Ben Gill, better known as Party Ben, is a DJ in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He spent many years working at radio station

Live 105 Kits may refer to: * Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company *KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station *Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sci ...

and producer of mashup music.

Mashups

From June 2003 to December 30, 2005, Party Ben hosted the "Sixx Mixx" on Live 105, a weekly program of mashups. After the "Sixx Mixx" ended, he aired mixes on KJEE-FM in Santa Barbara and

91X XETRA-FM (91.1 MHz), branded as 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM, is an English-language radio station licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It airs an alternative rock radio format. The studios and offices are on Cornerstone Cour ...

in San Diego. Party Ben was a member of the "Untitled Friday Night Show" along with Madden and Miles the Intern on Live 105. In 2008 Party Ben started collaborating with

Slacker Radio LiveOne (formerly known as LiveXLive) is a music streaming platform that combines audio and (sometimes live) video available in the US and Canada. Users can access the service on the web through mobile apps on smartphones and over-the-air device ...

, an internet radio service, to mix and DJ their "New Sounds" station. In late 2004, Party Ben created the "

Boulevard of Broken Songs "Boulevard of Broken Songs" (also known as "Wonderwall of Broken Songs" or "Wonderwall of Broken Dreams") is a popular mash-up mixed by American DJ and producer Party Ben in late 2004. The mix consists of elements from American pop punk band G ...

" mashup, featuring elements of Green Day's " Boulevard of Broken Dreams", Oasis' " Wonderwall", Travis' "

Writing to Reach You "Writing to Reach You" is the first single (music), single taken from Scottish rock band Travis (band), Travis's second studio album, ''The Man Who'' (1999). Background The song was written by Fran Healy (musician), Fran Healy, who admitted th ...

", and Eminem's "

Sing for the Moment "Sing for the Moment" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fourth album ''The Eminem Show'' (2002). It was released on February 25, 2003, as the fourth single from ''The Eminem Show'' and the final single in the United States. The song sa ...

", which itself sampled Aerosmith's " Dream On". A later version replaced the Eminem sample with the Aerosmith sample. The track became his most widely spread work and received worldwide attention, including that of

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for ...

, who mentioned in an interview that he thought it was "cool". "Boulevard of Broken Songs" was the impetus for Party Ben to work with Team9 on the '' American Edit'' album under the alias AJ Music, where the two mashed up the songs from Green Day's '' American Idiot'' album. He later mashed "

Every Breath You Take "Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for eig ...

" by the

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

and "

Chasing Cars "Chasing Cars" is a song by Northern Irish-Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''Eyes Open'' (2006). It was released on 6 June 2006, in the United States and 24 July ...

" by Snow Patrol to create "Every Car You Chase", which got the attention of Snow Patrol and appeared at the end of the 2011 romantic comedy ''

Just Go with It ''Just Go with It'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling, and produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Heather Parry. It is a remake of the 1969 film '' Cactus Flower ...

'', starring Adam Sandler and

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...

. Party Ben was one of the resident DJs at Bootie. One of his earliest works include a mashup of "Ohh La La" by the Wise Guys and " Summer Nights" from '' Grease''.

Other work

Party Ben is a contributing writer for ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

''.

References and notes

External links

Party Ben Information Systems

Spin.com featuring Party Ben as "Band of the Day"

''San Francisco Chronicle'' profiles Party Ben
and discusses "Boulevard of Broken Songs"
''Los Angeles CityBeat'' profiles Party Ben, calling him "Mashup Man"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Party Ben American DJs American electronic musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Gothenburg, Nebraska Musicians from Nebraska Electronic dance music DJs 21st-century American musicians American mashup artists