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Ben Lee
Biography
In a music culture where bands dominate, Ben Lee is the youngest singer/songwriter to make an impression on Australian music. Even before his solo career, in his early teens Lee came to attention as a member of Sydney band Noise Addict.

In 1993, on the strength of a self-produced and distributed four-track demo recorded in Lee's bedroom that the four Sydney school friends sent out, the head of independent Fallaheen Records Steve Pavlovic (as a promoter he brought Nirvana to Australia at the same time as Nevermind was reaching number one) went to watch the band make their debut performance in 1993 at a library book sale. He signed them to a record deal and Pavlovic's connections immediately won the band high-profile support spots and some famous fans.

Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore became a champion for Noise Addict and released the group's demo tape as an EP entitled DEF in the U.S. on his Ecstatic Peace label. Things were happening quickly and kept happening quickly. At the time, Noise Addict's average age was 14. The first single was "I Wish I Was Him," a satirical tribute to the Lemonheads' Evan Dando. Dando himself heard it and recorded a cover version. The Beastie Boys' Mike Diamond heard it and asked to be allowed to issue the song as one of the first releases on the Beastie Boys' own label, Grand Royal, followed by the Young and Jaded EP, six acoustic songs again recorded in Lee's bedroom.
Selected Discography