Ben kowalewicz biography

Standing In The Rain


Hier ein Interview über die Entstehung von Standing in the rain, Studioaufnahmen etc

Formed in , Billy Talent is one of the few bands to take hardcore punk, polish it up and still make it sound dirty enough to appeal to diehard punk fans. After a year of touring alongside The Buzzcocks and major league rockers on Lollapalooza, their latest self-titled record was released in September on Atlantic Records. Life In A Bungalo got the chance to speak with vocalist Ben Kowalewicz during some downtime on their US tourormed in , Billy Talent is one of the few bands to take hardcore punk, polish it up and still make it sound dirty enough to appeal to diehard punk fans. After a year of touring alongside The Buzzcocks and major league rockers on Lollapalooza, their latest self-titled record was released in September on Atlantic Records. Life In A Bungalo got the chance to speak with vocalist Ben Kowalewicz during some downtime on their US tour.

One of the highlights of your album is Standing In The Rain, which doesn’t seem to get mentioned much in the press. What were you thinking when you wrote that song?
A lot of people don’t like that song. We were recording our album in Vancouver, a very big port city where a lot of drugs flow—especially heroin. There’s a small area of about four blocks that is the most polluted, desolate area that has just been raped and pillaged by heroin. It’s almost hard to believe that it exists in North America. Prostitution and crime is also very high right by where we were recording. I remember walking, and I saw this girl. She was about my age, she was a prostitute, and it looked like the world had given up on her. It was weird, because I locked eyes with her, and saw her quite a few times. Ian wrote a song, and brought the music to Standing In The Rain. It was dirty, but beautiful and very hopeful and triumphant. While writing lyrics for it, I thought, “How did Sting

  • Kowalewicz was born in Montreal.

    • Benjamin Kowalewicz

    Canadian singer and songwriter (born )

    Musical artist

    Benjamin Ian Kowalewicz (; born December 16, ) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of rock band Billy Talent.

    Early life

    Kowalewicz was born in Montreal. He grew up in Pierrefonds. When he was 11, he and his family moved to Streetsville, Ontario. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School, where he was a drummer in a band named To Each His Own.

    Career

    In To Each His Own, Kowalewicz met Jonathan Gallant. Kowalewicz moved from drummer to vocals and rhythm guitar, and Aaron Solowoniuk was recruited to play drums. The three would then meet Ian D'Sa to form a band called Pezz. Pezz released their first album, Watoosh!, in After being threatened with a lawsuit by an American band who was also using the name Pezz, Kowalewicz suggested the name Billy Talent, taken from a character from Michael Turner's Hard Core Logo. Kowalewicz focused his work on vocals only, and Billy Talent was born. In this time, Kowalewicz worked in a number of positions at Toronto radio station the Edge, as an assistant for The Ongoing History of New Music host Alan Cross, to contribute funds towards Billy Talent's first album.

    Kowalewicz is featured in the song "Smiling Politely" by Cancer Bats from their album Hail Destroyer. He was featured in the song "Wake Up the Town" by Anti-Flag, which was a bonus track on their album The Bright Lights of America.

    His home in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto was featured on the Canadian home decorating show Designer Guys. The episode is entitled "Punk Meets Traditional". Kowalewicz can also play guitar and drums. He wrote drums for "The Ex" which appears on Billy Talent's self-titled album.

    Kowalewicz provided guest vocals for Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe's side project Emigrate. He provided co-lead vocals for the song "" on E

  • Benjamin Kowalewicz (pronounced ko-WAH-la-witz) (born December

    • Ben Kowalewicz

    Benjamin Kowalewicz (born December 16, , in Montreal, Quebec) is the "voice player" with Canadian pop-punk band Billy Talent.

    Quotes

    From "The Diary of Billy Talent":

    • Well what else do you do when you're in jolly old England than go on a search for a teapot?
    • Fuck the Da Vinci Code! It's the teapot code.
    • In Hollywood I would have found the last teapot and it would be falling off the shelf in slow motion and I would have dove and caught it and we would have walked away in slow motion with you know, hands in the air, high fiving each other.
    • Art doesn't always mirror life and life's hard sometimes.
    • Busy day, lots going on and for the last interview I decided, you know, to flirt with the microphone.
    • Nothing says inspiration like a plane flying over your head while you're playing.
    • Lesson one: If you're ever in a beautiful cathedral, take your hat off!
    • Just when you think that you thought that the guys in Billy Talent partied and did coke and had sex with all these hookers, we actually talk about architecture and, ehhistory.
    • You get bored on the road and even a bottle, of water can be fun, if you're bored enough.
    • So after Humpfest 06, it was time to play our rock show.
    • I feel like Ashton Kutcher on Punk'd!
    • Now there's no *beeping* way in hell I'm gonna go over because I'm a little afraid of animals.

    External links

    From growing up to dropping out of school, from playing drums to becoming the face of Billy Talent, here is everything you need to know about Benjamin Kowalewicz

    1. The singer&#;s full name is Benjamin Ian Kowalewicz (/ˌkɒvæˈlɛvɪtʃ/). The unusual last name, Kowalewicz, is explained by Ben&#;s Polish descent.
    2. Kowalewicz was born in Pierrefonds, Montreal. Whe he was 11, his family moved to Streetsville, Ontario. Now, the singer lives in downtown Toronto. His home in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto was featured on the Canadian home decorating TV show Designer Guys.
    3. While studying at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School, Kowalewicz was playing drums in a band named To Each His Own. It was there that he moved from drums to vocals and rhythm guitar.
    4. The first gig the school band ever played was at their high school talent show in the cafeteria.
    5. In , the four Billy-Talent-to-be members started playing in high school in Mississauga under the name Pezz.
    6. The same year they played in a battle of the bands in The Opera House in Toronto, &#;the same 4 of us, we were only 16 years old&#;, remembers Ian D’Sa (guitar).
    7. Kowalewicz dropped out of high school when he was &#;My teachers would say I was a bit of a handful&#;, he admits. &#;I was just filled with so much piss and vinegar I couldn’t see clearly.&#;
    8. Following a lawsuit by an American band who was also using the name Pezz, Kowalewicz suggested to name their band Billy Talent, taken from a character from Michael Turner&#;s Hard Core Logo.
    9. In order to make enough money for Billy Talent&#;s first album, Kowalewicz worked at Toronto radio station the Edge.
    10. Ben&#;s voice is distinctive and unmistakeable, but it took the singer a while to accept this uniqueness: &#;Once I accepted that this is the voice that I have and embraced that and went with it, it was very liberating. Then it felt good.&#;
    11. Kowalewicz delivered guest vocals for Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe&#;s side project Emigrate.
    12. &#;W
  • Benjamin Ian Kowalewicz is a