summer schedules are heating up!  look for solo shows and my cover band around your favorite beachy venues BUT ALSO check out a few important original band dates (including shows at The Big Easy (Portland, ME) and Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel (Boston, MA) (durrr)    stay tuned!

happy new year friends!
i appreciate all your support over the past few years and i look forward to starting another one with you!
be safe and sweet dreams.

the new album is doing well!  selling at Bull Moose and raido airplay across southern maine... and it's all because of you!  andddd i just wanted to say thanks for all your support.  i think you're great!

[[DON'T FORGET]]   SEPTEMBER 20th, 2011 marks the date of my CD Release show @ The Big Easy (Portland, ME)  for my new album "Everything is Pretty".   it's a doubleshot of rock that night as my cd release is doubling as a famous Big Easy Cover to Cover show.    on that evening, Ben Kilcollins & The Mucky Muck Men will play the entire self-titled Tenacious D album, from start to finish!  (or.. cover to cover, as it were)   THEN stay tuned for a show of epic originals.   September 20th, 2011... 10pm!  bring your parents

TOMORROW my new album "Everything is Pretty" will be available for digital download here at benkilcollins(dotcom) for ONLY $7!   (soon available on iTunes!)   physical cd's will be availble within the next few days as well and will be available at all shows and also at your local Bull Moose store.   hope you like it!

"Everything is Pretty" is set to be released.  the date for digital download will be announced shortly and CD release dates will soon follow.   again i want to give my thanks to andrea, pat, jessamy, lindsay, keely, chelsea, cece, johanna, kate, terri, kris, susan, jenna-rae & dave.  you will all be getting a free digital download to tide you over and a copy of the new album in your rewards packages once it's released.  sorry for the wait, but you have definitely sped up the process and i can't wait to share the results with you. thank you.  (thank you again.)

new album is almost done!
it will be finished by April 9... THEN stay tuned for updates on when it will be available AND album release shows.
i'm trying to decide the song order... and other foolish things, but count on a new album soon!

and don't you worry... sneak peaks are a must!

again thanks to YOU!  my new album is able to be finished and get to your ears!
we blew past our goal and raised $630!

in the next few days i'll be contacting all of you to get you your rewards.

the recording will be finished in the next two weeks and off to the press.
stay tuned for more updates updates updates.

for now... a HUGE THANK YOU to TOP DONORS 
Pat Hayes
Andrea Dub
Jessamy Shay

i've played with my website all morning... getting new eyes on it.
i'm never satisfied.
but this... i like.


i'll probably play with it for a million more hours and waste a few workdays on it.
it's what i do.

wanna know what i've been listening to?
go check out last.fm

be my friend...
compare our music tastes...
shout?


...yeah i guess shout at me.



LAST.FM

as i was playing around on photoshop, listening to music... my mouse started to give me lip.
i would click twice.
it would only click once.

i would triple click.
it wouldn't click at all.

then it stopped moving altogether.

iiiiiiiii might have snapped and slammed a closed angry fist on top of it.
and i have to say the durability of that microsoft mouse not only surprised me,
but probably the mouse itself.
yeah.
that surprising.

instead of flattening and snapping into a million annoying plastic pieces...
my hand wraps around the edges and bounces... hard.


later... new batteries for my mouse.
 for now... ice.


my swollen right hand..... 

scary/halloween movie count of the season....


The Shining
The Uninvited
Friday the 13th Part I
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part II: Freddy's Revenge
Casper
The Uninvited
The Amityville Horror
Halloween (2007)
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Hocus Pocus
Ernest Scared Stupid




tonights viewing may include...

Pet Semetary
The Omen
The Evil Dead
The Exorcist

ohhhh hello morning sun!
i should probably close that window... it's getting a bit nippy.


so i got yelled at by my apartment building manager...person... 
someone has been cranking out (amateur) electric guitar playing... i think they've been putting their amp up to the window and turning it to 10. (11.)
apparently others have complained and since i own a guitar,  it's obviously me making all the noise.
they told me people have complained about a loud amplifier coming from around my unit.
if only they knew the one guitar amp i had was bought in 2000, was ruined in 2006, and i've just been hauling it around for 4 years as a mini coffee table.



so it's fall time... halloween time... and it's my favorite time to watch scary movies.
so far this month i've viewed..

