We get a lot of interview requests and most are for people you have never heard about and are never going to be interested in. Aunt Mabel has a new self-produced record out of rap songs and knitting hangover music. She is available for interviews and is going to be BIG in the sewing circles. Uh, we respectively decline.

There was a big rumor going around that Breaking Benjamin is no longer and we got the opportunity to interview Ben(jamin) Burnley of the band. He is doing a few solo acoustic shows in our area and it was an interview to help promote the shows. I am interested to see what the hell the status is with Breaking Benjamin as a lot of you guys care. So I took the interview.

As with a lot of musicians who have been in the business a while, they have caveats. Most of the times they are doable. Sebastian Bach wanted to only talk about Angel Down and avoid Skid Row questions. That is a reasonable request when the person has a back catalog of stuff (tv, movies, solo records). But when you are Ben(jamin) Burnley, lead singer and front man of Breaking Benjamin, that is all you have.

So the publicist gives me a call and the conversation went like this:

Publicist: Hey are you ready for the interview?
BnR: Yes I am. I have about 15 questions to ask Ben.
Publicist: Well he doesn't want to be called Ben anymore. He is Benjamin.
BnR: Ok, no problem. I have 15 questions for Benjamin ranging from the acoustic shows to Breaking Benjamin.
Publicist: Well he doesn't want to talk about Breaking Benjamin.
BnR: Then what the hell am I going to talk to him about.
Publicist: Well you can talk about the acoustic shows.
BnR: No one cares about his acoustic shows; they care about Breaking Benjamin and the status of the band.
Publicist: Knowing those things can you still do the interview?
BnR: (looking at my list of questions shrink from 15 to 2) Probably not a good one. Sorry, but I think we are going to pass.
*Click*

Now we probably won't get the opportunity again to talk to anyone from Breaking Benjamin and I am just fine with that. I don't really blame Ben(jamin) because a lot of the time it is the publicist that makes these rules and not the artist. Sometimes you get on the phone with the artist and can talk about anything and they are cool about it. I will never know if that was the case with Ben(jamin). Good luck to him though.