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[Opening theme music]

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Hello and welcome to this episode
of ArtsAbly in Conversation.

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My name is Diane Kolin.

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This series presents artists, academics,
and project leaders who dedicate their

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time and energy to a better accessibility
for people with disabilities in the arts.

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You can find more of these conversations
on our website, artsably.com, 

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which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com.

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[Theme music]

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Today, ArtsAbly is in conversation
with Andrea Benham, a singer songwriter

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and a Grammy district advocate.

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You can find the resources mentioned
by Andrea Benham during this episode

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on ArtsAbly's website in the blog section.

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[Walk Away by Andrea Benham]

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Tell me something I don't know 

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cause you keep saying you'll change 
but you're blowing smoke

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I've been planning to leave 
but I can't let you go.

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Cause you're coming home late at night 

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and when you slip into bed it doesn't feel right 

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but you touch me babe I forget all the thoughts.

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I need you to know

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that I can't do this alone 

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so you need to leave yeah you need to go 

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cause I know I'm better off on my own

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I need you to walk away

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so caught up in the games they play

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cause you say you love me but it doesn't show 

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you keep me lonely but I know 

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if you don't leave me I'll just say

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so I need you to walk away 

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walk away

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I've been tossing in my sleep wondering
who you've been with why it isn't me 

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I get so jealous sometimes that I can't breath

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don't you say that we're fine and it's all in my mind 

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but I don't think that you care
you're ignoring the signs 

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so you need to leave yea you need to go

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I need you to know

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that I can't do this alone 

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so you need to leave yeah you need to go 

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cause I know better off on my own 

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so caught up in the games we play

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that I can't seem to walk away

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cause you say you love me but it doesn't show 

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you keep me lonely but I know 

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if you don't leave me I'll just say 

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so I need you to walk away 

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walk away

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walk away

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walk away

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walk away

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walk away

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Welcome to this new episode
of ArtsAbly in conversation.

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I am today with Andrea Benham,
who is a singer, songwriter

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and a Grammy district advocate.

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Andrea, welcome.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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Thank you for being here.

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Okay, so I wanted to 
start this episode 

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by asking about you.
Could you present yourself?

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Okay.

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My name is Andrea Benham.

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I started songwriting when I was
seven years old, and I could play

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the clarinet, piano, guitar,

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 clarinet, I sing, I write.

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So that's pretty much
a little bit about me.

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And you started music at seven years old.

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What made you start with music?

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Is that something that everybody else
around you in your family was doing,

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or was it just like, oh, I want to start music?

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Yeah, my grandmother played piano by ear,

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and my great uncle has a Grammy.

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And music was very influential in my life.

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And it was a great outlet
for me as a kid

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to start writing how I was feeling 
and to work on the melodies.

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So, yeah.

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Where did you grow up?

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I grew up in Hillsborough, 
New Jersey, in the United States.

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Very good.

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And so did you wanted to go for musical
studies after that or jump directly

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in a musical career as a young person?

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When I was three, my mom put me into dance class, 

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and my dance teacher was a Rockette 
for the New York Rockettes.

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And my mom always kept me
very active in dance class.

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And then once I got into school, 
I started learning how to play the clarinet

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and piano, and I was in choir, so I kept 
very, very, very active as a child.

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So from that period of being young
and being active in the arts

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in general, what happened next?

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Let's see.

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When I was in college, I got
an internship at Billboard magazine,

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and I ended up meeting all - 

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I ended up seeing the business side
of music, and I really loved it, and

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I just wanted to create amazing dance music
and to make people's lives better

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for three minutes a day or with remixes
it's now - sometimes it's 15 minutes.

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But it's been a lifelong dream of mine 

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just to always make people's lives better.

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And it's interesting that you
like sports that much because I think

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what you like is a rhythm.

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It's something that in your songs, it's - 
in your songwriting, it's dance music, and it's

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a lot of very energetic and happy music.

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And I think that one
influenced the others. Right?

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Yeah. The lyrics are pretty...

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The lyrics face a lot of emotion and a lot
of things that I've been through.

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But then the melody of the record
will always become an earworm for people

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that they'll never forget it.

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And that's how I like to write.

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So let's talk about these lyrics.

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What's your process
of creating a new song?

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And can you talk a little bit about
what you write exactly, and what you -

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What your songs are?

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I mean, let's start with
the first record, Reincarnation.

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Reincarnation is about my godfather,
who was always supportive of me,

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and he passed away senior year of my high school.

