Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Benjamin Poss. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Benjamin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my album, Brainwashed. It is a commentary on the current world we live in and finding freedom from the confines and structures that keep the real you from shining through. I really felt like, through this art, I had found that. Even before the album was done, my brain was already thinking of the next four albums, and how I thought my career was going to go. I created this super hero version of me with the leather jacket, sunglasses, and most recognizably, my shaved head. It made me feel so strong, and still is. I created this version of me that was finally confident in their skin. I didn’t care if people stared at me. I didn’t care if my hair or body looked good enough. I wanted people to see me as a vessel for the art I was creating rather than a run-of-the-mill type of artist. I look back on the studio sessions, the shows where the room was filled up, people I didn’t know very well and friends alike singing the words to my songs, people wanting to buy things with my name on it, and all the other things that come along with releasing an album. Now, I sit and think, “who was that? was that really me?” There are some days, I still feel like I have to out-do that version of myself. I have to be a superhero. I have to be a part of the machine that I wrote so frivolously about breaking free from. I think that’s why it’s the most meaningful for me, because it’s an album about coming out of the darkness and into the light. Self-evolution is difficult. Most of us spend our whole life “undoing” and becoming who we really want to be. I still feel that way today. Who am I? Where do we go from here? I’ve come to a point where as both a performer and a human being, I’m waiting for that next moment where I feel like I want to break down those barriers again, and be free.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am an artist, singer/ songwriter, and actor. I started performing for all that would walk through the front door and watch me sing and dance in my living room as a young child. I had always wanted to have a music career, and can remember writing my first lyrics when I was in first grade on one of those legal pads you can tear off the pages – just writing song after song. Eventually, my parents, directors, and teachers had noticed the light in my eyes whenever I got into the spotlight on stage. I was led to pursue acting as a young teenager. I attended acting school every weekend in Atlanta, and am very thankful my parents took the time. money, and love to take me. I had agents and industry people I worked with and learned so much in such a short time. I kept taking lessons both in Atlanta and my hometown for the majority of my teenage years. When I had my first official agent, I was in a very transitional stage in my life, and I never quite fit the roles I was being put on camera for. When I got to high school, I got to cultivate my love for musical theater, and I auditioned for a private university that would become my alma mater, Belmont University. I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theater. While I was pursuing the dramatic arts in college, I wrote music and made demos in my dorm room. I still had the dream of becoming a commercial artist in mind. Eventually, a friend of mine told me about a producer he was working with. So, we had a few sessions, and decided it was a great fit for the both of us. So, we started to work on my first EP entitled “B”. It was my first true insight that I had into all it takes to release a product of my own. I had CDs made, reached out to publications, and had interest from a lot of people that wrote articles on my music – from Nashville all the way to the UK. After my EP was released and I was forming some buzz around my music, I kept writing and created my first album “Brainwashed”. I was featured in Billboard, HighClouds, Buzzfeed and many more publications for that record. The album cycle lasted about a year and a half before I released a string of separate singles from 2018 – 2022: “Vulture”, “Icon”, “Champagne Sweat”, and “He Loves Me” which to me are the most unique and my personal favorite tracks of my discography. I am most proud of the fact that no matter what happens from here, I am able to look back and say, “I did that. I created those songs, I drew those crowds, I came up with the visuals, and I had people who believed in it”. I want my followers, fans, and friends to know that regardless of the obstacles of every day life, you can find a way to live your dreams. It may not be exactly how you imagined it, and there may or may not be millions of streams from listeners. What sets me apart and potentially you apart from others, is that we silence the inner critic and create. I currently am taking some time to myself to prepare for the next project(s). I’m writing every day, and hope to be back on stage soon.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The most important / recent one would be the when I moved to Los Angeles in 2020. It was right before the pandemic hit, and I made the decision that being in Nashville wasn’t allowing me to grow as an artist – let alone a human being. So, I made the decision to move, and it was the hardest two years of my life. I had gotten a job on set for a really cool tv show opportunity. It was a small crew, so I was getting to know the talent and people quickly over the two days that I was able to work. Then, the whole city shut down. We weren’t laid off yet, but we also didn’t have any type of pay coming our way. They brought us back in June when we received the news the show was being canceled. I was devastated, because finally, I had found something I liked. No more working in retail or restaurants. Being an independent artist, this kind of job was perfect. I got to feel the creative energy even when it wasn’t my own project. I got to work on set for several shows during COVID because of connections and friends I had made through the industry. This is what I discovered about the production industry thats different than the music industry – people actually want to help you succeed, because they can succeed with other good people. In my experience, if I was paying somebody, they could care less about finding you the next job. Other than work, I got kicked out of my apartment because a serial squatter moved in – these people find every reason to make you walk on eggshells, threaten you, call you a bad person etc. just so they can get you out of your house. During one of these tv shows, I was paying double rent in LA just because I didn’t feel comfortable living with this person. Not even a month later, I was robbed and my digital identity was stolen. The list goes on… Now, I’m back in Nashville. I miss LA every day. I want to go back when I’m able to. It turned me into a person that I didn’t recognize anymore. There are days that I wake up and I wonder if any of what I’ve done will be worth it. If all that happened to me in the past few years hadn’t, I might be a different person than I am now. I could’ve gone from production assistant to actor / singer / etc. There were opportunities to do those things that I completely passed on, because I didn’t have money to take more acting classes or to make more music. With everything that happened, I’m still here for some reason. I still made it to the top 5 in my group for a contest to play the Hollywood Bowl this past August. I thought that was my ticket back, and it wasn’t. It just goes to show, that the people that matter even when you’ve lost yourself will still notice and want you to succeed.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

A dear friend of mine told me that when they left my show, they didn’t feel like they wanted to be me. They wanted to be the best version of themselves. That is the mission. That is the goal we all should strive for. In this hyper connected world of TikTok’s and performative media culture, we have to remember that without all that, we will always have ourself to turn to at the end of the day. I hope to continue to inspire others to be themselves on my own journey to becoming the best me that I can be.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://benjaminposs.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminposs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iambenjaminposs
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenjaminPoss
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/benjaminposs

Image Credits
Casie Wendel, Logen Christopher, Jasmine Archie, Dilyse Jennings