Blackout Orchestra mastermind Ben VanBuskirk was going through a transitional period after years of ups and downs. At the end of a troubled relationship, he found himself two musical projects (the critic-approved death-obsessed shoegaze-pop band The Dearly Bereft, and feminist grunge provocateurs Green Girl), and at the end of his rope.
Depression, anxiety, and alcoholism had him metaphorically. And on one night, literally, staring down the tracks at the lights of an oncoming train. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get out of the way. With the help of some close friends, he started to manage these issues that once seemed unsolvable. He got sober, he got counseling, and he started writing.
With the time and money no longer spent inching closer and closer to the floor of local dive bars and rock venues, he started writing songs, recording them on the only tools available to the self-professed Luddite — a guitar, a cheap Yamaha keyboard, and his BlackBerry cell phone. Instead of learning to bake bread or crochet, he spent his quarantine learning music production and putting together an album documenting the fall and rise of the last months and years.
Connect with Ben from Blackout Orchestra:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | BANDCAMP For further inquiries, please contact bvanbusk@hotmail.com
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The Creative Sober
The Creative Sober Podcast, hosted and produced by DJ Missing Mei, is shared conversations with artists, musicians, authors, and creatives alike from all walks of life who continue to create sober. Check back for more podcasts, posts, and playlists from DJ Missing Mei, and follow along with her on Instagram at @thecreativesober.
Check out additional posts from Mei McIntosh:
- Healing Through Art – Interview with Alli Bratt, Season One Episode 2
- Sober Spotlight: The Creative Sober + DJ Missing Mei
- Sober Sounds Different, an Interview with DJ KB
- Turning Why Into Wisdom – Interview with POP Buchanan, Sober Is Dope!
- Lush Is Part Of It – Interview with Jardine Libaire, The Sober Lush
- A Lifetime Begins – Interview with Alysse Bryson
- Duality and Art – Interview with Cate Blanchard, The Sober Painter
- Sober Women of Rock Series: Interview with Leah Martin-Brown + Single “Burning in Silence”
- Voice of Reason – Interview with Juniper Waller + Band Single “Got It”
- Higher Power Help – Interview with CALVIN “The Prince of R&Bay” + Single “Changes”
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Resources Are Available
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.
