Ben Deily is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and songwriter, most famous as one of the founders, writers and lead singers (along with

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and frontman of the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015 Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Awards ...

) of the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-based alternative rock band

The Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tour ...

. Deily and Dando met while students at the

Commonwealth School Commonwealth School is a private high school of about 155 students and 35 faculty members located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Hist ...

in Boston.

Advertising career

After leaving

the Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tour ...

to complete his degree in English &

American Literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

, Ben graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1994. Since then he has worked in the advertising industry—as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

and as a

Creative Director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

—while living in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. Deily’s work has won several Clio Awards,

Addy Awards The American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest national advertising trade association in the United States. The AAF also has 15 district operations, each located in and representing a different region o ...

, inclusion in the

Communication Arts ''Communication Arts'' is the largest international trade journal of visual communications.Au ...

Advertising Annual, and other advertising industry honors. According to ''The

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and ...

,'' Deily lives and works in the Boston area, where he and his wife Lisa Deily have often performed with their band, Varsity Drag. The Boston Herald reported in 2015 that Deily was placing the band on hiatus for an indeterminate period.

Post-Lemonheads appearances with Dando

Deily's band Varsity Drag has performed with

, sharing a bill with them at New York City's

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

in June, 2009. At the 2010

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

music festival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, Deily joined Dando on stage for an acoustic performance of several of their early Lemonheads songs. In September 2012 it was reported in a variety of sources (The Guardian, SPIN, pitchfork, NME) that

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...

would be producing and playing on a Lemonheads “reunion” album of sorts to feature Adams, Deily, Dando and long-time friend and collaborator

Juliana Hatfield Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls (band), Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. She also fronted her own band, The Julia ...

. Though it seems that some recording was actually accomplished (per posts to Ryan Adams’ Twitter feed, since deleted) no further developments have been reported. During 2013, Deily joined the Lemonheads on stage for several shows: first for a single song ("Amazing Grace") in Chicago in April, and then for a short set of songs during a series of dates around New England during July—including the "Outside the Box" festival (where Lemonheads shared a bill with Boston bands

Buffalo Tom Buffalo Tom is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis. The band's name is derived from the band Buffalo Spr ...

and

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

Discography

The Lemonheads *1986 ''Laughing All The Way To The Cleaners'' EP (Amory Arms/Huh-Bag Records) *1987 ''

Hate Your Friends ''Hate Your Friends'' is the debut album of the American alternative rock band The Lemonheads. Produced and released on Boston-based indie label Taang Records and licensed for simultaneous release to several other labels worldwide, the album sho ...

'' (TAANG!) *1988 '' Creator'' (TAANG!) *1989 ''Luka'' (single) (TAANG!) *1989 ''Create Your Friends'' (special double album of the first two LPs) (TAANG!) *1990 ''

Lick Lick may refer to: * Licking, the action of passing the tongue over a surface Places * Lick (crater), a crater on the Moon named after James Lick * 1951 Lick, an asteroid named after James Lick * Lick Township, Jackson County, Ohio, United State ...

'' (TAANG!) *2013 ''Hate Your Friends'', ''Creator'', ''Lick'' (Deluxe vinyl and CD re-issues, with previously unreleased archival/bonus tracks) (Fire Records) *2014 ''If Only You Were Dead'' (2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, containing bonus previously unreleased live archival/bonus tracks) (Fire Records) Blake Babies *1993 ''Innocence and Experience'' (liner notes) (Mammoth Records) pods *1992 ''It's a Bummer About Bourbie'', 4-song EP (see

It's a Shame About Ray ''It's a Shame About Ray'' is the fifth album by American alternative rock band the Lemonheads, released on June 2, 1992. The album was produced by the Robb Brothers. At the time of principal recording, the band consisted of Evan Dando (lead v ...

) (Stonerecords) *1994 ''Where I'm Calling From'' (self-released) *1994 ''are we all set? LIVE AT CBGB, 4/16/93'' (self-released) Varsity Drag *2006 ''for crying out loud'' (CD, colored 10-inch vinyl with bonus track) (BossTunage) *2009 ''rock & roll is such a hassle: varsity drag live in Europe'' (CD and digital) (BossTunage) *2009 ''night owls'' (CD and digital) (BossTunage) *2009 ''live owls: varsity drag live on WMFO'' (live 'official' bootleg, digital) (self-released) *2010 ''"white cat in a snowstorm"'' single (digital) (self-released) *2013 Untitled Split 7-inch EP (BossTunage) as Ben Deily *2006 ''all these years gone by: selected songs, 1986-2006'' (limited edition double CD) (self-released) *2011 ''"Hamlet” Theatrical Score'' (prod. dir. by Wendy Lippe, Psych Drama Company, ICA Boston) (Soundcloud) *2017 ''The Night'' (single) (video and Soundcloud)

Notes

External links

Ben Deily Official Site

Varsity Drag Official Site

Pods bandcamp Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deily, Ben 1964 births Living people American male singers Harvard College alumni The Lemonheads members Musicians from Poughkeepsie, New York American alternative rock musicians Alternative rock guitarists Singers from Massachusetts Guitarists from Massachusetts American male guitarists Commonwealth School alumni 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians