Hello, I’m Ben O’Brien Smith and music is my life. I’ve been listening to music all my life and playing music for the past 11 years. When I was eight years old I started “playing” guitar. This involved turning on the radio and strumming along (note that nothing I was playing at that point had much to do with the music I was playing along with except maybe the general rhythm/tempo). My uncle Joel helped me get my first guitar. The following year I starting playing percussion in the school band program at the advisement of my uncle. This was quite possibly the best decision I have ever made. Uncle Joel changed my life and continues to be on of my biggest musical inspirations. Over the course of middle school and high school I played percussion in just about any ensemble/situation I could. I was hooked for life. About five years ago I decided that music was the basis of my future and I began to think about attending a music school for a Bachelor’s degree.
I spent July ‘08 in Ghana (West Africa) studying music. It was an amazing trip that I wish I could have extended for another month. It was absolutely amazing there and the people were wonderful. I’d go back in a heartbeat. I’ve been working at several music camps with the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association including teaching percussion at their Music Day Camp and being a counselor at their VYOA Reveille! overnight music camp. The experiences have been amazing and I’ve really enjoyed spending my time with them.
I’m a junior at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in the middle of nowhere Upstate New York. I’m a music performance major and a music business minor. I’m in my element.
I run the on campus music venue, Hurley’s. I book bands and run sound for the shows. It’s a fun time. I’m also a DJ at the college radio station, 90.3FM WAIH :: “The Way.” I host my own show, Eclectic Mondays, from 8-9pm every Monday evening. I also do a format hour playing music on our playlist from 9-10pm on Tuesdays. I’m an engineer and liaison for Madstop Records, the student-run record label. And if that wasn’t enough, I’m also and staff writer and photographer for the Racquette newspaper.
I should also mention that back in high school I developed an interest in audio recording. I started out with a simple Tascam 788 8-track digital recorder and a pair of microphones from my uncle (the one who got me started on percussion). The summer before my freshmen year of college I decided to get a MacBook Pro laptop and a portable Pro Tools rig. Every since then I’ve been collecting recording equipment and recording everything I can.
