You don’t always know where the
road will take you. This is certainly true of Ben Sigston. An ex-Canadian National Team cyclist,
Ben turned to music after a university athletic scholarship went awry.
Growing up in North Vancouver,
Ben spent most of his time training in the fresh mountain air. After a few successes, including a
World Cup win, Sigston was awarded an “athletic scholarship” to a mid-western
US university. However, not long
after attending, his life blew apart.
Within a few months, a
pressure-filled environment, punishing physical training and two near death
experiences took their toll, leading Sigston to some serious soul searching and
an alteration in course. “It seemed evident to me that I had to change my
circumstances,” Ben says, “I jumped on a plane and went back to Vancouver. I
quit biking, sold all of my gear, and used the money to buy a guitar.”
This abrupt life change wasn’t
as random at it might appear, as Sigston had been heavily influenced by music
his entire life. He began piano lessons at the age of five, followed by the
drums. There was always music in
the house - the Beatles, Dylan, as well as his dad’s own band, holding
practices in the basement.
In fact, in Ben’s world, music
and athleticism have always been inextricably intertwined. When his focus
shifted to music, lyrics and sound became his outlet. Instead of training away
his frustrations and emotions, Ben began to write about them.
Over the last seven years, Ben
has been relentlessly pursuing and refining his writing process. His music is filled with juxtapositions
that compare and contrast thoughts, feelings, and reflections.
“For me, music is so powerful.
It’s a way to see into a situation or an experience that can be related to
individually. It’s the artist’s job to internalize an event and then to
recreate it… to express it.”
Whether expressing simple ideas,
or wide-ranging thoughts, Sigston has an uncanny ability to convey himself
through the melody of song. His
music successfully cuts through the noise of modern existence, and extracts
simple, universal truths: hope, love, redemption and the search for meaning.