Ben Jorgensen

Last updated
Ben Jorgensen
Ben29.jpg
Jorgensen performing live
Background information
Birth nameBenjamin David Jorgensen
Born (1983-07-04) July 4, 1983 (age 41)
Origin Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Labels
Spouse
(m. 2013;div. 2020)

Ben Jorgensen is an American musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best-known as the lead singer and the guitarist of the rock band Armor for Sleep.

Contents

Early life and education

Jorgensen grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, and is of German, Danish, and Japanese descent. [1] Jorgensen attended the Jewish day school, Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, and the Solomon Schechter of Essex and Union, where he graduated in 2001. [2] [3]

Musical career

Early in his musical career Jorgensen was the drummer for punk band Random Task. [2] Jorgensen then formed Armor for Sleep in 2001. He began writing the first songs during the summer after his first year in college. Jorgensen recorded these songs as a demo CD for $100 at a local recording studio, with Jorgensen playing all the instruments himself. [1] These songs were later re-recorded for Armor For Sleep's debut album, Dream to Make Believe , released in 2003 on Equal Vision Records.

Armor for Sleep disbanded in 2009 (though they would later reunite in 2020), and Jorgensen started an electronic project with Sierra Shardae, named God Loves a Challenge, which only released an unnamed EP of various tracks. Jorgensen recorded his debut solo EP, titled There Is Nowhere Left to Go, at Treehouse Studios in Jersey City, and was released on October 5, 2010 via digital download.

Jorgensen made a cameo appearance in Fall Out Boy's "Dance, Dance" video in 2005, and also in Cobra Starship's video for "The City Is at War," in 2007, playing alongside Pete Wentz as a policeman.

Jorgensen primarily uses Fender Telecaster Deluxe and Gibson SG as his guitars of choice.

Personal life

In 2013, Jorgensen married actress Katrina Bowden.

They divorced in 2020. [4] [5] [6] He is now dating Kailey Cost.

Discography

Armor for Sleep

God Loves A Challenge

Solo material

Singles

Armor for Sleep

YearTitleAlbum
2003"Dream to Make Believe" Dream to Make Believe
2004"My Town"
2005"Car Underwater" What to Do When You Are Dead
"The Truth About Heaven"
2006"Remember to Feel Real"
2007"Williamsburg" Smile for Them
2008"Hold the Door"
2022"How Far Apart"The Rain Museum
"Whatever, Who Cares"
"New Rainbows"

Related Research Articles

The Golden Palominos were an American musical group headed by drummer, producer, arranger, and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership fluctuated, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis appearing on every album through 1996. Their final work, 2012's A Good Country Mile features vocalist Kevn Kinney. The band's early work developed out of the No Wave scene, but later branched out into alternative rock, country rock and electronic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armor for Sleep</span> American rock band

Armor for Sleep is an American rock band from Teaneck, New Jersey. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Ben Jorgensen, lead guitarist PJ DeCicco, bassist Anthony DiIonno and drummer Nash Breen.

<i>Dream to Make Believe</i> 2003 studio album by Armor for Sleep

Dream to Make Believe is the debut studio album by American rock band Armor for Sleep. Following on from his previous band Random Task, Ben Jorgensen taught himself guitar and later recruited additional members to form Armor for Sleep. With some buzz, and the addition of manager Gabe Saporta, the band recorded their debut album with Ariel Rechtshaid at two studios in California: El Barrio in Van Nuys and Standard Electrical in Venice Beach. Dream to Make Believe mixed the space rock of Hum with the emo pop of the Get Up Kids; it tackled the topics of dreaming, time-travel and space.

<i>What to Do When You Are Dead</i> 2005 studio album by Armor for Sleep

What to Do When You Are Dead is the second studio album by American rock band Armor for Sleep. Following the completion of two songs written from the perspective of being dead, vocalist/guitarist Ben Jorgensen created a whole story from this viewpoint. What to Do When You Are Dead is a concept album, with each song telling the story of the protagonist's suicide as well as his journey through the afterlife. Recording took place between August and October 2004 with producer Machine. A rough mix of "Car Underwater" was made available in November, followed by two US tours in February 2005. What to Do When You Are Dead was released on February 22 through independent label Equal Vision Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Academy Is...</span> American rock band

The Academy Is... is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2003. Before temporarily disbanding, they were signed by the Decaydance imprint of the Fueled by Ramen label. They were originally known as "The Academy", but added the "Is..." in 2004 to avoid legal complications with other established bands already under that name. The band has released three studio albums: Almost Here (2005), Santi (2007) and Fast Times at Barrington High (2008), along with four EPs. The band announced their disbandment on October 8, 2011. In May 2015, lead singer William Beckett announced that the band would reunite at Riot Fest 2015 in Chicago. In addition, the core members of the band, being Beckett, Mike Carden, Adam Siska, and Andy Mrotek, as well as Jamie Reed Schefman and Ian Crawford, reunited for a farewell tour that took place during December 2015. They announced that they would be reuniting again on May 11, 2022, alongside the announcement of their participation in the 2022 Riot Fest. They have since played shows opening for Fall Out Boy and in When We Were Young (festival), however have yet to announce new musical endeavors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equal Vision Records</span> American record label

Equal Vision Records is an independent record label based in Albany, New York. It was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo, the singer for the punk bands Youth of Today, Shelter, and Better Than a Thousand.

Golda Och Academy is a private Jewish day school that offers secular and religious education for Jewish children from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade at two campuses in West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Until June 2011 the school was called Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union. The school primarily serves families in Essex and Union counties, but attracts students from all over northern and central New Jersey and also New York.

