We’ve really missed Ben. We worried about him incessantly after Chris’s passing but his recent activity on social media has helped put our minds at ease. For those who don’t know, Ben has written a lot of Soundgarden material, as well as for his own solo project (In Deep Owl), and side projects Hater & Wellwater Conspiracy among others. Here is a list of everything Ben has been a part of over the past three decades:

Ben was the bassist for a Seattle hardcore (or "speedcore" as he called it) outfit called March of Crimes. That band's biggest claim to fame, says Shepherd, was a tape that sold a few copies in Finland. At one point, Shepherd enlisted Stone Gossard to play guitar (Gossard then went on the play in Green River and ultimately wound up in a band called Pearl Jam). Shepherd played in another band called 600 School, and even was a member of Nirvana for a while, though he never played a single note with them; he was their backup touring guitarist. [source]

600 School (Live recording circa 1982)

600 school was one of Ben's punk bands prior to Soundgarden. more info here http://www.soundgardenworld.com/forum/519 and here http://www.circleswithin.com/moc/moc.html

March of Crimes (Fairweather Friend demo recorded circa 1984)

Tic Dolly Row (Live recording 1987)

1. Communicate & Fornicate 2. Dr. Didlittle 3. Open The Door 4. Walking Stick 5. Mudhoney 6. Peter Gunn 7. Woodblock 8. I Don't 9. Milkshake

Shepherd had long been an admirer of a local band called Soundgarden, and even auditioned for them when Hiro Yamamoto quit right before the Louder Than Love tour in 1990. He lost to Jason Everman because he didn't know how to play the songs. When Everman didn't work out, however, Shepherd auditioned again and this time was welcomed into the band he had always idolized.. His first recording session with Soundgarden was the "Room a Thousand Years Wide"/"H.I.V. Baby" single that was released in limited edition on Sub Pop Records. [source]

SOUNDGARDEN

Badmotorfinger (1991):

· SLAVES & BULLDOZERS
Music: Shepherd, Cornell; Lyrics: Cornell
©1991 Noyes/You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)

· JESUS CHRIST POSE
Music: Cameron, Shepherd, Thayil, Cornell; Lyrics: Cornell
©1991 Walpurgis Night Music/Noyes/In One Ear And Out Your Mother Music/You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)

· FACE POLLUTION
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1991 Noyes/You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)

· SOMEWHERE
Music & Lyrics: Shepherd
©1991 Noyes (ASCAP)

““The fans are the real bottom line, though. They’re the ones who really get fucked, and they’re the most important people.””

— Ben Shepherd, on fans and the music industry

Superunknown (1994):

· HEAD DOWN
Music & Lyrics: Shepherd
©1994 Stupidditties (ASCAP)

· HALF
Music & Lyrics: Shepherd
©1994 Stupidditties

“I don’t really remember writing it [The Day I Tried To Live]. I vaguely remember the verse. It was based on a tuning that Ben Shepherd had came up with. Lyrically, it was one of those songs that I thought everyone could connect with. ‘Fell On Black Days’ is maybe a sister song to it. It’s this feeling that could come over anyone, and has probably happened to everyone. ‘Fell On Black Days’ is the feeling of waking up one day and realizing you’re not happy with your life. Nothing happened, there was no emergency, no accident, you don’t know what happened. You were happy, and one day you just aren’t, and you have to try to figure that out.
With ‘The Day I Tried To Live,’ the attitude I was trying to convey was that thing that I think everyone goes through where you wake up in the morning and you just don’t know how you are going to get through the day, and you kind of just talk yourself into it. You may go through different moments of hopelessness and wanting to give up, or wanting to just get back into bed and say fuck it, but you convince yourself you’re going to do it again. And maybe this is the last time you’re going to do it, but it’s once more around.”

