Bencoolen achieves their bold, signature sound by weaving blues, funk and soul through songs, teetering on the edge of mainstream pop and rock. Featuring soaring vocals, swift saxophone lines, and massive guitar tones, the band was started in 2014 by college friends Paul Gregg and Teddy Scott. As time has progressed, the focus of the band shifted from a hobby to a lifestyle, catalyzed by lineup changes, rediscovery, and unrelenting inspiration. The lineup rounded out by mid-2016 with Ben Suarez joining on bass, Jack Bentsen on saxophone, and Will “Willy Pipes” Lockery on drums and backup vocals.
The early days of a band are often painted poetically. Artists face lengthy struggles to be heard, turbulent lives on the road, and uncertainty. They also experience grand adventures, beautiful stages, and meet wonderful people few others find. This journey is embraced by the five-piece of Bencoolen and they play on, writing their first chapters, riding in a caravan up and down the coast from sunny Savannah and to New York’s metropolis. They rapidly dance between highs and lows. A van stuck in the mud, an encore in a college town, a festival stage among a lineup of legends, and a lonely night at the dive. Song ideas sprout up from it all, sax solos fill the night, and ripping guitars stun a passerby with an adrenaline rush.
Bencoolen’s sound has dazzled crowds, and their determination continues to bring them to new venues. In fact, Bencoolen grabbed a hometown sell out show in Washington DC in September 2018. They have supported tours for Mihali of Twiddle, Marcus King, Spafford, Mungion, Atlas Road Crew, Mondo Cozmo, and Big Something, to name a few. They also have landed major festival slots at Firefly Music Festival in 2017 and at Musikfest in 2018.
The group welcomed their formal debut album, Daydream on March 8th. The record cycles through genres seamlessly, from pop to funk to rock, capturing the genre-bending spectacle now expected out of their live performance. The record is headlined by “Tonight,” “Roll On,” and “Daydream” where listeners are enveloped in steady pulses, swaggering leads, and confident vocal performances. The release was made possible by the generosity of Dragon’s Lair Studios and producer Addison Smith’s touch behind the controls. It was captured in a cabin tucked away in the lush hills of West Virginia.
Glide is proud to premiere the official video for “Daydream” from Bencoolen a charismatic rock track with a gritty guitar solo that is so direly absent from today’s new music. Bencoolen combines a righteous in the pocket rock and punk ethos that makes them one of rock’s must-hear artists of 2019.
“When I wrote the lyrics for this song, I wanted to capture a projection of moving through life from beginning to end, says Scott. “The lines intentionally shift between optimism and darkness to highlight our potential, our realities, our highs, and our lows. My body is my ‘concert hall,’ my ‘castle,’ and the transport to my own end. For me, the ‘Daydream’ is a reoccurring questioning of the path that I am on. So many things are repetitive and consistent in a day-to-day fashion as time moves along. What we do and how we act on each of them will define us. We run, we dance, we reflect, we love, and eventually, it is over. A lot of people are part of that journey, but we face the finale alone. That can be an overwhelming thought. The repeated lyric ‘Don’t make me blind’ is a self-reminder to never get too hung up on it, and to experience the moment while it is here.
“Carter Louthian (director) helped me shape an idea for this music video out of these thoughts. We were able to play with timeline throughout the video, rotate through dreams/realities, and act out my ‘blindness’ in that I do not acknowledge my bandmates until the bridge when I ‘wake up’ and literally walk into our bassist, Ben [Suarez]. This all symbolizes internal turmoil.”
“At times the video even implies an out of body experience. Am I heading to the hospital to visit my own deathbed? Am I visiting my memorial when Jack [Bentsen, saxophone] floats behind me at the night time scene? Will I be happy or proud of the route I took through it all when I see myself there?”
“Regardless of the journey my thoughts take me towards, I finally arc back out of a spiral and onto a positive path when I take my spot at rehearsal. My solo sits on the front edges of the beat, frantically regaining traction with the support of my bandmates and our music.”
Bencoolen Tour Dates
March 28 – Roanoke, VA – Martin’s Downtown %
March 29 – Beckley, WV – Melody’s
March 30 – Charleston, WV – Empty Glass
April 5 – Richmond, VA – The Camel
April 19 – Columbia, MD – The Soundry **
April 20 – Washington, DC – Hamilton
April 26 – Frostburg, MD – Dante’s
April 27 – Greenwood, VA – Misty Mountain Festival
May 3 – Charlotte, NC – Heist Brewery
May 4 – Mills River, NC – Sierra Nevada Brewing
% w/ CBDB
** w/ Willie Nile
