Welcome again readers & friends of the 311 Fan Spotlight! Here we have edition #407. Let’s meet Ben Witsen!
Fall of 1999 is when Ben’s 311 fandom started. His older cousin Ryan introduced him to MTV and was getting him in to popular bands of the time like Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Korn, etc. “I want to say it was October as I believe it was about a month shy of my 10th birthday that I came home to watch TRL as I did after school every day, and I watched the debut for the Come Original video. I was absolutely blown away. Nothing my cousin or anyone else had showed me had the mix of sounds and the energy that I caught from hearing it. Not long after I heard the Soundsystem album and thought how cool they were. Then, as kids do, I got distracted and basically only knew them casually for the next several years.”
Flash forward to summer of 2007 and Ben saw that Matisyahu was performing that night and he asked one of his closest friends, Johnny Blaze, to go to the show on about 2 hours notice. “311 is the headline act, I tell him, pretty much as an afterthought. We go to the show and had our lives changed from that day forth. From that day on I dove head first into the music and never looked back.”
For show count, Ben checked through the tour lists and he counted 64, with some of the dates being a bit hazy. First show was in Philly in 2007, which is the one mentioned previously. “My homie Jonny and I actually got backstage at our first show because we got friendly with some Matisyahu fans who had already gone backstage a few nights previously! After our little meet and greet we went back out and watched 311 take the stage and proceed to change our lives forever.”
Picking a favorite show or event is tough for Ben. There are some up in the top level like when he did a 7 show run in about two and a half weeks last Fall. ” I drove solo to and from my current home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to Pittsburgh, Atlantic City, New Haven, Burlington, and New York. The Music and Grassroots album shows in New York and the hijinks associated with them were just tremendous.” However Ben chose the 2017 cruise to Cozumel as his top event. “The three sets were terrific as always (ALL BANGERS NO MASH!), but what makes it the most special was the immersion I had into the 311 community. After a decade of hitting shows in the Philly regional area, it was my first major event after having to bail last minute on previous cruises or 311 Days and the like. My mainest man JP Chilicki, whom has been featured here before, got me into his cabin and started introducing me to people. I have always been a very outgoing and social person, but I had never really felt like I fully belonged or felt accepted until that cruise. The love, the positivity, the joy, the laughs, all rooted in the band that we all love so much. It was just magical. While in Cozumel the homies and I rented this little mopeds and zipped up the coast with the water on one side and dense jungle on the other and it was just fucking surreal. I was in a picturesque place with an incredible group of people and would later be seeing 311 on a fucking boat. Like, what could be better?”
Favorite song, if Ben narrowed it down to one, would be “Paradise.” “Following that amazing day I had in Cozumel we got Paradise during the 311 show that night and it really just hit me. Like, this *IS* Paradise to me! A handful of years later at 311 Day 2022 I was wearing my Paradise 311 Eagles jersey (GOOOOOO BIRDS) and I heard that opening chord it and looked at my friends and tossed them my bag and shot forward. The big homie Steve Plump from San Diego hoisted me onto his shoulder and spun me around and P-Nut caught it and gave me a nod and smile and I just lost it. I was full on bawling and it felt so good! The tears are welling up as I type this reflecting on that moment, and just how fucking happy I was.”
For lyrics, Ben has two that really resonate with him. The first one is, “Embedded in our souls, it breathes out of this band.” ” I think this single line from Omaha Stylee sums up all of it for me. This band is the embodiment of the love, the positivity, and the unity that we all share.” the second one he chose is, “I got a clique but it’s more like a family.” “For real! The people I’ve met and grown to know in this community truly are like family to me. We’ve shared ups, downs, and in-betweens. I have people in my life now that I will have forever, and that I would do anything for. There’s a reason this band of ragtags and misfits is called the Familia.”
Ben was born and raised in Philadelphia and bounced around the surrounding area. It 2016, he moved to Rehoboth Beach and has been there ever since. “I’m currently a bartender at a higher end mom-and-pop owned restaurant that largely caters to our locals and other service industry workers, so they’re mostly to thank for my 311 travel habits. I’m also an exceptional poker player and that has gone a long ways into aiding my 311 addiction as well. I’ve had a few occasions where a session has paid for a 311 Day trip or cruise in full. Some of the more degen people in my family taught me how to play different variations of poker games when I was five and I’ve made sure to put it to good use.”
For something unique about Ben, he said he has a strange phobia that involves a certain red condiment. “I’d rather eat cyanide than the stuff most people put on their hamburgers and hot dogs!” Fun fact about him is that he might be the most knowledgable person on Earth when it comes to Harry Potter trivia. “It may be nerdy and silly, but I know the books inside and out, cover to cover. I’m more than down for a challenge if anyone reading thinks they can hang!”
Guilty pleasure for Ben is that he is a HUGE fan of “The Challenge” on MTV. “The recent seasons have kinda sucked, but I go on Paramount+ and watch old seasons religiously. I can’t get enough of CT, Wes, Kenny, Tina, Coral, and the gang.”
As for other bands aside from 311 that Ben can be found listening to, he’s a huge Deadhead because of his parents. “My parents met on a Grateful Dead tour and I was brought to my first show at just a few months old, so I guess it kinda explains how I became who I did! My mom took me to a dozen or so shows from infancy until Jerry died, and when I was a teenager I picked the ball up and ran with it. I’m also a huge Warren Zevon fan and have his portrait tattooed on my leg.” Other than that, he said you are missing out if you aren’t listening to Little Stranger. “I’ve been friends with John Shields since middle school (gimme my Troy bootleg DVD back dawg!), and to see he and Kevin having worked their asses off to the point they are right now is just incredible. It makes me so happy when my friends succeed, and they were the talk of the boat this past cruise! Let’s fucking go boys!!!”
To 311, Ben has this message: “Thank you, for everything.”
And now here are his words to the other 311 fans out there:
“Thank you all for being you. The bonds I’ve built in this community mean more to me than I could ever put into words. I’ve celebrated life, mourned death, and built everlasting friendships with the best people I could ever ask to have around me. I love you all. Stay positive and love your lives!”
Thank you Ben for sharing your 311 story with us! As always, a big shout out to all the readers each week. Sending you all many good vibes. Enjoy your week!
Much Love – The Runt