Shared Moments: A Comprehensive Look At Ben Lee The Artist

At 24, Ben Lee has seen a decade as a professional rocker. An internationally-recognized musician since he was a 14-year-old in Austrailian indie band Noise Addict, Lee has spent time on the Beastie Boy's now-defunct label Grand Royal, collaborated with Sean Lennon, Evan Dando, Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield, Ben Folds and Ben Kweller and, of course, humped Claire Danes.

Despite said girlfriend, I have loved Lee since high school -- when many a mix tape circulated among my friends had Lee's songs about red slurpees, love and 90210. May 8, I skipped out of ceramics class (sorry, Dad) and went up to Cleveland to see Lee, who was opening for vanilla rockers Gomez.

Lee is a young man with a grasp of the heart's complexities -- and a firm handshake. He wore patched, faded jeans and a black hoodie under a short-sleeved striped seersucker jacket.

Interview conducted in person by Jenny Wray

Name: Ben Lee
Band: “ “

Bettawreckonize: I like your jacket. Did the sleeves come like that?

Ben Lee: My friend made it for me, actually.

BW: It's good for the summer weather.

BL: Yeah.

After exchanging a (second) handshake and some talk about the prehistoric Native American mounds near Heath, we were done. I saw Ben later in the evening -- he flashed me a half-smile as he walked by my boyfriend and I as we sat on our stools pondering the suckiness of Gomez. I think we really shared a moment.