You pull into the venue, check into the cheap hotel you can afford, eat whatever is there, sleep, wake up, and repeat. You’re not really participating in the community.
BEN SOLLEENew York is the culture capital of the world because people are running into each other on the street all the time. They are forced to engage in creativity and problem-solving.
More Ben Sollee Quotes
-
-
It’s funny, people often ask me, “Why do you do bike tours where it takes three times the effort and you make one-third of the money?” My answer is that I’m trying to do it ethically. What does that mean, exactly? That conflict is a big part of my art.
BEN SOLLEE -
I’m definitely musician and storyteller. But I always like to take an active role in things I care about socially and environmentally.
BEN SOLLEE -
When you have these van tours, you drive six hours with the doors closed and windows rolled up.
BEN SOLLEE -
There are not a lot of paths through the woods for someone who sings, plays the cello, and wants to tour on a human scale and create change in the world. I’m on my own path. It’s pretty awesome.
BEN SOLLEE -
I felt like I was cheating myself of those communities and cheating the audience because I wasn’t able to know them. That’s what the bikes did, without me having to put any arbitrary philosophy on what it was supposed to be. It enabled human connection.
BEN SOLLEE -
I’m interested in questions my son asks me, like, “Why do animals fight? Why do you have to leave us to go on the road?” Everything he asks gets me thinking.
BEN SOLLEE -
For every show that we do, anyone that rides public transit, bikes, or walk, we offer them a $5 voucher at the merch table. It gets people using the infrastructure in the area.
BEN SOLLEE -
I’m a husband and a dad. Two thirds of my day is spent being that character. It’s a huge part of my identity and why I pursue things I do.
BEN SOLLEE -
But that would put me on a path that would make me totally divergent from who I am. I don’t have to go through the heartache many other people go through, of figuring out what makes them “wealthy.” I know what brings me joy.
BEN SOLLEE -
The reason I make art is because I get to make a choice about who I am, what I do, and what I put out into the world, the footsteps I leave behind.
BEN SOLLEE -
When we cut off access to certain parts of our cities to people on bikes or in wheelchairs, we’re not only doing economic damage, we’re also doing culture damage.
BEN SOLLEE -
New York is the culture capital of the world because people are running into each other on the street all the time. They are forced to engage in creativity and problem-solving.
BEN SOLLEE -
Art is consumed in so many different ways. You could say people don’t stop to appreciate art. On the other hand, people can consume art more quickly.
BEN SOLLEE -
The idea of “making art for art’s sake” makes no sense for me. Each area of my life, all the roles I play, influences the others.
BEN SOLLEE -
Hopefully, the venues where we play will lobby city council and say, we need bike paths, sidewalk repair. That stuff affects so many people’s lives.
BEN SOLLEE