Breaking Benjamin has been conquering the U.S. on tour mostly all of 2018, gaining a whirlwind of success with their latest album, Ember. The band released the highly anticipated album, Ember, back on April 13th, 2018 via Hollywood Records and has been vigorously touring supporting the album ever since. We sat down with Breaking Benjamin frontman Benjamin Burnley to discuss some fan driven questions like whats on his playlist and when fans can expect an acoustic album and it may be coming sooner than fans thought it would be. Breaking Benjamin is not slowing down anytime soon as they already announced plans for a 2019 headlining tour with some incredible special guests which you can read about below as well as the rest of the topics we have covered.
You guys just ended your massive co-headlining arena and amphitheater tour with Five Finger Death Punch, how was that tour for you guys, what are some highlights from the tour?
It was fun, Those guys are like brothers to us and we made a lot of really amazing friends on that tour. You know it was just great, a good brotherhood and a good combination musically and personally. That’s pretty much it, I mean the crowds are always awesome, fans are always awesome so that tour was no different than any other in that regards. But as far as the line up and the tour itself, ya know we made a bunch of real awesome friends with some awesome dudes and i’m grateful for those guys for having us along with them.
Throughout the co-headlining tour with Five Finger Death Punch, a portion from ticket sales went to a charity of each Breaking Benjamin’s and Five Finger Death Punch’s choice. You guys picked a charity that is very close to you as you have worked with for several years now, St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Donating $30,000 from leg two of the tour to them. How does it feel to be able to help such good cause with proceeds from your music?
Well, like you said we have been working with St. Jude’s for many many years and you know as we grow, our contributions grow and you know that aspect grows with us and so we are just grateful to be able to do more. We always just want to do more and we have a platform to be able to do some good and it be really a shame if we didn’t do the best that we can and we will continue to do the best that we can.
On the topic of touring, you guys just announced a 2019 headlining tour with special guests on select dates including SKILLET, Asking Alexandria, Underoath, Fight The Fury, and DIAMANTE. What are you most looking forward to about this tour and how did this amazing lineup come about?
Well, you know even with the Five Finger Death Punch tour, even though that tour wound up to be so amazing because of the brotherhood of it, it’s all kind of done in the best interest of both bands professionally. So, as far as picking the lineup are concerned, I am just cool with anything and if it’s best for both bands and if the timing is right for both bands, I will never be prejudice on who I played with, with the exception of one or two bands that just don’t click with us. But that is very rare and far and few between. So, for the most when the lineups are presented to me, I’m usually a fan of everyone but even if I wasn’t and i’m not saying that i’m not, i’m just saying that I don’t really not include any band as far as my personal opinions. Just that if it’s going to work great for them and it’s going to work great for us and the timing is good then i’m all for it. If I like the band musically that’s a bonus and if I like them as people then that’s even more of a bonus. You know, I am just a normal dude and I like to tour with normal dudes and I don’t like to really get into ‘band behavior’ and that kind of stereotypical stuff. So, I usually match the most with bands that are just down to earth, good people which I am pretty sure all these guys are at least I hope.
Fans has been wondering when Breaking Benjamin will be returning to tour overseas. Any plans for any overseas tours in 2019?
Yes, I gave Europe a shot, I don’t fly that is pretty well known and my fans kind of know that already. I don’t fly but I did give Europe a shot by taking a boat over there and I went through a hurricane on the way back from there, so now I am not going to do that anymore. So, I am going to do my best in overcoming my fear of flying, so that I can go all around the world where there is fans and that’s just something that I personally need to work on. That will wind up being best for the band, but I am really doing it because I personally want to see my fans all over the world and it’s just something that I am dedicated to work on, to try to get on a plane and get over there. So, if I am able to do that then I will definitely be touring the world essentially.
Which would be awesome for those fans who are so diehard to see you live or maybe have never yet gotten the chance to.
Yes, I mean I want to get there to but it’s just I have this deep seeded fear that i’ve had for very very long and its been prohibiting me from not only living my own life to the fullest but being there for fans who’ve supported me for so long.
That would be awesome if you are able to overcome that fear, which is probably a very difficult one to overcome as it’s kind of something you can’t really control either way.
Yes, exactly, I just have to look within myself and try my best to not let it get the best of me.
