, and we were like huge in the local
South Florida scene and stuff, I'm.
Speaker 11 (24:42):
Going rockbout that ra you were fy rock a rap.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
Throughout those years of playing in a metal band, I
learned I had to book my own shows, and I
started booking all my friends and then I was like
fuck it, I'll start a label, and like they're all
making all sorts of music. And even though I loved
heavy metal, I listened to everything, you know, like Enya
or Ennio Morricone or the Beatles. There's no preference. It's
just got a rock hard and not like genre wise,
(25:19):
it's gotta be like true.
Speaker 9 (25:20):
I guess.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
En Anio Morricone and the Beatles those couldn't be like
three more different styles. But at the same time, like
I'm a big fan of all three of those artists myself.
Speaker 8 (25:37):
Yeah, they're all intense in their own ways.
Speaker 7 (25:39):
You know, if intensity is Ben's thing, and he certainly
found the right instrument to fall in love with.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
The way I play is very aggressive too. It's like
very trebling, very abrasive, but still melodic. I just like that,
like you plug a guitar and just has this loud
(26:07):
sound that makes the hair on the back of your
neck just immediately stick up.
Speaker 7 (26:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
No, Gallagher is technically not a great guitar player. He's
a good one, but it's like the way his guitar
sounds where he's got like three amps running and he
strikes those big cores and it just it makes you
feel like you're a part of something bigger.
Speaker 7 (26:42):
Ben loves the guitar so much that he teaches young
kids in his Miami hometown how to play, and through teaching,
Ben gifts younger artists the perspective of playing music is
a path to personal growth instead of an effort to
build a career for the sake of success.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Sometimes I'll have a student that's having a sad day
and I'll be like, why are you said, He's like
my crush rejected me.
Speaker 9 (27:01):
I'm like, well, here's a band that sings NonStop about
being a lonely boy.
Speaker 8 (27:06):
You might like the Smiths.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
You know, it creates a way to pair real life
emotions with music and almost like a music therapy kind
of when it's a lot of fun to see kids
just step into themselves. And that's the main reason I
(27:38):
like to teach. I'm not looking out for trying to
have like the next Eddie van Halen. Although ironically enough,
two members of my band, who are like eighteen and
twenty one are my.
Speaker 8 (27:46):
Former students, so to speak. Oh yeah, I mean, I
was like, you know what, these kids want to rock.
We're going on tour my student do O. He's like
the Randy to.
Speaker 9 (27:56):
My assie, and his dad even me legal guardianship to
take him on tour.
Speaker 7 (28:02):
Of course, Ben has a student named Dio. They're touring
under the band's official name, Ben Katzman's De Greaser.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
What is De Greaser?
Speaker 6 (28:10):
Supposedly I played Danny Zuko in my high school production
of Grease, and I felt like I had a lot
in common with them, which is maybe not a great thing.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
That's cool, baby, I mean, you know how it is.
Speaker 9 (28:27):
And then when I started a band, I was like,
I'm trying to undo these sad boy, bad.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
Boy qualities and become a mature adult.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
I love that, dude.
Speaker 7 (28:34):
Give me, give me a couple of bars a summer
loven before we hang.
Speaker 8 (28:36):
Out some eleven having so fast. I'll tell you my
favorite line though. I mean, that's cool, baby.
Speaker 9 (28:43):
You know how it is rocking and rolling and whatnot.
Speaker 7 (28:48):
It's this mature adult's punk rock attitude is independent mindedness
that makes riding his post survivor wave complex. On one hand,
he's got a bigger platform to promote himself, Ruben elbows
with more power players, he's got network execs in his context,
but he's still got to be true to himself.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
People say, well, why don't you go on TikTok. It's
like being successful in anything takes a lot of work.
So you can do one of two things. You can
focus on being a great artist, or you can focus
on being a great content creator. Rarely do the two coincide,
And the ones that I think are considered great are
all funded by some major label that are pushing their
(29:30):
stuff in a modern version of Paola, which is like,
you know, record labels are paying TikTok to.
