With the release of his latest single and music video, "Young Mistakes," and many previous features on Sheesh, it was about time that we got a better understanding of the individual behind the artist, Ben Chandler. In this Deep Dive, we learned a little more about both his inspiration as a musician, his life behind the scenes, and his latest masterpiece. Dive in below!

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So, to start off, tell us a little bit about your musical background, how did you first get started?

I've always been around music. Growing up and playing in bands with my friends from school, going to lots of live shows, playing on my dad’s drum kit since I was six, it's been a big part of my life. I started recording and taking things seriously around 2019, but was dropping things here and there since 2014.

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2. What is something that most people don't know about you (musically or personally)?

I'm a big introvert. I've gotten better now, but I used to never really start conversations or anything like that. I keep to myself a lot. I'm not a confrontational person. Another thing that's personal is that I'm super sick at Smash Bros and into gaming in general, definitely the thing I do with my homies to pass the time if I'm not working on music.

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3. Has living in Naples, FL and being around other young creatives helped shape your sound at all?

Living in Naples definitely helped break me out of my shell with music, but I've always stayed in my zone with music. Being around artists from here helped me out a lot with gauging what I can do and I had a lot of dope experiences with them. I also like to mess around with RnB and dance music. I got a few cuts that are sick.

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4. I checked out your most recent song release, “Young Mistakes,” and loved it BTW! So, I wanted to ask – what was some of the inspiration behind the piece?

Thanks, I really appreciate the love. The inspiration behind it is pretty personal, I used to party a lot and I let it take over my life for a while. When we were producing the record, my homie apob mentioned the idea of "Young Mistakes". I instantly started running with that idea and took my prior experiences and quickly jotted them down.

The first verse came from messing with girls' hearts. Never really knowing what I want. The second verse is about my partying phase, how I felt so comfortable and good, but subconsciously knowing that life is moving on with or without me, and that I need to get my ass in gear and get to work.

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5. What was the creative process behind the music video for “Young Mistakes?”

I wanted to capture a fun 2000's vibe with the video. I'm a huge fan of The Strokes, so I watched my three favorite videos from them ("Hard to Explain," "Last Nite," "Someday") and threw those ideas to my creative director Hillary Sullivan, and me and her crafted some ideas. Shoutout Dom Stills and his team for helping pull through and really help capture everything. The video is by far leagues ahead of my others.

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6. What’s your favorite lyric from “Young Mistakes” and why?

The second verse for sure. "You used to get stoned to the bone and then feel like your home, but you can't get your plans right, life's moving on. What you did with your free time, was all wrong, you weren't even ready, you were only making these (young mistakes)."‍

This whole verse was me really letting out my emotions of how I knew I needed to get to work and really start applying myself to my music. No hate on any of my homies I haven't seen in almost a year. I still got respect for them, I just had to step back and focus on me.

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7. Who are some of your favorite artists and who are some artists you’ve drawn inspiration from?

Frank Ocean is a huge favorite. Tyler, the Creator, I used to be a big OF fan, still listen to the OF Tapes when I'm feeling nostalgic. Mac Demarco for sure, same with Rex Orange County and The Strokes. I draw inspiration from a lot of outlets, but artist wise I've been drawing a good bit from The Strokes, The Clash, Yeek, and Tokyo Police Club to name a few.

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8. Where do you see yourself musically 5 years from now?

I see myself progressively getting better throughout the years. Five years from now I hope to be a lot of people's favorite artist, selling out arenas and having amazing live shows with my homies. Having songs with Post Malone and other dope artists. I know this stuff takes time but it's all about the journey and what you make of it.

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9. What has been one of your favorite/proudest moments since you’ve started?

I think hitting 100k+ listeners on Spotify was a big milestone for me, but honestly writing six songs and creating them over FaceTime with apob has been such an amazing experience honestly. I'm so proud of me and him for that.

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10. What is your favorite track you have created so far and why?

"Young Mistakes" is my favorite track so far I've ever made. It's fun, exciting, has so much energy, and the production is so electric and full. It's everything I've wanted in a song. A full band sound and great vocals. Making more music like that is my goal and I get so excited every time I catch something that sounds like it.

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