Breaking Benjamin

About Breaking Benjamin

The Pennsylvania-based Breaking Benjamin are one of the most exciting things to happen to alternative rock in years. While many modern rock bands are still stuck playing watered-down re-workings of grunge songs, Breaking Benjamin succeed in cutting through the clutter with riff-heavy, atmospheric songs and serious, power-chord bravado. After three solid albums of heavy anthems, Breaking Benjamin have successfully established themselves within the rock community, and the band is deeply respected by their peers and tour-mates. They can also translate all of the energy and anguish of their albums into a killer live show, and Breaking Benjamin are one of the most popular touring bands on the alt-rock circuit today. The band get their unique name from an incident early in singer Benjamin Burnley's musical career when, while playing a Nirvana cover at a local open-mic night, Ben managed to break the microphone. Although the incident did not endear him to the other musicians signed up to play that evening, it did provide inspiration for his future band name. Ben has always worked closely with ace guitarist Aaron Fink, who is capable of evoking an entire state-of-mind with a single guitar solo. Aaron developed his skills in the pro cover band Lifer, and it wasn't until Ben and Aaron hooked up with Aaron's ex-bandmate bassist Mark Klepaski that the band finally settled on a coherent sound. They briefly toured under the name Plan 9 before Benjamin suggested his alternate name. To symbolize his commitment, Burnley got the band's logo, a complicated Celtic knot, tattooed on his middle finger (it can be seen on the cover of their second full-length album.) As Breaking Benjamin, The band's debut album, Saturate, endeared them to underground rock fans, but it wasn't until 2004's We Are Not Alone that Breaking Benjamin produced a recording that really captured the spirit of the band. Fans were blown away by thunderous singles like "So Cold" and "Sooner or Later." Breaking Benjamin also got some serious alt-rock cred by collaborating with Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan on the tracks "Rain", "Follow" and "Forget It," and having a number of tracks on the Halo 2 Soundtrack. Their third album, Phobia, brings a melodic refinement to the Breaking Benjamin sound while the band's song-writing remains sophisticated and heavy.