Peter Goalby is an English rock singer. He was the lead vocalist for Uriah Heep between 1982 and 1986, recording three albums with the band. He also wrote Blood Red Roses, recorded by the band for their 1989 album Raging Silence and released as the second single from the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eef Barzelay</span> Israeli-American musician

Ifar "Eef" Barzelay is an Israeli-American musician. He is the principal songwriter and singer of alternative country band Clem Snide, but has also toured as a solo act, both as a headliner and in support of various artists such as Ben Folds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Conley</span> American musician (born 1980)

Christopher Lane Conley is an American musician who is the lead-singer/rhythm guitarist of the rock band Saves the Day. He is the only remaining original member as well as major artistic contributor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katrina Bowden</span> American actress (born 1988)

Katrina Bowden is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cerie on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2006–2013) and as Flo Fulton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful (2019–2021). She has also appeared in the films Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Sex Drive, Piranha 3DD, American Reunion, and Scary Movie 5.

Dan Singer, known professionally as Danny Diablo and Lord Ezec, is an American hardcore punk and hip hop vocalist. He is a current member of underground hip hop acts The ShotBlockers, KAOS 13 and FTW, and a founding member of hardcore bands Crown of Thornz, Skarhead, and Icepick, which gained him success on the New York hardcore scene.

<i>Smile for Them</i> 2007 studio album by Armor for Sleep

Smile for Them is the third studio album by American rock band Armor for Sleep, released on October 30, 2007 through Sire Records. Shortly after the release of their second studio album What to Do When You Are Dead (2005), the band were writing material for its follow-up. In early 2006, the band announced they had signed to Sire Records, recording demos not long after. At the end of the year, they started recording with Ben Grosse in California, but after a few months, the songs were scrapped. Recording restarted with Machine as producer, with sessions taking place at The Machine Shop in Weehawken, New Jersey and Loho Studios in New York City. Smile for Them is an emo and post-hardcore album, which recalling the works of Foo Fighters, the Smashing Pumpkins and Quicksand, that deals with celebrity culture.

Thomas White is an English, Brighton-based musician. Along with their brother, Alex, they form the nucleus of psych-pop band The Electric Soft Parade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cove Reber</span> American singer-songwriter

Cove Reber is an American singer-songwriter renowned for his contributions to the post-hardcore music scene. He is best known for his tenure as the lead vocalist of Saosin from 2004 to 2010. Reber notably rejoined Saosin for their fourth album in 2024, marking a significant return to the band. Since 2021, he has also served as a touring musician with Saosin, exchanging vocal duties with Anthony Green. Additionally, Reber has since showcased his musical prowess as the frontman for bands such as Dead American and Lé Tired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas in July</span> American metalcore band

Texas in July is an American metalcore band from Ephrata, Pennsylvania, formed in 2007. They released an EP, Salt of the Earth, and their debut full-length album, I Am, through CI Records. After signing with Equal Vision Records, they released three more studio albums: One Reality on April 26, 2011; a self-titled album on October 9, 2012; and finally Bloodwork on September 16, 2014. The band broke up at the end of 2015. After the disbanding, JT Cavey went on to join Erra and Chris Davis went on to join The Ghost Inside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Palmer (musician)</span> American singer-songwriter

Geoff Palmer, also known by the stage name Geoff Useless, is an American musician from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, now living in Madison, Wisconsin. He played bass and provided backing vocals for The Queers straight out of high school, and played guitar and did lead vocals for The Guts and The Nobodys.

JudaBlue was an American Jewish rock band from Silver Spring, Maryland. Formed in 2004 by lead singer Shlomo Gaisin and guitarist Yaniv Hoffman, the band released an EP, Forty Days, in 2010.

Sleep On It was a band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, formed in 2012. The band consisted of lead vocalist Zechariah Pluister, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Theodore Horansky, Bassist AJ Khah, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Jacob Marquis and drummer Luka Fischman. They released 2 studio albums and 3 EPs before ending the band on September 4, 2020.

Gatherers is a melodic hardcore band from Bayonne, New Jersey. Founded in 2011, Gatherers has released four full-length albums, one single, one EP, and one live release. In 2015, they signed to Equal Vision Records.

References

  1. 1 2 Knopper, Steve. "COOL@NIGHT; CONCEPT CD: Awaking the spirit in life or death; Armor for Sleep ponders afterlife with no apologies" [ permanent dead link ], Newsday , March 16, 2006. "It's hard to imagine a more morbid form of writer's block than this: I was kind of stuck in that place where the only thing I could write about was through the perspective of me being dead, says Ben Jorgensen, singer, guitarist and lyricist for the Teaneck, N.J.,...",
  2. 1 2 New jersey Jewish Standard: "More powerful than a locomotive... Steel Train remembers Jersey roots on path to fame" by William A. Jacobson Archived 2015-07-06 at the Wayback Machine November 26, 2010
  3. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=245416418868278&id=8225062625 [ user-generated source ]
  4. Chen, Joyce (January 30, 2012). "Katrina Bowden gets engaged to rocker Ben Jorgensen the night before the SAG Awards 2012". New York Daily News.
  5. Nessif, Bruna (May 19, 2013). "30 Rock's Katrina Bowden and Musician Ben Jorgensen Are Married!". E! Online.
  6. JORGENSEN, BENJAMIN DAVID VS JORGENSEN, KATRINA BOWDEN