— Chis Cornell, Interview with Entertainment Weekly, June 3, 2014

Down on the Upside (1996):

· ZERO CHANCE
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)

· DUSTY
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)

· TY COBB
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)

“Supposedly “Ty Cobb” was originally titled “Hot Rod Death Toll,” but the title was changed when one of the members said it reminded him of Ty Cobb (played baseball with the Detroit Tigers in the early 1900s; still has the all-time highest lifetime batting average (.367)). The song showed up in some of Soundgarden’s live performances before the album was released, most notably the 1995 Reading Festival. It features a 20-second intro written by Ben Shepherd and includes mandolin and mandola performances by him and Chris Cornell.”

— web.stargate.net/soundgarden/releases/super.shtml

· NEVER NAMED
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)

“Ben Shepherd wrote “Never Named” when he was only 16 years old.”

— web.stargate.net/soundgarden/releases/super.shtml

· SWITCH OPENS
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)

· AN UNKIND
Music & Lyrics: Shepherd
©1996 Stupidditties (ASCAP)

FYI: Walpurgis Night Music is the name under which Matt published his musical work with Soundgarden. Kim, Chris and Ben also have their own publishing titles: In One Ear And Out Your Mother, You Make Me Sick I Make Music and Stupidditties respectively. Older individual publishing titles used by the band include Loud Love and Noyes. [source]

Telephantasm (2010):

· BLACK RAIN
Music: Shepherd, Thayil; Lyrics: Cornell
©2010 A&M

King Animal (2012):

· BEEN AWAY TOO LONG
Music: Shepherd, Cornell; Lyrics: Cornell
©2012 Republic Records

· NON-STATE ACTOR
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Thayil, Cornell
©2012 Republic Records

· BY CROOKED STEPS
Music: Cameron, Shepherd, Thayil; Lyrics: Cornell
©2012 Republic Records

· TAREE
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Thayil, Cornell
©2012 Republic Records

· ATTRITION
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Shepherd
©2012 Republic Records

· ROWING
Music: Shepherd, Cornell; Lyrics: Cornell
©2012 Republic Records

Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path (2014)

· HIV BABY
Music: Shepherd, Thayil; Lyrics: Shepherd
©1990 Sup Pop

· SHOW ME
Music & Lyrics: Shepherd,
©1991 A&M

· EXIT STONEHENGE
Music: Cameron, Shepherd, Cornell, Thayil; Lyrics: Cornell
©1994 A&M

Shepherd is perhaps best known to Soundgarden fans as "the angry one," as evidenced by his stage behavior, where he continuously flips off and spits on the crowd (though some consider it an honor to be spit upon). He and drummer Matt Cameron are both members of Hater, where Shepherd gets a chance to flex his guitar and vocal muscle, more so now that they're not busy with Soundgarden; they are also both members of the Wellwater Conspiracy. [source]

Hater (1993): vocals, guitar

· "Convicted", song recorded for Hempilation: Freedom Is NORML (1995) - vocals, guitar

· The 2nd (2005) - lead vocals, guitar, piano

HBS

· In Deep Owl (2013)

Wellwater Conspiracy

· Declaration of Conformity (1997) - vocals

Collaboration with Mark Lanegan

· I'll Take Care of You (1999) - bass

· Field Songs (2001) - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Bass, Piano, Vocals, Lap Steel Guitar; wrote track 10: "Blues for D"

Ten Commandos

Supergroup involving members of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age and Off!

Ten Commandos started early August 2008 after a conversation between Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam) and Alain Johannes (Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age) following a memorial concert for Natasha Shneider (Eleven). Alain had the idea to write and record songs using Matt and Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden, Hater) as the rhythm section. The three convened in Seattle in late 2008 and for 7 days wrote the bulk of the record. Matt and Alain's schedules cleared up enough in the spring of 2014 to finally finish the songs in Seattle. With the addition of Dimitri Coats (OFF!, Burning Brides) on guitar, the band entered famed Studio Litho with engineer Don Gunn. In the summer of 2014, the band finished recording at studio 11ad in Hollywood CA. All members contributed in the writing of the record. Guest musicians include Mark Lanegan (Staring Down the Dust), Nikka Costa (Come) and legendary guitarist Peter Frampton (Sketch 9). For sale [here].

· Ten Commandos (2015)

Want to hear all these songs? Here is a complete Soundgarden Ben Shepherd Playlist