Ben Cooper (musician)

Ben Cooper (born February 24, 1982) is a singer-songwriter from Jacksonville, Florida.[3] He is currently a member of Electric President with Alex Kane, Radical Face (formerly known as Radical Face Versus Phalex Sledgehammer), Iron Orchestra (alongside his brother), Mother's Basement and Unkle Stiltskin, The Clone Project (with Rick Colado),[4] among other musical projects.

Ben Cooper
Background information
Born (1982-02-24) February 24, 1982[1]
Jacksonville, Florida, United States[2]
GenresAcoustic rock
Indie folk
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrumentsguitar, accordion, banjo, drums, piano
Websitewww.radicalface.com

Cooper grew up in a family of nine siblings and states his family as his biggest influence. His creative streak originated from a passion for drawing and painting early on, and by middle school he had begun making short movies with friends and playing music.

At the age of 19, Ben Cooper decided he wanted to become a writer and wrote two books. However, he did not backup his files and the computer crashed, so he took it outside and smashed it with a hammer. It was with this turn of events that Cooper started creating music for himself which would eventually form into an unintended career, despite his original intentions.[5]

When Ben Cooper was 14, he came out as gay to his parents. His step-father then kicked him out of his home. In his adulthood, Cooper found out that his step-father sexually abused his niece. Ben ended up adopting his niece, and gave testimony at his step-father's trial.[6] Although he intended for his "The Family Tree" trilogy to be fictional when he began the project, his songs in the third album, "Leaves," were directly written about his family due to those recent developments in his life.[7]

Cooper met Alex Kane in 2000 in a band called Helicopter Project when asked to replace the lead singer of the band, and the two have worked together on various projects since. Most of Ben Cooper's tracks are reportedly recorded in a tool shed outside his house. In 2011, Cooper released a new album under the alias "Patients". He is perhaps best known for his 2007 track "Welcome Home" which featured on an advertisement for Nikon cameras.[8]

His song "We're On Our Way" was featured in the trailer for the 2012 motion picture The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

His songs "Glory" and "All is Well (Goodbye, Goodbye)" performed by Radical Face were featured in the 2016 motion picture Buddymoon.

Cooper also owns digital design company The Lazy Eye.

References
  1. "Happy Birthday Ben! | Radical Face Forum". Oldradicalface.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  2. Ben Cooper is running for Electric President, archived from the original on October 26, 2009
  3. "When The Page Becomes A Mirror: A Chat With Radical Face". Morning Edition. NPR. April 4, 2016.
  4. Cooper, B., Colado, R. (September 23, 2014). The Clone Project. Retrieved from http://projectclone.com/
  5. Secret Sessions. (December 20, 2013). Radical Face Interview – Secret Session. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KhWYvbUw00
  6. "Radical Face Premieres "The Ship in Port" Video". Bandcamp Daily.
  7. "When the Page Becomes a Mirror: A Chat with Radical Face".
  8. "Nikon Cameras – I Am". TV Ad Music. March 12, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2014.


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