Speaker 9 (29:35):
Push songs for sure, It's not a conspiracy theory. You
got to do it because you love it.
Speaker 6 (29:40):
I've spent so many years trying to grind it, and
I think when you're in the grind and you start
making a living off your art, you forget that the
reason you're doing it is because you need to express yourself.
You have this innate need to be an artist. You're
not making art to be successful, but you would like
that to happen, and we're all shooting for it. And
it's like I said about getting cast on the TV
show Things, you don't pay much attention to end up
(30:02):
working in your favor. And it's like, how do you
find that fine line of like, I care so much
about my art, but I'm not gonna focus so much
on making it.
Speaker 9 (30:11):
I'm just gonna hope that whatever I'm doing in the moment.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
Attracts whatever I need, which is a completely asinine thing
to do when you're trying to plan your life. You know.
It's like spinal Tap says, there's a fine line between
clever and stupid.
Speaker 9 (30:24):
And you gotta find that balance of like, I'm passionate
about what I do.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
I love what I do, but I'm not gonna choke
the aspiration or I'm gonna find it hard to breathe
and I think if you love music, you're gonna make it,
you're gonna release it, and you're gonna do whatever you
can to promote it. But you can't put too many
expectations on it. You can't put up imaginary goals. It's
all like small goals, like I want to put out
an album and I want to get written about. I
(30:51):
want to put on an album, and I want to
book a show. I want to book one show, I
want to book a few shows, Like everything's got to
be incremental.
Speaker 7 (30:59):
Ben Katzman doesn't know it, but he's describing my own
musical evolution to a t and likely the same growth
path for a lot of guests on this podcast, and
maybe some of you listening to having low expectations, taking
baby steps. It all seems foolhardy if you're aiming for
the stars. But if your goal is to be an artist,
streams are no streams sales or no sales. This is
(31:21):
the secret sauce.
Speaker 9 (31:23):
It's not just about how good you are in today's market.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
There's a million amazing things, and sometimes mediocrity rises to
the top because it's so accessible. But how do you
make your imprint on this world unique to you? How
do you make your art be as you as possible?
And that's what I always tell my students or people
that come up to me at shows. I'm like, try
and be the thing people can't forget. And I know
(31:49):
for me it might be my character or my personality.
But if I'm going to talk the talk, I'm going
to rock the rock too. You know.
Speaker 7 (32:10):
Ben's got another artistic passion. He made the illustration that
adorns the cover of Tears on the Beach.
Speaker 6 (32:16):
I grew up watching cartoons like Rocco's Modern Life and
Doug and Old Looney Tunes and Pink Panther, and I
think I am like the human version of SpongeBob for sure.
Speaker 8 (32:28):
But it was just a thing to pass the time.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
And I originally wanted to be an animator for Nickelodeon
when I was a kid, and then I got better
at music, and I remember like being like, I won't
get anywhere. People think my art's kind of bad. But
now we live in this like nostalgic socidey where it's
like my art definitely has like this nineties pastiche to
it or something, but I more so I don't even
do it to be taken seriously as a visual artist,
(32:51):
I just do it because it's like again, it's like,
how do you make your stuff as you as possible?
So if I'm making my own T shirt designs or
album cover or single covers.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
That's another way of putting my own stamp on it.
Speaker 6 (33:04):
And it also helps me get off the phone because
when I'm working on doodles, I'm not on the computer,
I'm not on the phone. I'm like totally present, which
is not something I am very often, but it's something
I try to be and I think too.
Speaker 8 (33:17):
It's like the ethics of di wise, like you don't
need to be a super.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
Professional with everything sounding and looking amazing to get your
mark on the world. It's like why love bands like
Guided by Voices. It's like he did everything on an
eight track, you know, and it's like all preference. But
don't let like the trappings of not enough money or
connections hold you back from making your own shred, you know.
Speaker 7 (33:50):
Ben Katzman continues to make his own shred. He and
his band spent this fall on the road, rocking up
and down both coasts in support of De Greaser's new album.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
It's been great. I mean, it's weird.
