Ben Koller | |
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Born | July 29, 1980 |
Origin | Massachusetts, United States |
Genres | |
Instruments | Drum kit |
Years active | 1997–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts |
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Ben Koller (born July 29, 1980) is an American drummer currently in Converge, Mutoid Man, Killer be Killed and All Pigs Must Die. He started playing a full drum kit at age 14.
Ben Koller played in the bands, Where's Ben? and Bastian, before playing in the grindcore band Force Fed Glass. He started playing for the band in 1997. Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, who is also a successful producer, recorded an album for Force Fed Glass. Ballou later started a side project called Blue/Green Heart and selected Koller as his drummer having already been familiar with his talent from Force Fed Glass. Blue/Green Heart only released one demo album, Self Esteem Through Modern Science.
Ben Koller joined Converge in 1999, replacing former drummer Damon Bellorado. Familiar with his work in previous bands, Kurt Ballou selected Koller to temporarily fill-in while Converge searched for a more permanent replacement for the recently departed Bellorado. After working well with the band during some local shows in Boston, Converge made him an official member. Koller's first studio release with Converge was 2001's Jane Doe released through Equal Vision Records. However, a split EP with the Japanese band Hellchild, titled Deeper the Wound, was released prior to that which featured an early version of "Thaw" from Jane Doe.
Converge later signed to Epitaph Records and has since released four studio albums: You Fail Me (2004), No Heroes (2006), Axe to Fall (2009) and All We Love We Leave Behind (2012).
Acid Tiger is Ben Koller's psychedelic punk side project with Lukas Previn (The A.K.A.s), Adam Wentworth (Bloodhorse / All Pigs Must Die), and J Rattlesnake. Previn described the band as having, "no plan or guideline for us other than getting our friends in a room and playing all the riffs we had that didn't work for the other bands we are in." Acid Tiger signed to Deathwish Inc. in July 2009, and released their self-titled debut on April 27, 2010.