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Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. From 1995 to 2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. After the group temporarily disbanded, Folds performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world. The group reunited in 2011. He has also collaborated with musicians such as William Shatner, Regina Spektor and "Weird Al" Yankovic and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films ''Over the Hedge,'' and ''Hoodwinked!'', Folds produced Amanda Palmer's first solo album and was a judge on the NBC a cappella singing contest ''The Sing-Off'' from 2009 to 2013. ==Early life and career== Folds was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became interested in piano at age nine. His father, a carpenter, brought one home through a barter trade with a customer who was unable to pay.〔According to Ben Folds on his iTunes Originals interview titled "My Inner White Man Came Out In Full Bloom"〕 During this time, Folds listened to songs by Elton John and Billy Joel on AM radio, and learned them by ear.〔(Ben Folds And Nick Hornby On World Cafe ). ''NPR Music''.〕 During his years at Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, Folds played in several bands as the pianist, bassist, or drummer. In the late 1980s, Folds (as a bassist) and longtime friend Millard Powers formed the band Majosha. The group released several locally produced records. They played their first gig at Duke University's Battle of the Bands in 1988, and won. They played at bars and fraternity parties, and self-produced an EP called ''Party Night: Five Songs About Jesus'' (1988), which they sold locally. The EP has four songs, none of which are about Jesus. They recorded ''Shut Up and Listen to Majosha'' in 1989. It contains, among other tracks, the four songs from ''Party Night'' (remixed and/or re-recorded) and "Emaline" and "Video", which Folds would later record with his own band. The song "Get That Bug" from ''Party Night'' was released as a dance mix in Japan. After Majosha broke up, Folds played drums in a band called Pots and Pans with Evan Olson (bass) and Britt "Snuzz" Uzzell (guitar and vocals), but the newly formed band lasted only about a month. Olson and Uzzell formed Bus Stop with Folds' brother, Chuck Folds, on bass, and Eddie Walker on drums. Folds eventually got a music publishing deal with Nashville music executive Scott Siman who saw Folds open for musician Marc Silvey (as well as playing bass for Silvey's band Mass Confusion), and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue it in 1990. He played drums for a short stint in Power Bill, headed by Jody Spence, Millard Powers and Will Owsley. Power Bill was later renamed The Semantics. Folds did not take a creative role in the band. He attracted interest from major labels. He ended up playing drums there as a session musician. In Nashville, I was running eight miles a day, hanging out with my friends, walking around eating chocolate-chip cookies and playing a lot of drums, which I enjoyed. Life was easy. I was never frustrated – even though I wasn't fulfilling my contract obligations. If you are failing in Nashville, at least your standard of living is nice. Nashville is a nice way to fail.〔 Folds attended the University of Miami's Frost School of Music on a percussion scholarship, but dropped out with one credit to go before graduating. He devoted a lot of time to working on piano technique. "I spent maybe six months just running scales with a metronome like a freak," Folds said. "I suppose that did something." Folds moved to Montclair, New Jersey, and began to act in theater troupes in New York City. He enjoyed it in 1993 to the point where he did not want to keep pursuing a musical career.〔 He also played weekly gigs at Sin-é, famous for being the cafe which had helped start Jeff Buckley's career. Soon after, Folds moved back to North Carolina. The trio, of Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee, formed Ben Folds Five in 1994 in Chapel Hill. As Folds put it, "Jeff Buckley was being signed at that time by Columbia and I was talking to Steve, his A&R guy, and somehow we knew the same people or something." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ben Folds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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