Whilst there’s some former triple j stars who are sore about the fact that they no longer get time of day from our national youth broadcaster, Ben Lee is not one of them.
The Sydney native is now 38 and he’s resigned himself to the fact that he most likely won’t be threatening to top the Hottest 100 like he did back in 2005 anytime soon.
“Everything I have done and what I am passionate about is awakening a sense of infinite possibility,” Lee, who has a new album on the way, recently told News Corp.
“I wanted to have hits. I definitely wanted them,” the ‘Catch My Disease’ hit-maker added. “It’s quite a relief to have that goal, that set of pressures behind me.”
“Once you move into 30s, 40s, 50s, the odds of having a hit get pretty slim.” Lee went on to explain that whilst songs like ‘Cigarettes Will Kill You’ once rocked the triple j airwaves, that wouldn’t make sense now.
“It’s like me taking my music into Triple J now,” he continued, “there’s no context for it because my conversation is not with teenagers now.”
“It’s with people of my age group that are taking life seriously and music has been part of the way they have grown to think and explore. I have such gratitude for surviving the gold rush.”
Of course, it’s interesting to note that according to the latest radio ratings survey, even triple j struggles to speak to the youth market in some cities.
