Benjamin Hooper
“BENJAMIN HOOPER”
Maybe you’ve heard the name Paisley or perhaps you… Read Full Bio ↴“BENJAMIN HOOPER”
Maybe you’ve heard the name Paisley or perhaps you’ve caught Ben Hooper ripping it up with some of his funky tunes across key Brisbane venues. Wherever you might have seen or heard Ben before, you won’t be expecting the latest sound that’s been bubbling away under the surface of the Benjamin Hooper creative project.
A career that began in Armidale, Australia, saw Ben learning the cello from the age of 3. Coming from parents who believed that music played a strong part in the person that you become, Ben and his 3 brothers and sisters grew up listening to James Taylor, Midnight Oil, mostly Australian music and of course Chicago and The Eagles.
After spending his youth in Armidale and performing at The Sydney Opera House, Ben moved with his family to Queensland at the age of 16 and started attending Brisbane State High School. Here he continued his love of the cello and half way through his final year, Ben applied to The Queensland Conservatorium of Music and was the only student in Australia to be accepted into the cello program that year.
Since then, Ben’s been a local on the Brisbane live scene and has released 2 albums. He’s built his songwriting and performing credibility on a background of solid education at the Conservatorium and has worked hard with constant touring, performing, supporting major Australian performers, evaluating, learning and writing.
“One of my coolest experiences was supporting an iconic Australian singer (I won’t name names…) but just before I was due to go on stage, he came up to me and suggested I should probably just do a few good covers. I thanked him for his advice and as I had been booked to play originals that’s what I did. I hit the stage with my usual set and as expected, the audience gave me a real warm welcome. The main act performed to a suitably vibed room and I sat back and enjoyed the show. Afterwards while packing up, the ‘legend’ was heading my way and I was expecting some fairly ordinary remarks. But I was wrong and what ensued was a great conversation about how much he enjoyed my music and would be really pleased to hear more sometime. If you really believe in what you’re doing – no one can stop you.”
Ben makes you stop, look and listen, the minute he starts playing. He’s entertaining and cheeky, reads the audience well and delivers on his promise that it won’t sound exactly like the album – it will be better. He’s had the privilege of supporting The Choir Boys, Jimmy Barnes, Glenn Shorrock and John Swan, as well as performing at major festivals alongside Killing Heidi, Evermore, Jon Stevens and Brian Cadd,
The latest work on the EP “Natural Reaction”, has Ben exploring a combination of typical “rock” instruments like electric guitar, bass and drums, and creates a melody of theatrical sound when he adds the cello, piano accordion, saxophone and violin. With influences like James Taylor, Dave Matthews Band, Lior, Paul Kelly, Oasis, and Midnight Oil, not to mention is fellow students at the Conservatorium, the result is a collection of lyrical masterpieces.
Today, Ben has brought together some of the finest musicians from the conservatorium for this album, a couple of which include Bohdan Davison on saxophone who has played with Ben Folds Five and The Australian Youth Big Band that has toured America. Nick Hatch will play drums after coming off a 3 year tour with the Ten Tenors and Burke Turner on trumpet who plays with Pete Murray. Katei Chang will be ripping it up on the violin and is currently performing in Japan.
Please give a warm welcome to the reinvention of “Benjamin Hooper – The Band”, and experience the talent that has been building over the years incorporating his classical influences with his love for rock.
An Australian tour is in the pipeline for late 2008 so if you’d like Ben to hit your town, drop us a line, we’d love to visit.
Maybe you’ve heard the name Paisley or perhaps you… Read Full Bio ↴“BENJAMIN HOOPER”
Maybe you’ve heard the name Paisley or perhaps you’ve caught Ben Hooper ripping it up with some of his funky tunes across key Brisbane venues. Wherever you might have seen or heard Ben before, you won’t be expecting the latest sound that’s been bubbling away under the surface of the Benjamin Hooper creative project.
A career that began in Armidale, Australia, saw Ben learning the cello from the age of 3. Coming from parents who believed that music played a strong part in the person that you become, Ben and his 3 brothers and sisters grew up listening to James Taylor, Midnight Oil, mostly Australian music and of course Chicago and The Eagles.
After spending his youth in Armidale and performing at The Sydney Opera House, Ben moved with his family to Queensland at the age of 16 and started attending Brisbane State High School. Here he continued his love of the cello and half way through his final year, Ben applied to The Queensland Conservatorium of Music and was the only student in Australia to be accepted into the cello program that year.
Since then, Ben’s been a local on the Brisbane live scene and has released 2 albums. He’s built his songwriting and performing credibility on a background of solid education at the Conservatorium and has worked hard with constant touring, performing, supporting major Australian performers, evaluating, learning and writing.
“One of my coolest experiences was supporting an iconic Australian singer (I won’t name names…) but just before I was due to go on stage, he came up to me and suggested I should probably just do a few good covers. I thanked him for his advice and as I had been booked to play originals that’s what I did. I hit the stage with my usual set and as expected, the audience gave me a real warm welcome. The main act performed to a suitably vibed room and I sat back and enjoyed the show. Afterwards while packing up, the ‘legend’ was heading my way and I was expecting some fairly ordinary remarks. But I was wrong and what ensued was a great conversation about how much he enjoyed my music and would be really pleased to hear more sometime. If you really believe in what you’re doing – no one can stop you.”
Ben makes you stop, look and listen, the minute he starts playing. He’s entertaining and cheeky, reads the audience well and delivers on his promise that it won’t sound exactly like the album – it will be better. He’s had the privilege of supporting The Choir Boys, Jimmy Barnes, Glenn Shorrock and John Swan, as well as performing at major festivals alongside Killing Heidi, Evermore, Jon Stevens and Brian Cadd,
The latest work on the EP “Natural Reaction”, has Ben exploring a combination of typical “rock” instruments like electric guitar, bass and drums, and creates a melody of theatrical sound when he adds the cello, piano accordion, saxophone and violin. With influences like James Taylor, Dave Matthews Band, Lior, Paul Kelly, Oasis, and Midnight Oil, not to mention is fellow students at the Conservatorium, the result is a collection of lyrical masterpieces.
Today, Ben has brought together some of the finest musicians from the conservatorium for this album, a couple of which include Bohdan Davison on saxophone who has played with Ben Folds Five and The Australian Youth Big Band that has toured America. Nick Hatch will play drums after coming off a 3 year tour with the Ten Tenors and Burke Turner on trumpet who plays with Pete Murray. Katei Chang will be ripping it up on the violin and is currently performing in Japan.
Please give a warm welcome to the reinvention of “Benjamin Hooper – The Band”, and experience the talent that has been building over the years incorporating his classical influences with his love for rock.
An Australian tour is in the pipeline for late 2008 so if you’d like Ben to hit your town, drop us a line, we’d love to visit.
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