Singer/producer, Ben Schuller came up in the age of acoustic covers—and while in school, began building an online following for his simple piano/vocal reworkings of radio hits. Trading his small Michigan town for Nashville in 2014, his debut original set ‘Goodbye is the New Hello’ showcased his ability to craft smart, catchy tracks blending the lines between pop and EDM. And while met originally with modest streaming numbers, the lead single “Need This Feeling” became a cult hit on Youtube, racking up 50 million hits among fan uploads. Ben’s online footprint saw another massive boost when he helped form NerdOut, an Internet-based music trio that has grown to 3 million subscribers and over a billion streams. But while the positives of the Internet were obvious in the exposure it was able to give Ben’s career, his 2021 album “New Roaring 20s” shines a light on the much darker side of the coin. ”I came to realize that the same things that had given me a platform were also tearing me down. I was obsessed with the approval of strangers, likes and follows and algorithms—and it was clear I wasn’t alone. Our generation has essentially been raised by social media and the effect it has on so many of us doesn’t become clear until later on. I wanted to write something that captured the unique and often tragic social identity of our generation, but at the same time, a deeply personal account of my own struggles.”