Ben Folds “You got to give the people what they want”
“You got to give the people what they want” is not only a lyric from “Rockstar”, a song Ben Folds’ new album, supersunnyspeedgraphic: the LP, but it is also Ben’s unofficial motto. Very simply, he gives the people what they want. Instead of living under a rock in between recording sessions and performances, rock pianist Ben Folds lets his fans know that he’s a living, breathing human being who cares.
After Ben finished up his regular tour last year, he started getting creative with how he could please his fans, and how he could attract more. He decided to take the most popular songs from his internet-only releases, re-engineered them, and released them as a full-length commercial album called supersunnyspeedgraphic: the LP. For all of the diehard Ben fans, none of this is new, but to other fans that may have not paid attention to these small releases, this is a big treat. There are a lot of great songs to be found on this album. Even though diehard Ben fans may have heard them all, the new versions sound superbly remastered. One of the songs from the album is a cover of Dr. Dre’s “B**ches Ain’t Sh**”. Before its release, it was topping the charts of the iTunes music store, and it was a hit at all of Ben’s shows. Another past favorite among fans is “All U Can Eat”, which serves as a commentary on our materialistic society. Other highlights of the album include “Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman”, a Darkness cover, “There Is Always Someone Cooler Than You”, and “Learn To Live With What You Are”.
In promotion of his new album, Ben created many events online and off for his fans to attend. In the summer and fall, he began a small tour with a symphony orchestra in the Northeast. His orchestrated performances first became a hit down in Australia, where local composers made full arrangements of his songs. In late September, Ben appeared in an online virtual world called Second Life where he answered direct questions from its users. In late October, Ben made the first MySpace live webcam performance where Myspace users could actually message Ben their song requests. He is now continuing a regular tour in the states with Lindsay Jamieson on drums and Mr. Reynolds on bass, and the tour will stretch into the new year. If great musicians like Ben want to persevere in this simple, pop-driven society, they need to reach out to their fans like Ben, and the music world will become a greater place.