Biography
Ben Kuzay is a bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter, residing in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and the creator of the only lead bass with metal accompaniment album ever made.
In 2002, Kuzay performed alongside Richard Christy (Howard Stern Show, Iced Earth, Death) as the bassist on Wykked Wytch's legendary 4-song demo preceding their 'Nefret' album.
In 2008, Kuzay played bass for Monstrosity on the Icons Of The Apocalypse U.S. Tour, which featured a bill of Vital Remains, Monstrosity, and Forever In Terror. He played for Monstrosity again later that year at the Maryland Death Fest.
In 2009, David Harbour (ex-King Diamond) flew up to JTW Studio, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and performed bass and keyboard leads in the song "Homage To Hated Heroes" on Kuzay's 'Perpetual Reign' cd.
From 2009 through 2011, The Ben Kuzay Band performed five university concerts: four at UW Madison, and one at UW Steven's Point, in addition to their regular shows.
In 2017, Kuzay played bass with Matt Thompson (King Diamond) in the band The Pyre, performing on their eponymous debut song.
In 2019, Ben Kuzay performed alongside George Burdi in the Uberfolk song "Hyperborean Sun", with Kuzay playing acoustic guitar. He and Burdi wrote the song together in 2017 and tracked it in 2018, with Kuzay writing the music and Burdi writing the lyrics and vocal melodies. The song appears on Uberfolk's debut double-album 'Music For Nations', which was released on February 20th, 2019.
Kuzay has worked continuously for 20 years with guitarist/engineer extraordinaire Joel Wanasek, as both the bassist of Joel's instrumental solo project, and a recording client, with Joel as the recording, mixing, and mastering engineer on Kuzay's first three albums, and mastering engineer on the fourth Kuzay cd and the debut Cognition e.p.
Cognition and Ben Kuzay are Kuzay's brainchildren, giving voice to two distinct forms of musical expression: Cognition showcasing his singing, and his namesake an instrumental extravaganza showcasing his bass-playing. Both feature all of the accompaniment instruments performed by Kuzay, and all music written by him, as well.
Aside from his own projects, Kuzay has also graced the stage or studio with many world-class musicians, bands, and recording engineers, including:
Monstrosity
Richard Christy
Ripper Owens
Jason Suecof
Matt Thompson
David Harbour
Wykked Wytch
Jimmy PItts
George Burdi
Joel Wanasek
Mike Philippov
Duane Timlin
Ben Kuzay currently performs one-man shows of his original solo instrumental music, as well as one-man Cognition shows, which include both original and cover songs performed on vocals with acoustic guitar. He uses no backing tracks in either project, so his concerts are fully organic.