Ben Shepherd

Ben Shepherd (born Hunter Benedict Shepherd, on September 20, 1968) is an American musician best known for playing bass in the band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up.

Biography

Shepherd was born on an American military base in Okinawa, Japan. His family moved to Texas, then settled in Bainbridge Island, Washington, where Shepherd grew up, playing in numerous punk-rock bands with friends before he was a teenager. After graduating high school, he worked as a carpenter and a laborer. He became involved in the grunge scene when he worked as a roadie for Nirvana and played in Tic Dolly Row with Chad Channing. He also auditioned unsuccessfully for the position of guitarist in Nirvana.

He first auditioned for the role of bassist in Soundgarden in 1989, immediately after Hiro Yamamoto left, but was turned down because he could not play the songs well enough. Jason Everman was hired as the band's new bassist, but for unknown reasons, was fired immediately after Soundgarden completed their promotional tour in mid-1990. Shepherd was then hired.

In addition to his role as bass player, Shepherd's role as a singer and songwriter increased during his tenure with Soundgarden. On his first recording with the band, Badmotorfinger, Shepherd contributed the song "Somewhere" and collaborated on the musical composition of several other songs on that album.

In 1993, Shepherd and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron formed a side-project band called Hater. Shepherd sang vocals and played guitar in Hater, in addition to writing several songs on the band's first release, a self-titled album. A second album called The 2nd was partially recorded shortly thereafter, but was not released until 2005, twelve years after the debut album. During the lengthy hiatus, Shepherd found time to complete the tracks that would become The 2nd between his collaborations with Wellwater Conspiracy (another side-project with Matt Cameron and John McBain), the Mark Lanegan Band, and several other artists.

In 1994, Soundgarden released Superunknown, which featured Shepherd compositions "Half" and "Head Down". "Half" was the first song on a Soundgarden album for which Shepherd sang lead vocals.

In 1996, Soundgarden released Down on the Upside, in which six of the sixteen album tracks were lyrically and/or musically composed by Shepherd. The tracks were: "Zero Chance," "Dusty," "Ty Cobb," "Never Named," "Switch Opens," and "An Unkind." Shepherd once said he wrote the music to "Never Named" as a teenager. "Ty Cobb" was the first song Shepherd wrote that was made a single.

In late 1997, Shepherd was part of the first, now rare, Desert Sessions collaboration (Volumes 1 & 2), on which he played bass.

In 2005, Shepherd formed a new band, Unkmongoni (the band's name was what Tarzan used to yell to the animals to run and be free), but the band no longer appears to be together. The same year, a second Hater album was issued, The 2nd.

Shepherd has one daughter named Ione. He currently resides in Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Discography

600 School

Live recording (circa 1982)

March of Crimes

Demo (recorded circa 1984)

Tic Dolly Row

Live recording (1987)

Soundgarden

Badmotorfinger (1991)
Superunknown (1994)
Down on the Upside (1996)
A-Sides (1997)

Hater

Hater (1993)
Hater (2005)

Wellwater Conspiracy

Declaration of Conformity (1997)