4-Tracks, Murakami, and Pennsylvania Summers with Ben Roberts

Ben Roberts, known for his work under Dead Love Triangle and Disco 2, is a dream pop drummer, singer, and jack of all trades from Philadelphia. Inspired by his love for music, film, and literature, Roberts creates a sound that is both nostalgic and energetic. As a lover of surf punk, Robert brings the sound of the west coast to Pennsylvania through his music. Roberts joined me to gossip about his DIY approach to music, his love of literature, and the beauty of lazy, sun-bleached summers in Pennsylvania. 

Why did you start making music?

[Roberts] I've always been surrounded by music. My dad is really into music, so I grew up listening to a lot of different stuff.  When I was younger, around middle/high school, all my friends were joining bands, so I decided to pick up drumming. After playing the drums for like, seven or eight years, I was like, "I want to start making my own music." Since I'd always just been playing drums in bands,  I started learning guitar on my own too.

I think it was over the pandemic, or a little bit before, when I started writing my own music. I would  just record it to Garage Band. I didn't really have any expectations, but eventually people were like, “Oh, I like this.”  Later on, I started playing shows and got a band together. 

What made you choose drums as your primary instrument? 

Well, my brother always played bass, and I didn’t want to play another melodic instrument. I wanted to be able to back people up , and for some reason, no one plays drums. When we perform live, I always drum and sing because at this point, I'm really particular about it.  I feel like the drums are the one instrument that makes or breaks a band. You can have a shitty guitarist or bassist and get away with it, or that can be like, part of the aesthetic, but if you don't have a good drummer, it can be a painful listening experience. I've definitely met some really good drummers, but I like doing my own version of things. 

How’d you get the name Dead Love Triangle? Is it a New Order reference?

Subconsciously, it probably is. When I was younger and  I started writing music, I was just putting it out under Ben Roberts, but once people started liking it, I was like, “Wait, I can't be playing these shows with my whole band, and still be called Ben Roberts.” At the time, I was romanticizing everything and was obsessed with being the “main character” in my little town. I would read a lot and watch a lot of movies, and I kept coming across the theme of a love triangle. I was thinking of the plot of having a love triangle where one person dies, and I was like, “Oh, that would be a cool name for a band.”

Do you have any like, specific books or movies that have influenced your creative process? 

I like a lot of 80s movies. I love a good rom com. In high school and early college specifically, I loved reading Haruki Murakami. I feel like he was the first author that I fell in love with.

Do you enjoy life on the road, or do you get a bit stir crazy? 

A little bit yeah, I used to get stressed out about it, but I think it really depends on the promoter and who's hosting the show. Sometimes I don't know what the hell is going on. I’ll get questions about what time we are on, and I'll have no clue. But it's nice when everyone's prepared and the set up is organized. Then it's not so stressful. Then it's just  fun.

Do you have a favorite song to perform live?

We always end with our song “Haunting PA,” which is really fun. We have a nice rendition of it that we like to do live. 

Are you the head of the operation here? 

Yeah, for the first time, my band mates were on the last record I put out and it wasn't just me playing my own music. For two of the songs, we went to a studio up in Asbury Park and recorded with my homie Nick, which was great. But most of the time, it's just me.

Has living in Philadelphia influenced your sound? 

Yeah, it's very gritty, you know, there's parts of it that are nice and there's other parts where that is not the case. Going to Temple and being in North Philly can be really rough. I guess it’s like that everywhere, but you'll be playing in someone's basement and look around and realize, “Yo, this place is a hazard.” I grew up on a lot of punk music, so my location allowed me to lean into that punkier sound.  I think it really resonates with people in Philly. There’s so much music history in Philadelphia, so it's been cool meeting people over the years and being like, “Oh, I've been listening to you forever.” 

I think the seasons here play a role in everything too. I didn't appreciate it enough when I was younger, because I thought that it was like that everywhere in the US. The summer is just so disgustingly hot, and then winters are so awfully cold, and the fall is so fall. I don't know, I feel like there's so much emotion that comes out in the seasons when you're in Pennsylvania or the east coast in general. But yeah, Philly specifically is kind of a hot spot for musicians, I don't know what's in the water here. 

I noticed you write a lot about summer. Are the harsh seasons in Pennsylvania what inspires this theme?

Yeah, totally. I grew up in a cute town called Yardley, it's like 40 minutes north of Philadelphia, but it's a little river town. Growing up, and even now, I go up to the river and park and write and record stuff. I also bike a lot in the summer. I have fond memories of biking and swimming in the river after. 

The summers by the river inspired a lot of my music. I was really into surf punk, and all the music that was happening on the West Coast and envied people out there. I kept seeing these shows in people's backyards and skate parks, and was annoyed we didn’t have that here. And I think my way of coping was thinking, “Oh, I can go swim in the river and bike around here and feel like I'm on the West Coast.” But yeah, I think I became much more grateful for the area that I grew up in after college. 

Who are some of the musicians that inspire your sound? 

In high school, I kind of expanded outside of the music that my dad had been showing me for years. I started listening to a lot of the DIY stuff. I loved Alex G and Teen Suicide, plus everything Nick Rattigan made. All of that music is great. Through the internet, I was able to find that sound on my own, which was really cool. It was kind of a magical experience. Even though they're all pretty big now, I think there's still a sense of magic in finding those online, unreleased albums or songs for the first time. 

Do you have a track you're most proud of off of the album?

Yeah, I really like “Love Song.” That was the first song that I wrote and decided “Okay, this is the theme of the album.”

And I really like “New Road.” Yeah, those two were the ones that were like the thesis statements of the album.

New music? 

I've been recording a lot of stuff since I got back from tour. I'm kind of trying to dial back and tap into the sound I had when I was in high school, channeling the sound that I was creating. I'm living at home again, which I love, but it also helps me tap into my old mindset.

And, you know, I'm really excited for the weather to change, because it's so snowy right now. I just want to go and park up by the river and record and write stuff. But, yeah, I've been writing a lot and I'm really proud of it. I'm hoping to do an EP or maybe another short album.

If you could tour with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?

I think Wavves. They are a big inspiration to me, and they're just fun. They seem like they know how to have a good time. So yeah, that's a good choice. 

Yeah, if you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Trasatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie.

What is the most scared you've ever been?

One time, like three summers ago, I went biking with my two friends; It's a long story, but I'll shorten it. There was a path that cut off in two separate directions and since I was five minutes ahead of them, I took a different path and couldn’t find them. It was late, and my phone died, and I didn't have a shirt. I sat on the side of the road til 11 PM and then just decided to hitchhike. It was either that, or sleep under the bridge. I ended up with these dudes who didn't speak English. It was scary, I thought “These dudes could do whatever they want to me right now, and I'm kind of helpless.” But, they ended up being really nice and even let me charge my phone in their car. 

If you saw a hitchhiker, would you pick them up?

It depends on where I'm at, but yes...probably.