The Ben Cardilli Band will be playing at the Centre Fusion Culturel on St-Hubert street Nov. 1 for a combined celebration of the band’s EP launch, Cardilli’s birthday and Halloween. I sat down with Cardilli in his home studio at his parents’ house to discuss the new album and his long history with music. Cardilli met me outside of his parents’ house and explained that he had had a horrible day teaching music to grade 7 students at Cote Saint-Luc’s Bialik High School.
Cardilli, a Concordia student studying in communications, was offered the job by a friend’s mother.
“I like my job,” he assured me, “but sometimes there’s one or two kids that just really make it hard to stay motivated.”
As we walked up the stairs and into what was once his bedroom, I was bombarded by around 10 guitars placed in the middle of the cozy bedroom.
Cardilli laughed explaining, “this is nothing, you should see my place!”
He began showing me some of the guitars, explaining that these were mostly old and out of tune.
As I sat down on the couch closest to the door, Cardilli took a seat at his computer, between the stand up mic and and mixing board. Lucky Me, Cardilli’s newest EP, is a continuation of Seen It All released in 2012. Although it is still not finished, Cardilli explains that the music will stay true to what his fans are used to; a six song acoustic EP with a 90s feel that lyrically “is real but also up for interpretation.” He explains that he never wants to be too direct in his lyrics; if he spoke directly to his own life then it would be harder for people to connect with him on a personal level.
Cardilli has been in almost 15 bands since early high school and has ventured down many routes musically. From heavy metal to pop and now electronic dance music, Cardilli makes a point of exploring all musical avenues to understand music in all of its forms and have an appreciation for not just what he likes, but music in general.
Cardilli and his bandmates Chris See Hoye (lead guitar and vocals), Michael Kamps (bass) and Pascal Beauregard (drums), honed their talents in the 90s style music “before music was too mastered and controlled,” the type of music Cardilli loves most.
Cardilli acknowledges that being in bands like Red October and The Honest Family allowed for him to grow as a musician and have taught him a lot about writing music and collaborating as a group, as well as the importance of connections and promotion in the music world. However, his main focus is on his own projects and collaborating with his band members.
“With the [Ben Cardilli] band we are always working together. Before Pascal joined the band, our old drummer had the same love for the nineties but was more reggae influenced. Now, with Pascal, the sound is completely different. We’ve taken a more folk-country route. It’s all about working together and coming up with something we all love.”
Whether it be in his solo project or his band, Cardilli’s music is honest and his talent shines through. Coming from a musical family, where all of his three brothers are involved with the industry to some degree, Cardilli’s ability to play any instrument is astounding. His lyrics are sincere and his voice is something that you would have to hear to truly understand the pure talent of Ben Cardilli.
The Ben Cardilli Band will be playing at the CFC on St-Hubert street Nov. 1.
