| Band Members | ||
| Ben Folds | – | lead vocals, piano, keyboards, melodica, principal songwriting |
| Robert Sledge | – | bass, contrabass, synthesizer, backing vocals |
| Darren Jessee | – | drums, percussion, backing vocals, songwriter |
The group reunited for a one-off concert on September 18, 2008, where they played their album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, in its entirety. In 2011, Ben Folds Five reunited to record three tracks for Ben Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. It was announced on Folds’ Twitter in January 2012 that the band has reunited to record a new album, released on September 18, 2012, titled The Sound of the Life of the Mind. As of March 1 of the same year, at least three tour dates have been added, including the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, DeLuna Festival in Pensacola, Florida, and the Mountain Jam Festival in Hunter, NY. In July 2012 the band announced US and European tour dates for Fall 2012.
History
Ben Folds Five was formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill by Ben Folds. They were, in fact, a trio in spite of their name, and the primary motivation behind the name, apart from the band’s well-known use of humor, was simple preference, according to Ben: “I think it sounds better than Ben Folds Three.” Folds once described their music as “punk rock for sissies,” a reaction to the angst prevalent in ’90s rock.
Their first radio single was “Underground” from their self-titled debut album, released in 1995 on Caroline Records. The band’s biggest success was the single “Brick” from their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen, released in 1997. It was followed by the more somber and jazz-based 1999 album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. The group contributed an outtake from the Reinhold Messner sessions, titled “Leather Jacket”, to the 1999 benefit album, No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees.
The band’s final released recording was a cover of Steely Dan’s “Barrytown” for the Me, Myself & Irene soundtrack. The band had begun work on a fourth studio album, however following the worldwide tour in support of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, the band “amicably” broke up in October 2000. Tracks from the sessions would later emerge on subsequent solo projects.
After the Break-Up
Folds went on to pursue a successful solo career, releasing Rockin’ the Suburbs in 2001, Songs for Silverman in 2005, Way to Normal in 2008, and, in collaboration with novelist-writer Nick Hornby, Lonely Avenue in 2010. He produced and arranged actor William Shatner’s second album, Has Been, as well as co-wrote the majority of the songs with Shatner. Folds also contributed songs to the soundtracks for the animated movies Hoodwinked! and Over the Hedge. Darren Jessee formed the acclaimed indie band Hotel Lights, with his songs featured in television and film. Jessee released three studio albums for Bar/None Records including Hotel Lights in 2005, Goodnightgoodmorning in 2006, Firecracker People in 2008, and Girl Graffiti in 2011. Robert Sledge soon after took up singing, sharing song-writing and bass playing duties with International Orange, but the group disbanded in 2005. He subsequently formed The Bob Sledge Band, which plays locally in North Carolina.
Reunion
Ben Folds Five made a one-off concert appearance in September 2008 at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill as part of the MySpace “Front to Back” series, in which artists play an entire album live. The band played its final album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, and were briefly joined on stage by Ben’s father, Dean Folds, who read a transcript of his voice mail message that is used in the album song “Your Most Valuable Possession”, encoring with some of the songs from their first two albums.
In 2011, Ben Folds Five reunited to record three tracks for Ben Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe also reported that Ben Folds Five would be reconvened in December 2011 to record a new album.
For the 2012 Mountain Jam festival, Ben Folds Five was announced as one of the main headliners. It was at Mountain Jam where Ben Folds Five reunited for their first live performance together in years. They were also announced in the 2012 Bonnaroo and Summerfest lineups. The band announced an August release of their new album, followed by a full American tour in September and October. They then travelled to Ireland and the UK for a tour in November and December 2012. These dates eventually formed The Sound of the Life of the Mind Tour.
On May 7, 2012, Ben Folds Five launched an interactive pre-sale campaign for the release of their new album on PledgeMusic. The campaign shot to 200% in its first week of being live. Folds has said that they have enough material for at least two more records.
During a June 28, 2012, Ben Folds Five performance at Summerfest, Folds announced the album had been completed.
On September 17, 2012, Nerdist posted the video for “Do It Anyway”, the first single off the album The Sound of the Life of the Mind, featuring Anna Kendrick, Rob Corddry, Chris Hardwick and the cast of Fraggle Rock. The day afterward, The Sound of the Life of the Mind was released.
On June 4, 2013, the trio released their first live album, simply titled Live. During the summer of 2013, Ben Folds Five is touring with the Barenaked Ladies and Guster.