Speaker 6 (34:01):
It's like we've been selling out a ton of shows,
but then we'll like play shows that like nobody comes to,
or like twenty people in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 8 (34:11):
But the cool thing about it in this phase.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
Is even with just twenty people, it's twenty people who
are fucking stoked, and you're going to deliver for them
because that's like they paid their money the same way
somebody had unpacked show will and I love to rock
regardless of how the crowd is, and I'm.
Speaker 8 (34:28):
Just loving that people are loving the album.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
You know, We've sold a ton of copies of this
first pressing and people are loving it. You know, it
seems to be and I've sold more merch than I
ever have. And I know I'm talking in like Gene
Simmons terms, and I'm not saying it like money this,
money that, but it's like, I don't think people would
be buying it if they didn't care for it.
Speaker 8 (34:49):
And I just remember, your fire's not out when you're
walking out.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
This is called Fire's fut.
Speaker 7 (35:03):
Not unlike Ben's bank making hair metal idols, Survivor is
about fan service. It's entertainment that rides the coattails of
its own legacy, and many of the show's forty seven
seasons feature celebrities and often returning contestants. Even though he's
had the experience and his music career has taken off,
is Ben Katzman interested in being one of those players.
Speaker 9 (35:25):
If the opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
Regardless of how the outcome was or how I might
have been treated or what was shown, I still had
the time of my life. I would do it again,
just because there's nothing quite like being disconnected from society,
especially in today's day and age, and making friends and
playing a game and being on an island. It's like
full permission to let your inner child, inner teenager fly high,
(35:51):
you know. And I just loved every element. Even the
suffering was like, dude, we're suffering, but we're suffering on.
Speaker 9 (35:57):
Survivors, So you never know.
Speaker 6 (35:59):
If they hand that feed comes and knock in, who's
to say I wouldn't be rocking, you know.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
And although the tribe is already spoken, Ben's mission statement
remains louder than those words.
Speaker 9 (36:17):
The true winds in life come from being yourself and
you know, just going.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
For it.
Speaker 7 (36:47):
On the bee. I know.
Speaker 11 (36:55):
This still remains a piece of bay.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
To read.
Speaker 7 (37:12):
Find out more about Ben sampled the new album and
check out upcoming tour dates at Ben Katzmanshreds dot com
and follow Ben on social media at BKD Greaser sixty nine.
Big thanks to Ben for the rad conversation and special
thanks to Jess Correctlyiano and Dan Manning at terror Bird
Media for connecting us.
Speaker 8 (37:33):
And you know I got.
Speaker 12 (37:34):
Horns up for you.
Speaker 7 (37:35):
Loyal podcast listener, go full metal and subscribe and leave
a kind review for Independent Minded on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Share the links, tell your friends, buy some music at
Baldfreak dot com. And if you want to say hi
or send me your music, you can do it at
Ron at baldfreak dot com. Plus keep up with the
latest freak news on social media at Baldfreakmusic. Independent Minded
(37:59):
is a bald Freak Music production. And me, I'm still
Ron Scalzo up.
Speaker 14 (38:38):
I have a way to make your morning more efficient.
You can get caught up on the news in about
seven minutes. That is my promise to you as the
host of the seven podcast from the Washington Post. And
in that time I will run down seven stories everything
from the most important headlines to fascinating new information you
might miss otherwise, Hannah Jewel, go follow the seven right
(39:02):
now wherever you're listening, and we will get you caught up.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The
Roku Channel your home for free and Premium TV is
giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations
from iHeart all for free. Find this soundtrack of the
season with channels like iHeart Christmas and North Pole Radio.
The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, fireTV,
(39:29):
Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku Mobile app on
iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and
turn up that cheer with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel.
Happy streaming.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
What's up everybody? My name is Sammy John.
Speaker 5 (39:45):
Tune in every weekday morning at nine am Pacific Standard
time and hear my show called The Bridge.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
And what I do every weekday morning is I bring.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
You the best of South Asian music and culture from
around the world, and that includes some of the most
exclusive access to the South Asian music industry. I'll bring
you world premieres and I'll bring you exclusive interviews only
on Ruckas Avenue Radio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!