about ben
Ben Shanbrom is a Connecticut-based drummer and songwriter as well as founding member of the cinematic rock band Earthside. Collaborating with many renowned artists such as Daniel Tompkins of Tesseract, Baard Kolstad of Leprous, Björn Strid of Soilwork, Sam Gendel, and a variety of funk music legends, Ben’s talents position him as a unique creative force in the worlds of both drumming and genre-bending composition.
Ben is known for his worldly approach to the drum kit—incorporating timbales, pitched chimes, and various types of auxiliary percussion into his playing. Stylistically, he draws inspiration as much from Funk, Latin, and African rhythm as he does from totally ignorant metal.
Ben’s tailored approach to drum instruction is the result of a diverse musical education. Early in his career, Ben served as protégé to Greg Trabandt of the renowned rock music school, RVP studios in West Haven, CT. He would then go on to study jazz and funk drumming with (at the time) Wesleyan University drum instructor Bill Carbone, while continuing to add other teachers to his rotation to keep himself well-rounded and always growing.
Despite this strong foundation, Ben considers himself partially self-taught—having dedicated over a decade of consistent work to self-teaching to cultivate a style of his own and give him the tools to help others not merely imitate, but self-actualize as musicians.
Outside of Earthside, Ben composes music for his own vocal and drum projects, while additionally lending his unique textural drum style to a variety of session drum projects, video games, television networks, and other forms of media.
Rock Influences: Danny Carey, Gavin Harrison, Abe Cunningham, Steve Judd, Morgan Rose, Jose Pasillas, Josh Freese, Dave Turncrantz
Metal Influences: Kenneth Schalk, Branden Morgan, Tomas Haake, Martin Lopez, Jay Postones, Brann Dailor, Stef Broks, Aaron Harris, Matthew McDonough
Other Genre Influences: David Garibaldi, Nate Smith, Carter Beauford, Chris Coleman, Ash Soan