admin, Author at Benjamin Wagner

Sing

By admin | October 28, 2003 |

I woke up early this morning. It was bright blue and gorgeous outside. Instead of the usual NPR, I threw the CD player on shuffle. And for some reason — sheer exhaustion, marathon anxiety, nicotine withdrawal (sorry Mom, I’ve been making a rock record) — every song left me on the edge of tears. On…

‘New York’ Video Shoot

By admin | October 26, 2003 |

Chris and I were up and off to Times Square this morning at 5:30 for day two of the ‘New York’ video shoot. As we wrapped across from The Dakota at 8:30, Yoko Ono wandered into the shot. The premise of the ‘New York’ video, you’ll recall, is that I am walking home from LaGuardia…

All The Advil At Duane Reade

By admin | October 25, 2003 |

I woke up at 4:58 a.m., fully-dressed, in bed, on top of the covers. It was that kind of Friday night. I just stood here in my bedroom, staring out the window while the coffee maker gurgled over my shoulder, and tried to piece everything together. I don’t think it’ll take you long to see…

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

By admin | October 23, 2003 |

Was there ever a time when one didn’t work on, like, fifteen different things simultaneously? I marveled today as I popped from one project to another — MTV News features, tour dates, doctor’s appointment, t-shirt design, CD ecommerce — while still managing to feel like I was making headway. This much I can say: pending…

At-A-Glance

By admin | October 22, 2003 |

I’ve kept one of those week-at-a-glance calendars for assignments, deadlines, meetings, birthdays, etc., since college. When I looked at it this morning, Wednesday was completely blank. Of course, there’s plenty to do, my day job at the MTV not withstanding: FedEx-ing the mixes to mastering, scheduling the tour, prepping the artwork, the bonus disc, t-shirts,…

Sequencing ‘Almost Home’

By admin | October 21, 2003 |

I have been listening to Almost Home all day, trying to sequence the tracks in an editorially and emotionally meaningful way — not an easy task. So it’s 11:21, I’m all squinty-eyed and tired, and I’ve missed tonight’s last Fed Ex pick up, but I think I’ve figured it out. See, I think a record…

Tired & Fat

By admin | October 20, 2003 |

Yeah, so I’m a little bombed. So what? You’d be celebrating too if you’d just finished mixing your brand-new record. We finished ‘Hollywood Arms’ — guitars, vocals, and piano all — within an hour of my arrival at the studio. (Of course, Kevin had it well under way prior to then.) We added one last…

The New York City Skyline

By admin | October 19, 2003 |

My brother Christofer and I met on the corner of 57th and Tenth this morning at 5:30, loaded to bear with a DV camera, a tripod, one guitar case, a map of the five boroughs, and plenty of coffee, then pointed the truck east towards a sun that would never rise. The occasion was the…

On ‘I’ll Be Waiting’

By admin | October 16, 2003 |

Two falls ago, we were rehearsing at a space on Rivington Street for a month-long residency at Arlene Grocery. It was a gray fall day on Manhattan’s gritty Lower East Side. It was perfect for songwriting. I came equipped with my Rickenbacker, and an A-to-D progression ripped straight from ‘Dear Elizabeth’ played with a healthy…

On ‘Radio’

By admin | October 15, 2003 |

I walked into the studio at 7:00 pm with two six packs, two Quizno subs (the Official Sanwhich Maker of Benjamin Wagner’s ‘Almost Home’ LP), a DV camera, and Jonathan Goldner, cameraman extraordinaire. Kevin was almost done mixing ‘Radio.’ With a few of my edits, it was a wrap. I wrote ‘Radio’ shortly after September…