The Amityville Horror
The Shining
Halloween I & II (Rob Zombie)
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Uninvited
Friday the 13th Part I



i have more planned... 
i just need to find Needful Things on dvd...
apparently Netflix is tapped out and doesn't have any...  which makes me wonder if it was ever made on DVD  (it has to have been.. right?!)
so i'm heading up to Bull Moose in a few with my handy dandy gift card and trying to find some scary movies that netflix doesn't have.


also i've been thinking about the halloween episode of Home Improvement  when brad dresses like raggedy andy and jennifer shows up as a biker slut..  (wait.... i think she even showed up with ryder strong!)   i gotta double check... someone send me some info on that.

anyway... gotta find some awesome parties to hit up... gotta find an awesome costume to throw together...


well... i'm gonna hit the bacon and go hang out in portland for the day.  if you're at bull moose, target, the mall or the old port... i'll be putterin around.. come say hi!
and then come to federal jacks tonight in kennebunk... my band is fun!

i've been listening a bunch to the radio lately...
and i gotta say it's made me sad.

i have such a deep hatred for godsmack. 
i won't even go into it.




but really... the only radio i can listen to is late night, or local
when everything is more of a free for all willy nilly type of atmosphere.
it mixes it up.
i'm tired of hearing the same old dribble.


"i'm just sayin... lets mix it up a little.  it could be fun."


here's my playlist of the day...

01. Cake - Sheep Go to Heaven
02. The Cure - Why Can't I Be You
03. AC/DC - If You Want Blood
04. Leak Bros. - Druggie Fresh
05. Silverchair - Miss You Love
06. Flogging Molly - These Exiled Years
07. Grinspoon - Black Tattoo
08. Ides of March - Vehicle
09. Puscifer - Momma Sed
10. Jurassic 5 - One Two

today my playlist has consisted of the following...


1. nirvana - lounge act
2. juliana hatfield - fleur de lys
3. smash mouth - let's rock
4. the unicorns - ready to die
5. the smashing pumpkins - vanity
6. chet baker - everything happens to me
7. pearl jam - man of the hour
8. marcy playground - one more suicide
9. weezer - why bother
10. the velvet underground - lonesome cowboy bill
11. led zeppelin - tangerine

sunday was old port fest.... if you can remember it.

the full band played at The Oasis and it was quite the scene.


since we didn't have Douchey McDouchenstein calling the cops on us from the apartment next door to complain about noise, we were able to turn our shit uppppp...   like up.

needless to say, you could hear us all over portland.



near the end of our set the fire alarm went off and the bouncers came out in a fury to get us to evacuate.   then after a select few jolted out the emergency exits (drinks in hand) they immediately changed their minds and said there was no fire and to keep playing.   
so that kept things exciting.
we almost all died in an almost fire.   

ps... this guy in blue here with the super shades...   ------^
tried to grind up on every piece of booty when his girl would leave.    and got denied... every time.
i had fun announcing it.



anyway... yey old port fest. thanks for stopping by. see you next year.

so i went to vermont this past weekend with my band...
and i can't believe we managed to fit our entire setup into two vehicles... drive 8 hours with 5 people... and only managed 1 ticket.  yeyyy!



we played at RiRa Burlington and it was a great room... did you know they drink til 2am?
not like weinery Portland where it's 1am.

Andy (bass) picked me up in portland and we drove to biddo to meet the other guys but not before stopping for gas and fueling a foolish fire.  i sat in the car with our PA mixer on my lap while andy prepaid for gas (super interesting)
a lady in the truck next to me started hollering to me and asking what i was holding... not nicely.. you know.. that demanding way people do when they're asking you a question and suddenly you're wasting THEIR time?  yep..
so i explained what it was with a smile on my face and she came back with a well thought out...
"so it's not a bomb then?"

i chuckled and said,
"well not yet... there aren't enough people in this parking lot to make it worth it."

she rolled up her window and we now refer to the mixer as "The Bomb".



here are a few more shots of the road...





    





packing at 3am.