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And so that record is about him.

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And then I have Overcome, which is on 
Kult Records, and it's all about overcoming

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any obstacle that life faces you.

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And then I have I Won't Cave, all about 
overcoming a messy relationship, you know, 

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and then I have Walk Away, 
it's almost on the same thing

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that you're not going to stay 
in an abusive relationship,

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that you're going to walk away from it.

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And then you have I Got This.
I Got This talks a lot about the accident

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that disabled me and that no matter what,

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I was going to turn the story around.

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And then you have Melt,
which I wrote about one of my neighbors

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who lives in my building.

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And then you have Fences.

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Fences is a new record.

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It's technically not a new record.

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Fences was written in 2014 and
was released, and then the label folded.

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So I went out and I rerecorded the record
and I added some other lyrics

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and Fences about my best friend
who passed away in 2014.

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So I really write from a lot of emotion,
a lot of things that I've been through personally, 

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but I like to twist it,
even though it's such an emotional

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and such a heartfelt thing for me.

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I like to write lyrically
and melodically that people

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will always remember the lyrics.

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And in these different records and songs

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you've written, five times you've been -

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You submitted Grammys, right?

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Yeah, five times I've submitted.

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I submitted for

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You Might Be The One, Walk Away, I Got This,

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Fences and Love You and Melt.

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Yeah. I was never up,

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I never grasped, I never
quenched a nomination.

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I was up for your consideration.

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Okay, great.

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And you always work
with collaborators, right?

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DJ's or producers?
Always.

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Can you talk about your team?

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Well, the Klubjumpers, they're based
in San Antonio, Texas, and

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their remix on Reincarnation
had gotten me signed in 2006 to MisWax.

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And then working with John Kano.

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I've known John since I started interning at Billboard.

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So I've known him for a long time.

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And I would say the base
of this industry is really not

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what you know or who you know.

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It's really how you develop
these relationships.

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So how did you start working with this team 

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and develop these relationships?

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Well, I was introduced to the Klubjumpers
by a gentleman named David Jurman.

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And I met Dave at a club in the city
on the Lower East Side in 2005.

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And Dave at the time was
working under Clive Davis.

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And we sat down, we chatted, and I told
him about this record, Reincarnation.

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And he said to me, let me
go home and listen to it.

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So he listened to it and he goes,
oh, I know the perfect team

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that will do the remix for you.

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And that remix got me signed.

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That's very nice. And you've been 
working with this team since, right?

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Yeah, yeah.

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Very good. Okay, so...

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I think we're going to share
on ArtsAbly's podcast and channel,

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and also the resource page that will
go with your interview, all the links

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so that people can hear that on Spotify.

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Also, you have a YouTube channel
with nice videos that I recommend.

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And so your music right now is...

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Do you have projects to release -

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I know you just released one, right?

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I just released Fences.

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I released I Got This,

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and Fences was released the end of June.

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Okay, good.

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And so can you talk about, like,
if you have any future projects

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or activities that

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you want to talk about
that are happening right now?

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Okay, well, right now I'm actually in the
running to be in Rolling Stone magazine.

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Right now.
I'm holding the third position.

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I made it to the top 20, and then this
coming Thursday, we'll go to the top 15.

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And I'm number three.

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I was holding the first spot
for, like a full week, and then,

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then I got taken back.

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But I'm not worried about it.

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I'll continue to keep working on that.

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And it's really like the article is really
about me overcoming a lot of obstacles

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in my life and being positive.

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And I'm very, very, very grateful
for every day that I get, 

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and I'm very grateful for the gift of music.

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Are you also on the top 20
of America's next top hit maker?

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Yes, I'm number three right now.

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Okay.
So, wow.

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Congratulations.
I mean, it's...

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Thank you.

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And how is the... There is a voting process

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and it's going to end when?

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Well, the top 15 will end this Thursday.

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And then I'm sure it's going to keep
graduating into the probably top ten.

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Top five.

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Yeah. And so the prize is $10,000 and

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it's spread in Rolling Stone magazine.

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And then I would go down
to Austin and I would be able -

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I would perform.

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Wow. Good luck.

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Thank you.

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Fingers crossed.

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Okay.

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I want to go back -

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Would you mind speaking a little bit
about what you're overcoming right now

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or what pushes you to write.

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So you told me you had an accident?

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Yes. Yeah, I had an accident in 2015.

