Like many bands, Bee Million didn’t arrive overnight. Singer and songwriter Benjamin Newgard spent years circling back to music through grad school, a library job in Greensboro, and a previous band that quietly ran its course before the pieces finally clicked into place. For a guy who’d spent time trying his hand at fiction writing and library science, it took a mundane daily commute to remind him where his instincts were sharpest. He picked up the guitar again, started writing, and called his friends to complete the four-piece.
With a lineup that draws on relationships stretching back to middle school and a recording process that hopscotched between Brooklyn, Carrboro, and a basement, Bee Million built their debut the way most good first records get made: scrappily, and with a lot of trust in the people in the room. The result is Lost on Me, a collection that feels both carefully considered and lived-in. The kind of record that could only come from someone who’d been waiting a long time to make it.
What have you been listening to lately?
Benjamin: It’s a little all over the place, as usual. I’ve been listening to a lot of Steely Dan. Our guitar player turned me on to this Chicago group, Eleventh Day Dream; it’s a bunch of Chicago rock and Americana stalwarts, just good rock and roll riffs. I was also just listening to Larry‘s new single that just came out [“Bitch Brain”]. They’re buddies of mine. Oh, and the Superfly soundtrack. Curtis Mayfield’s live performances from Soul Train and other old soul shows are just incredible.
When you look back on first getting music, who was the first musician you remember totally obsessing over?
Benjamin: My brother is five years older than me, so he had a whole different set of experiences ahead of me growing up, and that included music. He went from Bush to System of a Down, and then gradually started folding in artists like Weezer.
Weezer was my first big obsession. I’d never heard music sound at once so tailored but also rough. It was juvenile in an endearing way. And then The Strokes were my second big aha moment. Those first two records from each of those bands are damn well perfect in my mind.
What got you to start playing music?
Benjamin: Really just listening to it. I was the kind of kid who liked hanging out with friends but also really liked being alone. I’d climb trees and sing little songs to myself about girls I liked at school, or friendship. Just little things from third or fourth grade.
As I became a more advanced listener, it occurred to me that this was something I could try. I didn’t really get into playing guitar until I was 15 or 16, and then I kind of got away from it for a while. Cut to my thirties, and here we are.
What inspired you to start this project?
Benjamin: After grad school, I went back for a library sciences degree and moved to Greensboro with my wife to work at Elon University’s library. After about a year there, going to and from work, same thing week in and week out, I just felt like I was missing something. I remember driving into Elon one day, listening to old demos in the car, and coming around to the idea that this wasn’t totally out of reach for me. I’d have to live with some rust at first, and that was very much true, but it does come back to you.
There’s nothing in my life where I’ve felt so instinctively like, “Yeah, I know this is working,” or I know it’s not. In writing, I was constantly second-guessing myself. In songwriting, I trust myself more. And it’s also just fun. I love performing, I love playing guitar.
So is this a solo project, or did it expand into a full band?
Benjamin: It started as a band called Step Friends with my brother Anders and some of his high school friends. We did an EP together and played a lot of shows. But the material we founded that band on was mostly stuff I’d written in high school or college, and by then it already felt dated to me. Eventually I got tired of it, and the members were just so different in terms of the music we listened to and what we wanted to be as a band. We kind of stopped engaging as much.
I kept writing new things and kept it to myself for a while, thinking maybe a solo project. After releasing one single under my name, I realized there was enough here to do a whole thing. I eventually decided I’d prefer a proper band instead of just me with a rotating cast.
That led me to invite David Smith, our guitar player and one of my oldest friends from middle school. He’s an incredible and really tasteful guitar player, and we’d been playing music together our whole lives. We did battle of the bands at Cat’s Cradle three years in a row. It was a nice reunion. And then Lucas, our bass player, is an incredibly talented, really sweet guy I’d known through my brother. That rounded things out.
Image credit: Vicktoria Wright
What was the recording process like?
Benjamin: It originally started with me trying to record everything in my basement, but that quickly became untenable. I have really limited gear, especially for drums. After a couple of basement sessions with my brother and David, I realized I wasn’t going to get the level of quality and consistency I wanted. So we decided to go to New York for a week to work with Ian, a childhood friend of mine and David’s who has a studio up there. He was always going to mix the record; we knew that from the start.
We did all the tracking for guitar and drums up there. At that point we hadn’t even formally invited Lucas to the band yet, so we recorded everything except bass and vocals. The bass we did partly at Nightsound Studios in Carrboro, and then some vocals and overdubs in my basement. By the end of that process, Lucas was a permanent member of the band.
How does it feel to have a full record out in the world?
Benjamin: I was expecting it to feel more like checking a giant box on my checklist, but honestly it was more like, “Okay, there we go. Now on to the next thing.” I’ve been in a little bit of promo mode, trying to push things where I can, but I’m already getting antsy to move on to the next body of songs. We’re writing and kind of beta testing stuff at shows. We’re super proud of this record, but we also know we can do better. If anything, it has made us excited to see what LP2 sounds like.
How does the songwriting work as a band; is it primarily you bringing songs, or is it more collaborative?
Benjamin: The way things have worked so far, I always start with a melody and give it some form and structure in terms of chords. Then I’ll make a little iPhone voice memo of just me playing the guitar part and singing, to give the other guys an idea of the form. They’ll take that voice memo, work on it individually at home, and come up with their own parts.
From there we just see if the arrangement needs help, like whether we need pauses, the percussion to do a particular thing, or shaving or adding notes. It’s usually all built on that skeleton, which sometimes we’ll break on purpose and rearrange. I bring the skeleton; they bring all the stuff that makes it interesting.
That said, our bass player Lucas recently brought a song to us and sent us the notation. So we’re planning on busting that open at one of our next practices. There could be all sorts of surprises in store.
What shows do you have coming up?
Benjamin: Our last show was at The Cave, and the one before that was at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room. The show we have coming up on Friday is also at the Back Room, but this time we’re supporting a band touring from Wilmington called Emerson Bruno. We love playing there. The people are so nice there and the sound is just killer. They always find what feels like a sweet spot for us.
Who are some of your favorite local or North Carolina bands?
Benjamin: Kill the Buddha, for sure; I just saw them last night. Supermutt, those are friends of ours too. Larry is great. Oh and Sponge Bath and Verity Den!
Ben Carr from Personality Cult and I went to high school together and have played together. I’ve always admired his spirit and approach as a songwriter. Really cutting lyrics, very witty with a dark humor to it. Super excellent. And Future Fix with my buddies Colin Sneed and Johnny Valiant. I love those guys very much.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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