 

i drove up north to my hometown of fort fairfield this past weekend to play at my old high school

it was good to get... umm.. away from civilization..  lots of trees.. then lots of fields..
it was a quick trip making the 5 hour trek saturday morning leaving around 6am. (i wake to a caffeine-cigarette vaccine)  after seeing no moose the entire ride up, we rolled in around 11 and ate chinese food... duh.
seeing things... seeing things... mothers day shopping... and then to my high school to woo the town.
it was a fun show and it was just lovely seeing all your faces..
then a trip to the VFW?  why not... cuz why wouldn't we open the first bar in my town since... ever.  
my favorite part was it actually had the look of two guys who had just run to the grocery store.. grabbed a few 30 racks and a few fifths.. and then serving over a countertop.
and they have live bands there too?  
whatever the band was... the lead singer had leather pants.. and an open shirt that had flames on it.. which pretty much was the deciding factor that i need to get leather pants..   i think i'll pass on the open shirt.. i mean.. maybe in the summer?  
but you're in fort fairfield... and it's 30 degrees out.. and you're kind of foolish..   but those pants....


those pants...



sunday morning we went out for lunch for mothers day... while i was making the drive i got stuck behind some florida plated SUV that had no idea a car can go over 40.  after laughing about how slow she was driving.. she brake checked me... a few times... without being on her behind..   eventually she pulled over (with no blinker... grrrr) and gave me the finger while i drove past.   then she found the accelerator i guess.. cuz she rode my ass the rest of the way to Presque Isle... and followed me down the street... to the mall.. to my parking space and drove up behind me and rolled down her window.. waiting for me to get out.  i stepped out of my car pointed and said "what?!"  the two ladies in the car immediately rolled up their windows and drove away..

that's what i thought.
but now i have a prejudice against florida plates..   i'll try to work past it... but in the mean time...   florida plate?  fuck you.



sooo we got back to portland late last night... again.. quick trip... lots of driving...
and now... i'm waiting for it to warm up... to go on a run... so then i can get chinese food.  

it's all part of a plan... to have abs made entirely of sweet and sour chicken.

so.. i'll probably never be happy with the layout of this website...
and i'll probably keep fiddling with it until someone yells at me to stop.


check out new tunes.

it's hot out.


i need to buy some shorts (shortpants)

also i'm headed up to the county this weekend to perform at my old high school.
yeyyy.



oh yeah... summer schedule?  
updating.... NOW!

so kitty decided to play a prank on me this april first.

i woke up with a lovely sunbeam playing through my window so i decided to open it and get some fresh air.
i didn't check the screen.
i left.
came back.
kitty gone.
i panicked.
she was actually hiding in a closet and came out about 5 hours later.

big jerk.



today is beautiful!
and i'm using it as inspiration to get out of bed early and unpack so i can go enjoy it.
(i just moved from the biddo up to portland.)

but i'm injured and can't move that fast.
stupid shawn and his stupid bass drum and its stupid 'intheway' antics.
my shin is busted up like woah.

mmm i want a sandwich.



(this city has big buildings. i like food. bye.)

after an exciting battle of wits vs. whiskey at RiRa last night...
it took a few unhappy hours followed by giant coolatta and 11 slices of pats pizza to bring the ol' boy back.  

"it's good to be back, Johnny."


i'm leaving the biddo.
moving to portland as quick as a porcupines hiccup.
with these nice days spoiling us in early march, i've been parading around the old port  a handful of nights and i've been loving every second.
i can't wait to move to the city, and buy a bike!   at first i said rollerblades... and i was made fun of.
and then today i saw a guy rollerblading around the boulevard wearing knee and elbow pads and i got the...

"hey ben, that's you!"    

[finger pointing]


so a bicycle it is.
but what i dread is becoming one of THOSE bikers.
*grumble*


soooo... now i think i'll make some dinner, and watch a bad romantic comedy.

it's what i do.

i can't stop listening to Rick Astley... not that it's a bad thing?  i guess.
it gets me through by inspiring dance breaks between mixing tracks.


which are getting closer by the day.
all drums are finished... and now it's on to remix and mastering.  (i remixed a remix.. it was back to normal)

one track is already finished... and i want you to have it for free.
download Truant nowwww!



umm and the sun was shining.. then it rained... then snowed for 10 minutes... and now it's just blank outside.
ugh.

i took today and recorded a few yummy songs about love that have been in my mind lately.

happy february holiday.
(presidents day)


i just uploaded a version of Marie Moreshead's "The Permanent Kind"
i have a few more coming.
stay tuned.


heart.