Press Articles & Interviews
X Marks The Spot
[The Whitstable Imp - January 2009]
He's achieved his dream of touring the country with his music, but Whitstable's own rocker Ben Mills tells Liz Crudgington why there's no place like home.
As an X Factor finalist, Ben Mills has played in some of the country's biggest venues. But it's one of the smallest, right here in Whitstable, that will always hold a special place in his heart.
The Neptune pub is where many people still picture him, before he came third in the television talent show two years ago. And despite the success he's achieved since then, with his debut album entering the charts at number three and a string of sell-out gigs, it's The Neptune where he believes he played some of his best music, alongside his band Benzego.
"They were great days," he said. "I had the best gig of my life at The Neptune and I still haven't managed to top it." He came close with a come-back concert at the Duke Of Cumberland in December which netted more than £1,000 for Demelza House, a charity close to his heart. "It was really good to be playing back in Whitstable," he said. "Sometimes I would have three gigs in town in one night, but I haven't played there properly since X Factor. I was sitting exactly where I used to sit, playing the same songs we used to play, although we did some of the new stuff from the album which went down really well. I would like to have held it at The Neptune but we could only have got about 50 people in there and we wanted to raise as much money as possible. I did come last in a quiz there last week though!"
Ben's support of the charity grew after a visit to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital soon after his first album was released. He said: "It saved me, in a way. I hadn't wanted to release my album at the same time as Ray Quinn (who came second in X Factor that year) and have all that battle. It was all about being number one and I was upset to be number three. I was mad about it all until I went there and saw just how bad it can be for some people. Then I was really cross with myself for being upset."
He decided to support Demelza House because it was close to home and didn't enjoy the same profile as the London hospital, and said he was always touched by people's support. "To get £1,000 out of the people of Whitstable in a credit crunch was amazing," he said. "I'm going down next week to give them the cheque and that always reminds me why they need all the support they can get - they do a fantastic job there."
Some aspects of his life are more 'rock 'n' roll' than others - he is passionate about cars and drives a new Jaguar, and has an army of dedicated fans who congregate at the unofficial site they set up, www.benmillsonline.co.uk, as well as his official MySpace site. But in other ways he has the same worries as everyone else, and the credit crunch is top of those. "It's amazing to read about everything that's going on financially now," he said. "And when I open a letter from the bank which tells me the interest rate has gone down again and so has my mortgage I give a little cheer, like everyone else."
Financial pressures may ease this year as he hopes to release his long-awaited second album, this time featuring all original tracks, including one co-written with Take That's Mark Owen. "It is definitely in the rock genre," he said. "I would like to do a tour and release something. I wasn't so happy with the last album because there were some songs I didn't want on there but I had no choice. This time I'm doing it my way and I'm looking forward to doing what I want to do."
Ben's decision to do what he wants also led him to accept the title role in Aladdin, which didn't prove universally popular. Some of his die-hard fans fear the panto, which opens this month, could destroy the credibility he has worked so hard to build up post-X Factor. But it's not something that worries Ben himself. "It is just one of those life experiences, and I get to dress up!" he said. "I just think it's fun, and it's Christmas. I'm really nervous about it, more than I was about X Factor. I'm the one with the least experience yet I have the biggest part and I really don't know what I'm doing. It is completely new to me. But for the last two years I've been touring and travelling all over the place so knowing that in January I am going to be in one place so close to home is very nice."
The role has already brought him some new experiences, like turning on Christmas lights alongside another famous Kent face, Sir Bob Geldof. "It was definitely weird doing the lights switch on, standing on top of a bus, dressed as Aladdin, next to someone as credible as Sir Bob," he said.
So if he could rub the lamp and make a wish, what would it be? "I would like in the future to be able to lose the X Factor stamp behind," he said. "The whole experience was quite hard for me and now I would like to be known as an artist in my own right."
Ben is appearing as Aladdin at The Winter Gardens in Margate from January 16 - 25. For ticket details call the box office on 01843 296111.
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Author: Liz Crudgington
Publication: The Whitstable Imp - a free publication.