Your music video for “Tourniquet” dropped a few days ago, which completed a 3-part visual trilogy with two other songs from your latest album, Ember, including “Red Cold River” and “Torn In Two.” Why did you decide to do a series of music video that coincide with each other rather than individual concepts for each video and would you do a trilogy series for future music videos?
It is one of those things, I try to keep everything that I do extremely organic. So, this trilogy believe it or not didn’t start off to be that way, it wasn’t this grand design or idea, it sort of just happened on its own organically which I prefer and so to say I would do it again in the future, I can’t really say anything to that cause it’s a situation like if it just happens again naturally then we will. And then as far as these three videos are concerned, we tried to make it so that when you link them together it does make one cohesive story but we also wanted to make them interesting on their own as well. So, even if you only saw one part of it, it would still be interesting and make sense. And that is something that is really hard to do, so I’m not against doing it again if its something that is natural and not forced.
So, do you foresee any other music video coming from this album, Ember, in the future or is “Tourniquet” the final video for this record?
Well, the typical rule of thumb is that if you release a single then you usually release a video for that single. So, if there is more singles that come off the album then i’m sure that we would accommodate them with some sort of video.
Fans have been asking for an Acoustic album, Do you think you guys will ever release an acoustic Breaking Benjamin album? If you did do it, would you do a one of your full albums or a collection of your biggest hits or favorite songs?
Well, I think it’s both and yes to all of the above. We do have an acoustic album planned. That will probably contains like mostly the bands more notable songs but there will be some songs on there that aren’t quote on quote hits, and we will do a small tour to promote that. From that point on we will try to incorporate that into our rock show as well once it becomes part of our catalog.
So, 2019 is the celebration of 20 years as a band for Breaking Benjamin, so maybe you guys could do some sort of 20th anniversary celebration album and tour to follow, that would be kind’ve cool.
Yea, That is definitely something that we would be interested in doing and something that we would consider. We are so fortunate to be able to do this for 1 year let alone 20 years so that would definitely be cool to have some kind of celebration.
A fan on Facebook asked you, Who are artists that are currently on your goto playlist that you would be listening to now?
I really like Inflames, and I really like Nothing More and all the bands that I have toured with really. Five Finger is definitely a band that I like and you know I don’t want to say smaller or categorize any bands but bands that people might not of heard of as I know Five Finger Death Punch is a pretty well known name but as far as bands that people might not of heard of yet would be like Nothing More, Inflames, and Asking Alexandria I really like and Underoath and bands like that.
With the holidays just days away, What do you most look forward to during the Holiday season and do you have any traditions with your family?
Well, I have a son so the holidays now are more so for him. Christmas and all of that is definitely more enjoyable when you have a little child to view it through their eyes and make it as special as you can for them. So I just looking forward to doing that for my son.
What is your favorite and least favorite Christmas song? Would you ever write or cover a Christmas song?
I personally do not like any Christmas songs, I never have, it’s just not anything that I like. So I probably wouldn’t cover any.
If you had to make a Christmas list of things you wanted, what would be a few things that would sit atop of the list this Christmas?
My Christmas list is things that I truly value in life and possessions, just generically Peace and Love and stuff like that, that is more important that any possession to me and I mean that truly. I don’t even mean just for myself but for others as well.
Any special plans for bringing in 2019, other than with Breaking Benjamin’s final show of the year with a concert in Atlantic City, NJ on December 30th at the Etess Arena in Hard Rock Casino on New Year’s Eve Eve?
*Laughs* News Years Eve Eve, No that is pretty much what my plans are as far as the business aspect is concerned, like playing wise that is all we have on schedule and personally I have the same thing.
Other than the forthcoming 2019 headlining tour, What else can fans expect from Breaking Benjamin in 2019?
Like I mentioned were going to come out with an acoustic album, were going to tour and support that and record that. Then the rest is just touring and then i’m going to try to get on a plane and go overseas. I don’t fly and fans know that as I said, so I am just going to try my best to overcome that so I can tour over there.
Thank you so much for sitting down with us today and I hope you and your family have a great Holidays and we will see you on New Years Eve Eve on December 30th at the Etess Arena at Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, NJ.
Yea, Thank you so much for having me and were really looking for to the show. Happy Holidays.
EMBER is available here:
Download: http://hollywoodrecs.co/EmberDL
Streaming: http://hollywoodrecs.co/EmberWS