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I was walking, and a guy
went through a stop sign, and he hit me,

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and I lost my vision in my right eye.

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And so at the time, I was working for
the state of New Jersey, 

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and they didn't take me back to work, 
so I'm still legally not done with that case.

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And so a lot of things
have been thrown at me.

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You know, I didn't get my job back,
and it was really just figuring out

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how to turn this story around.

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And I had met with the surgeon
who saved my life back in 2019,

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and he said to me, the hardest thing 
I had to do as a doctor 

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was tell your mom I didn't think 
that you were going to make it.

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And then he went back to work
the next day, and I was still alive,

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so it just wasn't really my time.

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And it's a lot of things that, like, I.

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That I like to sit with about, you know,
how it's affected my relationships

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and how it's affected my music and

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how I'm just so grateful to even be here.

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And so that's what I would say,
that a lot of that inspires the writing.

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Well, the proof that you have 

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a lot of things to say through your music

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is that you keep releasing these songs.

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So that's great.

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And so you plan the next one, too, right?

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I'm in the midst of writing it.

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Okay, good.

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Okay.

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And so, for me, when you are 
working on some challenges

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that you try to incorporate in your songs,

246
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it goes to what I call accessibility arts,

247
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because, in a way, it's how to adapt your
songwriting and your access needs

248
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and things like that to accommodate your
own needs, your own rhythm

249
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that might be different from before.

250
00:17:42,961 --> 00:17:47,800
So what does it mean for you
to work in that kind of environment,

251
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and how did you adapt to it?

252
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I think it's good to have, like,
a great understanding as to, like,

253
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what I'm able to offer as an artist
and that maybe I could change somebody's life 

254
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for, like, three minutes or six minutes or 

255
00:18:02,681 --> 00:18:06,018
any period of the day, that I'll get 
a message and it'll say, 

256
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oh, your song totally changed my day,
which I think is so important,

257
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and it's so uplifting for me as a songwriter.

258
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And it makes me feel,
like, super motivated.

259
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I get a lot of things, like,
even on my birthday, a lot of messages

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from fans or from family members saying
how I motivate them and how I push them.

261
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My one cousin, she just
finished chemotherapy for breast cancer,

262
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and she says to me all the time,
I think of how hard my life is.

263
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But then I look at you and I think of how you really 
got through. You turned this whole story around. 

264
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And I'm grateful that I'm able 
to do it through music.

265
00:18:47,860 --> 00:18:51,797
And she would say to me, oh,
your music inspires me all the time.

266
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I always listen to it when I'm down,
so I think that's really important.

267
00:18:56,201 --> 00:18:57,903
Yeah.
And it goes two ways, right?

268
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When someone tells you, your music
inspires me and motivates me, then

269
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you get motivated to continue
what you're doing, which is nice.

270
00:19:07,379 --> 00:19:09,648
Of course.

271
00:19:09,681 --> 00:19:15,120
Speaking of inspiration,
I was wondering if in your career

272
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and in your songwriting skills,

273
00:19:20,025 --> 00:19:23,328
if you have someone to think of who really

274
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accompanied you or inspired you in your
path, if you have one or two persons

275
00:19:29,101 --> 00:19:32,104
to think of, who would it be and why?

276
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I would say the first person that
definitely comes to mind is my godfather.

277
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My godfather, our last conversation
that I had with him, 

278
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he said to me, you never want to be 40
and look back and think, what if?

279
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If you want to sing and you
love music, go for it.

280
00:19:48,921 --> 00:19:51,423
I always said to him, 
when I grow up, one day,

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 I'm going to wake up and 
see New York City every day.

282
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And guess what?
That's what I do.

283
00:19:55,694 --> 00:20:00,532
I wake up and I see New York City every
morning, and I never take it for granted.

284
00:20:00,566 --> 00:20:04,503
And that will always
stick with me, that conversation,

285
00:20:04,503 --> 00:20:07,973
because it was our last, and

286
00:20:08,106 --> 00:20:12,878
I was really head over heels with music.

287
00:20:12,911 --> 00:20:15,213
And then I got into the Grammys,
and I just -

288
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I was so, so grateful for that.

289
00:20:17,783 --> 00:20:20,719
And then the second person
I'd say would be Neil Diamond.

290
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Ironically, he is a pop,
amazing, amazing songwriter.

291
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He's such a classic songwriter.

292
00:20:28,026 --> 00:20:30,295
And my mom would always
take me to see him.

