Meet Ben Fuller

We were lucky to catch up with Ben Fuller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Pursuing a career in performance-based industries is never an easy or smooth road. You have to be prepared for rejection, even when you’ve sunk energy and love into a project. It takes a lot of guts and emotional preparedness to put yourself out there, sort of bare your soul and hope for the best. I’m sure any artist would tell you, most of the time our worst critics are ourselves. We aim for such perfection and scoff at the process and product with enough doubt and occasional vitriol to sink a ship. If it’s not clear by now, my biggest obstacle in my own creative pursuits has been me. And while all of that may sound pessimistic, I think it injects the right amount of humility and grace to continue to shoot for the stars. If we always think we’re the cat’s pajamas, there’s little room for growth, which in my opinion is the key to resilience.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

From the time I was a small child, I have loved music. My parents like to recant stories of a little boy who would plop himself down in front of our floor speakers for long stretches listening intently and keenly on whatever record they’d put on. In elementary school, I played the alto sax. Through middle and high school, I sang in choir and church chorus. At Emerson College in Boston, some friends and I established the a cappella group Noteworthy, as Emerson didn’t have one at the time and we all wanted to sing together. 22 years later, and Noteworthy is still rocking. In short, I’ve always made sure I had an outlet to create music.

Fast forward to 2022, when I met Batu Sener – a film and TV composer and piano prodigy. He’d mentioned to me that he’d always wanted to record a piano/vocal album, but never really found the right vocalist. I of course jumped at the idea. Thus, ‘Reset’ was born. It was such a joy to collaborate and create in studio for the first time in my life. I felt inspired, challenged, heard. We took eight tracks from the Great American Songbook and did our best to breathe new life into them. Music isn’t written like it was when these songs were first recorded, and their wrought melodies and lyrics evoke emotion and tell stories.

After the success of this first album, we’re already back in the studio for more. Nothing set in stone yet, but keep an eye out for future releases!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think first and foremost, TRUST your instincts. At the end of the day, you only have to answer to yourself. Be open to advice, feel inspired by collaboration, seek opportunities that are going to enrich your experience in this crazy world. Also, be good to yourself. Self-criticism is healthy, but don’t beat yourself up. There is no such thing as perfection. It just doesn’t exist. Do what makes your heart sing. Practice, practice, practice. Keep an eye on honing your skillset. It’s vital. Be humble, embrace humility.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

This is going to sound like such a cookie-cutter answer, but the best thing my parents did for me was support me unconditionally. When I told them I wanted to go to Emerson College and study acting, they said “That is going to be a very hard road, but we support you.” When I told them I wanted to move to Los Angeles to chase a career in entertainment, they said “We are going to miss you very much, but we support you unconditionally.” Throughout my now 20-year career and life in Los Angeles, and all of the ups and downs that have come along with it, they have been there every step of the way, supporting and cheering me on.

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Image Credits

Batu Sener

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