Sitting in a Hospital Bed

June 28, 2014 9:06 AM

Last December, Benjamin Curtis, half of the dream pop duo School of Seven Bells, died at the age of 35 after a battle with lymphoblastic lymphoma. On Wednesday, Culture Collide released the video for a new cover of Joey Ramone's "I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up) [SLYT], which Curtis helped record from his hospital bed.

In a press release quoted by Paste Magazine, School of Seven Bells's vocalist Alejandra Deheza said:

Benjamin had been talking about the song a lot, and then he just decided he was going to do it. We couldn’t record vocals in the hospital, so he actually face-timed with me and his brother while we recorded vocals in the studio. He spearheaded the whole thing on face time, would even tell us which knobs to turn and listen to levels etc. We’d even see nurses in the background from time to time! It was really amazing. But that was Benjamin, and producing was what he did. It was therapeutic and took his mind off being really sick. This song was really important to him and I’m happy we were able to record it.

For those interested, Stereogum posted a really beautiful essay remembering Curtis after his death.

posted by that silly white dress (6 comments total)

I was lucky enough to see SVIIB at SXSW one year, fairly early on for them, I think. I followed them from their first album and I had no real idea of who Curtis was other than through them (certainly didn't know he was from Dallas). I loved their music; I'm selfishly glad we got one last song out of them.

Spin had another remembrance mentioned in the comments of the Stereogum piece that's also worth a read.
posted by immlass at 9:14 AM on June 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

last year was such a crazy blur that I totally missed he had died. How sad. So young.
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:51 AM on June 28, 2014

I missed that he had died too. That's so sad. And that Stereogum essay is spot-on: "even a semi-known artist can bring a far greater amount of peace to others, offer people some shelter along the way, than your average person".

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posted by Athanassiel at 11:32 PM on June 28, 2014

Oh my lord, I had no idea. I loved their music and still do.

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posted by grouse at 12:29 PM on June 29, 2014

School of Seven Bells has been my "new favorite band" for six years now. Felt like they were one of the few who were really pointing towards the future. Love the song. Miss them terribly.
posted by quartzcity at 11:29 PM on June 30, 2014

Damn.

I found them through a SXSW review site and Half Asleep was one of my most very favorite finds.

Crap. RIP Mr. Curtis. You made my world better.
posted by jabo at 10:52 PM on July 1, 2014