Ben Kenney

Career

Kenney played guitar for the hip-hop group The Roots before he joined Incubus in 2003 after the departure of the bass guitarist and founding member Alex Katunich (aka Dirk Lance). He had previously played with Incubus members Mike Einziger and Jose Pasillas in Time Lapse Consortium.

Kenney plays at least six different instruments and sometimes plays drum duets with Incubus' drummer Jose Pasillas live on-stage.

He has also done studio work for artists including Justin Timberlake, Faith Evans, Erykah Badu and Blackalicious, and for the producers Timbaland and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

26, Maduro, Distance and Comfort and "Burn the Tapes" were all released by Kenney's own record company, Ghetto Crush Industries. Ghetto Crush has also released music for The Division Group, Aleda and Root Valdez. Kenney helped The Smyrk to produce their EP, New Fiction.

Solo career

Kenney started in New Jersey band called Racecar in 1994 with Jimmie Muller and Sam Hofman. After this, he and Chuck Treece started a musical duo called Supergrub in 1996, with three CDs released: Norma & Thurselle, Communicator and Challenger.

He has five solo albums, 26 released on December 1, 2004, Maduro released on March 1, 2006, Distance and Comfort released on January 15, 2008, Burn The Tapes released on October 1, 2010, and Leave On Your Makeup released on September 17, 2013. Kenney plays guitar, bass guitar and drums while singing and writing every part on the solo records. When touring to support his solo records he plays guitar and sings, accompanied by Ashley Mendel on bass guitar and vocals and Sekou Lumumba on drums. Recently, Simon Harding from the band Fin has replaced Lumumba.

Equipment

His bass equipment includes Lakland bass guitars, Line 6 effects "(interview)".  and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. His collection of bass guitars includes a seafoam-green USA Joe Osborn, sunburst USA Joe Osborn with a fretless fingerboard, sunburst Skyline Joe Osborn, red Skyline Bob Glaub, shoreline gold Skyline Hollowbody, custom 44-94, light blue 44-94, cherry sunburst 55-94 with Gibson knobs, fiesta red 30" Jazz Bass (44-60), 1975 Fender Jazz Bass, Gibson SG Bass, Fender Jaguar Bass, and a Hofner 500/1 "Beatle Bass". All of his bass guitars have rosewood fingerboards and are strung with GHS flatwounds, with the exception of the Skyline Bob Glaub which is strung with roundwounds and the 55-94 which is strug with Thomastik-Infeld roundwounds. Kenney also plays Gibson Les Pauls which is seen in the DVD video for "Not Today". His live Mesa/Boogie rig consists of a pair of Big Block 750 heads and a Roadready 8x10 cabinet. In the studio and for solo gigs and small live gigs with Incubus, he uses Mesa Walkabout 1x12 combos and extension cabs.

Discography

26 (2004)

1. Breathe – 3:31
2. Hoopdie – 4:17
3. 4.2.3. – 5:23
4. Andrea's Asleep – 1:08
5. Creme – 3:41
6. You Won't Like the Sound – 3:16
7. So Hard – 2:47
8. Mr. Spader, I Presume – 1:28
9. Empty Handed – 4:30

Maduro (2006)

1. Wrong – 3:00
2. Inside Pt. 2 – 4:15
3. Skyscraper – 2:57
4. Nigeria – 1:12
5. The Ether – 2:52
6. Nepenthe – 1:15
7. Conception and the Funeral – 3:26
8. It's Not Too Late – 4:08
9. How Would You Know? – 3:49
10. Girl – 3:55
11. The Moment – 3:09

Distance and Comfort (2008)

1. Not Today – 3:27
2. Get It to Go – 2:14
3. 18th Avenue – 3:53
4. Eulogy – 4:20
5. Walking – 5:19
6. When We Are Both Cats – 1:51
7. Implants – 3:04
8. Fluorescent Yellow – 4:14
9. Some Days Are Better Than Others – 2:58
10. Comfort – 7:06

Burn the Tapes (2010)

1. Beard of Bees – 3:50
2. Homes – 3:52
3. Heemtro – 0:44
4. Aftertouch – 3:09
5. Rubber Sheets – 4:40
6. The Kibash – 3:52
7. Worlds Collide – 3:54
8. Ishmael – 1:45
9. Habit – 3:34
10. Go – 5:49

Leave on your Makeup – EP (2013)

1. You – 2:35
2. Concord – 3:20
3. Leave on Your Makeup – 3:43
4. New Amsterdam – 2:46
5. I'll Be Outside (Feat. Brandon Boyd & Kaki King) – 3:55
6. Let's Be Honest – 4:00

Tracks from Soundcloud (2016)

1. Me And Monica – 1:57
2. Friends – 4:04