The Benjamin Raubinsons

"Glorious Love For The Dead" is a male vocal rock song, written, recorded and produced by the band. The individual credits are Clint Ferro on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dave Williams on lead guitar, backing vocals and drums, and Ben Raub on the bass guitar. Mastering was handled by Matt Barnes at Lunar Rabbit Studios in Cortland, NY. This song is from the band's first album, entitled Go Dutch!

The Benjamin Raubinsons have created a pretty authentic late-'60s/early-'70s sound with their submission. We definitely hear some Pink Floyd ambience and a great "Down By the River" Neil Young style guitar tone, particularly on the solo. The guys put their newly acquired Gibson ES335 to the test here and it passed with flying colors.

As for the rest of the sound sources, we loved the double tracked/wide panned lead vocal, the "Ringo" tambourine (don't laugh until you've tried to record one!) and the plunky bass. Hey, you all were trying to do this, right? Otherwise, give Mom and Dad back their record collection!

Suggestions: None really to speak of, unless we wanted to spoil the vibe. The fact that the band took the time to mike their amps and room during the recording process certainly contributed to the open, period-correct sound that they achieved. Good on ya for that one, boys.

Summary: "What goes around..."

Contact: Ben Raub / The Benjamin Raubisons, bennybass5@hotmail.com, or check out the band at reverbnation.com - Recording Magazine

Although the Benjamin Raubinsons have existed as a group for only the past 18 months or so, the seeds were sown when Clint Ferro, Dave Williams and Ben Raub grew up together in Brackney, Pa., in the 1990s.

In fact, after they graduated from Montrose High School, they decided to move in together above — appropriately enough — Music City in Binghamton and start on the path to their rock 'n' roll dreams.

There was only one problem: Because Ferro worked the early shift at a local radio station, he had to be awake at 4:20 every morning.

"We had a falling-out — these guys got mad at me and decided to kick me out of the band because I was too focused on my job," Ferro said during an interview with the band last week.

"You'd come home from work and we'd try to practice. We'd get through one song and you'd fall asleep behind your drums!" Williams replied with a laugh.

It may be funny now, but the experience led to a rift among the three friends that lasted for years. They went their separate ways, not seeing or talking to each other through most of their 20s.

Then, even though music is what drove them apart, it also became what brought them back together. In January 2010, the trio — on speaking terms after the long hiatus — started working on what was supposed to be a temporary project while Ferro was on a three-month visit from his new home in North Carolina. They rediscovered their old chemistry, which was fueled by original songs that harken back to fuzzed-out '60s garage rock as well as '90s grunge kings such as Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana.

Before long, Ferro (drums, guitar, harmonica and vocals) knew he wasn't moving south again. Williams (guitar, drums and vocals) and Raub (bass, guitar) gradually shed their other band commitments to focus on their new passion. They also started playing gigs around town, growing a fanbase from the ground up.

After months of honing their debut album at their home studio, the Benjamin Raubinsons will release "Go Dutch!" (Attic Records) on Friday night at a CD release party at Cyber Café West in Binghamton.

The band's moniker was devised on the fly by Ferro as a pun on Raub's name — and it stuck.

"There was a point for a couple of months when it almost started to get on Ben's nerves. He'd be at work and somebody would ask him, 'What the name of your band?' and he'd answer quietly: 'Benjamin Raubinsons,'" Williams said. "He wanted to change it so bad, but we didn't want to because it's a great name. We talked him out of it — or maybe we just gave it enough time for it to grow on him."

"I couldn't think of anything better!" Raub insisted.

They share equally in the songwriting and playing, even switching instruments onstage during shows. The core of the band's sound, though, is Williams' driving guitar riffs, Raub's melodic basslines and Ferro-led vocal harmonies. Their lyrics explore topics both the political and the personal, with a hint of psychedelia.

"We're real, we are who we are — we're not trying to be fake. I think the bond we have comes out through the music," Ferro said. "I believe in this more than I have in any other music or anything else in my life. We all let each other be creative — there's no holding back, ever, with anything."

The trio's plan is to play selective gigs around the region, then tour the Midwest and West Coast in the fall. They also want to tap into the college scene, perhaps through the taste-making CMJ or South by Southwest festivals.

Now that they've matured a little, they've also learned to let the music be the focus.

"Other bands always had friction of some kind — a difference in creativity or ideas," Williams said. "With this group, that's never happened. We're such good friends that we enjoy each other's company. We never have any fights or arguments — and if we do, it's silly and it's over with."
- The Press & Sun Bulletin

"Saw these guys last night in Ithaca..Nirvana meets the Beatles, versatility with thier instruments and huge sound..Wow" - 590 WSYR-AM Tait Linden-Entertainment Director