Starset collaborates with Breaking Benjamin on sci-fi single ‘Waiting on the Sky to Change’
From a press release:
Starset, a “cinematic rock” band from Ohio, recently teamed up with Wilkes-Barre natives Breaking Benjamin to record a new single, “Waiting on the Sky to Change,” from an old band.
Before Starset, vocalist Dustin Bates and bassist Ron DeChant were in a group called Downplay that originally released the track. Bates co-wrote the song with Breaking Benjamin guitarist Jasen Rauch, so it’s fitting that their current bands came together for this “cover.”
The new collaboration filled with sci-fi themes was released on Friday, Aug. 19 via Judge & Jury with a space-faring video, just a few months after both bands toured with Seether and Lacey Sturm. Breaking Ben is currently on the road with Alice in Chains and Bush, a two-month run that wraps up on Oct. 8.
Visionary media collective Starset has carved out a unique path as part cinematic rock band, part conceptual storytellers, weaving an intricate narrative through multimedia and redefining the concept of a truly immersive entertainment experience. Led by enigmatic frontman and PhD candidate Dustin Bates and best known for their platinum single “My Demons,” the band has made it their mission to take fans on a journey through music, video, AR-integrated performances, a Marvel graphic novel called “The Prox Transmissions,” and online experiences, blurring the lines of science, fact, and fiction.
The group’s third album, “Divisions,” provided the soundtrack to the next chapter of their overarching narrative, one of a dystopian future world divided by the technology that has taken over in a war for human consciousness – those obeying and implementing it, and those fighting against it. Clues have been left behind by The Starset Society through a series of transmissions of what will occur in the future. These have been seeded throughout the campaign for fans to find so that they can become part of the story itself in a search for knowledge and to reveal new music. Their latest full-length record, “Horizons,” came out on Oct. 22, 2021 via Fearless Records.
Breaking Benjamin are no strangers to the upper echelons of the rock charts. Since bursting onto the scene with 2002’s “Saturate,” the band has amassed an impressive string of mainstream rock radio hits (including “The Diary of Jane” and the No. 1 singles “So Cold,” “Failure,” “Breath,” and “I Will Not Bow”), with 10 songs hitting No., numerous platinum and multi-platinum songs and albums, 8.5 billion combined streams worldwide, and a social imprint of over 6.5 million – a testament to their global influence and loyal fan base.
Their early 2020 release “Aurora,” largely comprised of reimagined versions from their critically acclaimed catalog, quickly became a fan favorite and gave BB their 10th No. 1 song on rock radio with the brand new song “Far Away” featuring Scooter Ward of Cold.
Their last studio album, 2018’s “Ember,” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 and marked the multi-platinum band’s fourth Top 5 debut on the Billboard Top 200, following 2015’s No. 1 debut for “Dark Before Dawn” (gold), 2009’s “Dear Agony” (platinum) at No. 4, and 2006’s “Phobia” (platinum) at No. 2. “Ember” spun off two No. 1 hits on Active Rock Radio with “Red Cold River” and “Torn in Two.” Both “Aurora” and “Ember” charted in the Top 10 across numerous countries worldwide and topped No. 1 charts across multiple genres, including Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, and Top Digital Albums.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Breaking Benjamin playing with Five Finger Death Punch and Bad Wolves at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton in 2018 here, photos from their album release meet and greet at the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre here, and learn more about bassist Aaron Bruch, how he joined the band, and his experiences with the group in Episode 114 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
