Decade in review: Ben Eberbaugh’s Rockin’ Tribute revisited
David Matysiak reflects on the impact that Black Lips guitarist Ben Eberbaugh made in life and death
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Shortly before 3 a.m. on Sun., Dec. 1, the Black Lips’ 22-year-old guitarist Ben Eberbaugh was killed when a motorist driving the wrong way on Ga. 400 slammed into his vehicle. According to Fulton County police reports, Jennifer Dawn Swierzynski, 29, was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes when her Toyota Camry crashed head-on into Eberbaugh’s Ford Explorer. Both drivers died on impact.
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Ben’s death greatly affected everyone who knew him, and in Aug. 2003 Coco Art proprietor David Matysiak, who at the time sang and played guitar for Athens’ post-grunge foursome Jet By By, spearheaded a memorial compilation in Eberbaugh’s honor. The 21-track CD features a sundry list of artists ranging from his friends, fellow band mates and heroes, including everyone from J Mascis & the Fog and Tilly and the Wall to Black Lips, Some Soviet Station and El Caminos.
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Chad Radford: Who was Ben Eberbaugh to you?
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David Matysiak: To me he was an older brother, and he was like that for a lot of people. He lived it all the way, and for him there was no stone unturned. When I think “Who was Ben Eberbaugh?” I think of moments in my life where I would look over and he would be there hanging out on the couch, or like driving around with him on the last day of high school listening to Dinosaur Jr. Ben Eberbaugh was the guy that you always knew was there to have a good time and he didn’t judge you. He was sensitive but he was a hard-ass and that’s a rare breed. He was everybody’s buddy and everyone protected that memory of him being this cool friend that you had. Whether you were getting into trouble, or just hanging out playing music...
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I don’t want to paint him out to be an angel, because he wasn’t, and everybody knows that. He would party and get crazy. He was the guy who would smash everything to pieces and go ‘Oh.... mmph...”
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