it's my name

rarely, always as a side man on lead guitar.

not at all--gee, it's still just all about the music, isn't it? (sic)

what do YOU think i should do?

Benjamin Black is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and sadist. he has always loved the guitar, and one at one precise moment where boredom colides with passion, he began playing. now he writes, performs, records and produces all of his own music, with very few exceptions.

Serge Gainsbourg--his late fifties stuff and his concept album "L'Histoire de Melody Nelson" are huge influences. The Stones, the Beatles, Zappa, Hendrix...same as everybody else, and if they say different they are liars.

15, Rue Fulton, Paris, France 75013. Recently destroyed by bulldozers.

Black's Number One is a black Gibson SG Special to which he has performed undisclosed modifications. He owns a variety of guitars and basses and employs them all on his recordings. Favorites include a sparkle red Epiphone Les Paul he calls Lauren, which is all stock; an Ibanez Joe Satriani signature model; a stock Mexican Fender Tele with a maple neck; and a 70's Alvarez 12-string acoustic. His amp--the "Stars and Stripes"--is a high-output combo with a 12" speaker, and a cabinet with another 12" speaker atop it. It is of undetermined manufacture. He uses a variety of guitar pedals, bass rigs, harmonicas, keyboards and drumsets as well.

Black is a lover of the arts and speaks French,as well as having lived on both sides of the Atlantic and having travelled France and the British Isles extensively. He is an active advocate of Cannibis Legalization and likes to draw and paint.