“When I think about it, we have everything, starting with versatility,” said local musician Jeremiah Bennett, guitar and vocals for Orlando band Born From Ashes describing what makes his band stand out from others. “It was my goal that when I recorded my next album, no two songs on it would sound the same. So many bands release CDs that sounds like a one hour long song to me, and I wanted to stay away from that. You can be in any kind of mood and listen to us. You can be angry and want to drive fast and break stuff, or just want to sing along to big choruses, or even be down and listen to us when you’re sad. We can play with almost any band and not sound out of place. Last year we opened for Geoff Tate (Queensryche) and this year we are opening for Taproot and Fear Factory. All completely different [bands] yet, we can sound like we belong.”
“We also have an incredible singer with a musical theater background and it shows when you see him live,” added Bennett. “He is amazing. The dual vocals add an element of controlled chaos to our sound which keeps it interesting and fast paced. There is never a dull moment. We have two lead guitar players, which allows us to do things no other band in the area can. Dual guitar solos and harmonies, without taking over the song and boring anyone that’s not necessarily a guitar player. Our second guitar player is also a singer and does fantastic harmonies live. If you see Born From Ashes live, you can’t watch just one member. Put us on a big stage, and we will use every inch of it.”
The Orlando musician’s two biggest musical influences were The Smashing Pumpkins and Metallica. It was The Smashing Pumpkins CD, “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” that made him want to pick up the guitar and their frontman that he most admires, “Billy Corgan wrote some articles for ‘Guitar World’ magazine with some tips and guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to writing music,” said Bennett. “The main thing they taught me, was no matter how good I am at guitar, nobody cares unless they play. The most important thing is writing hooks. I think Billy does this perfectly without sacrificing his art as well as being extremely versatile. Billy was born without a ‘commercial’ sounding voice and yet, never let it hold him back, and he became an award winning musician by the end of the 90’s.”
Bennett contributes both music and lyrics to the band’s songs. For his songwriting, his inspiration comes from “heartbreak and failed relationships/friendships as well as my own personal struggles in life,” said Bennett. “Having two writers in the band can be weird sometimes, so sometimes songs will have different meanings to the both of us.”
“I like our lyrics to be vague. Not so people have a hard time figuring out what our songs are about, but so they can relate to it easier by applying them to their personal situations. A lot of my stuff can seem negative, yet channeling the negative energy correctly helps lead to positive results, hence the name Born From Ashes.”
The musician brings up several good points about the local Orlando music scene. “Orlando has a great scene - great people, great venues and great bands. I see and hear a lot of people complaining, but those people don’t put the work into being a part of the scene so nobody cares about them. As long as you go out and show your face and make lots of friends, people will be at your shows. And really, every city would be like that so it’s all up to the bands to pull their heads outta their asses, lose their egos, and start being a part of something and help make the scene better. There will always be haters so I don’t let it bother me. I have a blast whether I’m on or off stage and wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Born From Ashes has a Go Fund Me project running to help fund the rest of the costs for their upcoming release. Indie music fans can contribute to their campaign on Go Fund Me and check out the local Orlando band on their official site, Facebook page, You Tube channel and Twitter feed.
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