Ben Shepherd Presents: HBS - "Baron Robber" (Deep Owl, Seattle)

While it's been in-the-works for nearly 4 years and was largely recorded before Soundgarden's recent reunion, it's kinda hard not to compare Ben Shepherd's solo side-project "HBS" to his pioneering Grunge band's 1980-90's work. The Seattle by way of Japan bassist managed to recruit a brigade of like-minded Seattle players including: Matt Cameron, Joseph Brailey, Klaus Lustica, Greg Gilmore, Matt Chamberlain, and Steve Kim. "Baron Robber" kinda sounds like the perfect soundtrack for a late night, moon-lit drive down some intertwining back roads in a bitchin' 90's Trans AM or I-ROC; fuzzed out, bass-driven Alternative Rock at it's finest, which started out as an acoustic record!


Hunter Benedict "Ben" Shepherd recorded the bulk of his debut solo project, In Deep Owl at a very interesting Georgetown location, buddy Gerry Amandes' studio that's right "behind a sex club... where [they] could record, all day and all night, at all volumes." Shepherd further describes In Deep Owl (an old school cabbie nickname for Georgetown) as a "collection of dark and complex songs with a voice that wears its life experience on its sleeve" and mentions head-scratching elements of "bohemian industrial and beat nickery." Head on over to Ben Shepherd's Bandcamp to pre-order In Deep Owl, which is available in a limited 12" vinyl package that includes an immediate 2-track download and an emailed full album download link, upon it's August 27th release.