Who We Are: Breaking Benjamin from Wilkes-Barre
We're Breaking Benjamin, a rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. If you've just found us, here's the short version of who we are and where the name comes from.
Where did Breaking Benjamin start?
The band started in Wilkes-Barre around the turn of the 2000s, when singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel got together. For a while we went by Plan 9. Our first release was a self-titled EP in 2001, and our debut album, Saturate, followed in 2002.
Where does the name come from?
It goes back to a borrowed microphone. Ben broke it, and its owner thanked "Benjamin for breaking" it. The name had already turned up on promotional stickers, and Breaking Benjamin is the one we kept.
Who's in the band today?
- Benjamin Burnley: lead vocals and rhythm guitar
- Jasen Rauch: lead guitar and programming
- Keith Wallen: rhythm guitar and backing vocals
- Aaron Bruch: bass and backing vocals
That lineup came together in 2014, when we came back after a hiatus that started in 2010.
What do we sound like?
Hard rock, alternative rock and post-grunge: heavy guitars, big choruses and a dark edge. Songs like "Breath", "I Will Not Bow" and "Failure" went to No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and "The Diary of Jane" went multi-platinum.
Where does the merch fit in?
Our merch comes from the same dark place as the music: our name, our Celtic knot and the albums behind it, on tees, long sleeves, crewnecks and hoodies, with kids' and youth sizes too.