On this edition of THE INTERVUE, we are going to be talking to a native Baltimorean that he is gearing up for his next concert with The Hollow Truths at Rams Head on Stage this Sunday at 8pm in Annapolis. Tickets are available and can be purchased HERE
Let’s welcome to the INTERVUE, Ben DeHan
Its great to have you here especially a Baltimore native, Maryland represent of course.
Oh yeah, 100 percent!
For those who have not heard your music, what’s the best way to describe it?
So, I guess the best way to put it succinctly is I fall into the spectrum between Machine Gun Kelly and Angels & Airwaves which is a pretty broad spectrum but it happens to somehow paint a picture. It has the electronic MIDI type sound but its also very much pop.
I definitely agree with the pop sound. I had he chance to listen to a couple of your songs Think I Want and Waiting for You for the last few weeks now. I was blown away by the performance and the talent you possess and I can’t wait to see you bring it this Sunday.
Yeah, we can’t wait either. We thank you for the kind words about the songs. I am glad that you like them. Lauren (White) and I just got done rehearsing a little bit ago. I think its going to be a really good fit. I wanted to play at that Rams Head my entire life. You know, I played the one in Baltimore, rams Head Live with All Time Low and one show with Angels & Airwaves, which were both awesome shows. There is something different about Rams Head on Stage. This will be my first time there. I am really excited and I know Lauren is too.
I agree, Rams Head On Stage gives you more of that intimate vibe and the intimacy between the audience and the artist that very few venues in the DMV can capture.
I feel the same way. Its got some interesting energy there where its got like a unique energy. I have been to a few shows there and its got this history that indescribable. I can’t wait.
One of the most interesting things I’ve learned about you is that you perform with your bandmate who is your girlfriend, Lauren White. I would like you to tell us about your story of how you two met and gel well together.
Interesting that I have never told the full story before.
Oooh, nice I get the exclusive here!
Lauren and I met at a bar called The Hideaway a little over two years ago. I just had this feeling right away when I met her that she was something special and we just kinda hit it off. You know, one thing led to another and then we were in a relationship. I don’t think it was until the time that COVID hit, maybe six months into our relationship that she even brought the fact that she played the cello.
I was like “Oh!” I think that he mom dropped it off. I was like “Well, we should try this out together.” We spent that first day playing together and it felt like magic and we have been doing it ever since. That’s pretty much the story in a nutshell.
That’s an amazing story and I can hear the chemistry not only in the music but in the writing as well. And this is the perfect segue into talking about the two songs that I listened too. You just recently released Waiting for You a few days ago and its feel very cathartic. What’s the inspiration behind writing this piece?
Waiting for You, its interesting that the word “cathartic” keeps getting brought up because probably its one of the most cathartic songs that I’ve ever written. I was in a really dark place. I do struggle with depression and anxiety. This was right before COVID hit even. I was feeling a little rocky. I felt a little distance from Lauren but also I come to find that when I sometimes feeling that way, its me distancing myself. So I am trying to write something and see it form their perspective.
I remember picking up my Taylor which was in my old room and just for whatever reason it was in this interesting tuning which I never strummed for. I strummed from the chord and it just came out. I just feeling like “whatever” because things weren’t going the way that I wanted to but we have to take responsibilities within ourselves. It just came out exactly the way that I felt. There are simple statements that needed saying and then we get to the bridge where I didn’t end up writing that til about nine months later, right before we were in the studio with Sam Pirro out of San Francisco. That was a pretty good experience too. After living with my parents, I wrote the line “I know, we go to get out of here.” It could be taken many of ways, its metaphorical but its also like literal for I got to get out of this room, here. I want to move. I want to the next place.
When I first heard the song, it really touched me in a lot of ways for I went through depression recently and this song gives me some good vibes that it felt like it took some of the pain away. So I really appreciate the song and you bringing it to the world.
That means the world to me. I am very happy that it helped you. I took from that it has taken away some pain from me as well that I was feeling at the time. So I appreciated that.
I also enjoyed the song Think I Want which was released back in May and you mentioned that this was your favorite song on the EP. Can you tell us why?
Somehow it kinda captured exactly what I wanted to do with that song. First of all, I love the phonics of it. I like how it changes at the end. I like the electronic elements to it. I love how its kinda like a dialogue right between me and myself and I try to write out what that conversation looks like within the first verse and chorus. You know, having that self doubt bu by the end, say “Screw this, I’m moving forward anyway.” The second verse is very personal to me for its actually about this time that I was probably eighteen or nineteen sitting in a rest stop in a 15-passenger van with my band at the time and just thinking like “You know this is it. This is what I got to be doing. I’m right where I need to be”. So I wanted to create a visual of that scene and then bring it back to where I am now. It kinda embodies my struggles, my triumphs and my reflections in this album.
What can audiences expect from you this Sunday night from the people who know your work so well to the ones who are experiencing you for the first time?
They can expect us to bring it because that’s what we do! We play as a five piece band: myself, Lauren, our bassist Matt O’Brien, our drummer Jeff and our pianist Lucas. They can expect a show, we leave all up there. This is only our second show as a whole unit. We like to leave all up on the stage and we like to have a good time. We’re going to play a couple of covers but we’re also going to get into it. We have a pretty exciting set.
Check out Ben DeHan this Sunday night at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis. If you want to check out from Ben, go to https://www.bendehanmusic.com or click on his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, & Spotify
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