293
00:20:30,329 --> 00:20:33,599
I've seen him in concert about 35 times.

294
00:20:33,632 --> 00:20:37,202
And the last time that 
I saw him was in 2017.

295
00:20:37,236 --> 00:20:41,173
And a few months later,
he announced that he had Parkinson's.

296
00:20:41,173 --> 00:20:45,477
And I had never gone to a concert
by myself, but it was my birthday,

297
00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:47,012
and I was like, you know what?

298
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Nobody wanted to go with me.

299
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And I was like, I'm going to go by myself.

300
00:20:50,282 --> 00:20:51,383
What do I have to lose?

301
00:20:51,416 --> 00:20:53,852
And I went, and, you know, when you 
go to a Neil Diamond concert, 

302
00:20:53,852 --> 00:20:55,821
everybody knows the lyrics to the songs.

303
00:20:55,854 --> 00:20:59,758
You know, Sweet Caroline,
you know, Hello, 

304
00:20:59,758 --> 00:21:01,860
everybody knows the lyrics to all the songs.

305
00:21:01,893 --> 00:21:04,162
So it's one big sing along.

306
00:21:04,196 --> 00:21:07,232
And I was so happy that I did
because that was the last time

307
00:21:07,266 --> 00:21:10,769
I would ever see him perform.

308
00:21:10,802 --> 00:21:17,009
I did go to his Broadway show
in December that opened and he was, like,

309
00:21:17,042 --> 00:21:19,478
right in front of me, which was amazing.

310
00:21:19,511 --> 00:21:24,116
But I would say my godfather
and Neil Diamond.

311
00:21:24,149 --> 00:21:27,519
Very nice.
Neil Diamond. Wow.

312
00:21:28,253 --> 00:21:31,823
Not a dance artist,
but a classic songwriter.

313
00:21:31,823 --> 00:21:34,726
Yeah.
Very nice.

314
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,963
I have a last question.
Really last one.

315
00:21:37,963 --> 00:21:42,134
If you have a piece of advice
to give to our listeners right now

316
00:21:42,167 --> 00:21:44,436
who are, like, struggling with -

317
00:21:44,469 --> 00:21:49,007
I would love to go to songwriting,
but I don't know how.

318
00:21:49,041 --> 00:21:52,144
I don't know if I have the courage
or I don't know if I have the guts

319
00:21:52,177 --> 00:21:55,914
or I don't know if I have the money.

320
00:21:55,947 --> 00:21:59,317
What would be this piece of advice?

321
00:21:59,351 --> 00:22:03,722
I would say, I mean, when I started,
I started at seven years old,

322
00:22:03,755 --> 00:22:08,560
so I just started writing poems.

323
00:22:08,593 --> 00:22:12,597
And then I started working
with the melodies as I got older.

324
00:22:12,631 --> 00:22:16,268
But I'd say poetry is
a really good way to start.

325
00:22:17,135 --> 00:22:21,306
Okay, well, thank you so much
for this conversation 

326
00:22:21,306 --> 00:22:27,512
and I wish you all the best for 
the next periods of votes.

327
00:22:27,546 --> 00:22:30,582
And maybe we'll see each
other at the Grammys.

328
00:22:30,582 --> 00:22:32,284
Of course.
I hope so.

329
00:22:32,317 --> 00:22:38,824
We share the fact that we are both
RAMPD Pro members

330
00:22:38,824 --> 00:22:44,763
and a lot of pro members are also going to 
Grammys to support the other artists.

331
00:22:44,796 --> 00:22:47,332
And so I hope to see you
in person over there.

332
00:22:47,365 --> 00:22:51,770
Of course I was able, 
I was fortunate to go in 2019, 

333
00:22:51,770 --> 00:22:58,477
and I went to the Dolly Parton MusiCares 
Person Of The Year's party.

334
00:22:58,510 --> 00:23:04,783
And when I had my accident,
MusiCares, they donated a lot of money

335
00:23:04,783 --> 00:23:07,385
that really helped my survival.

336
00:23:07,419 --> 00:23:10,622
So I'm super grateful for it.

337
00:23:10,622 --> 00:23:15,394
Okay, well, have a great day.
Thank you, you too.

338
00:23:15,427 --> 00:23:16,661
Bye.
Take care.

339
00:23:16,695 --> 00:23:17,996
Okay, bye.

340
00:23:19,131 --> 00:23:24,269
[Closing theme music]