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)

March of Crimes (Fairweather Friend demo recorded circa 1984)

Tic Dolly Row (Live recording 1987)

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) 

Superunknown (1994):

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

·        HALF  
Music & Lyrics: Shepherd 
©1994 Stupidditties 

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) 

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

·        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 

·        JERRY GARCIA’S FINGER 
Music: Shepherd, Thayil, Cornell, Cameron
©1995 A&M 

·       NIGHT SURF
Music: Shepherd
©1993 Ericksen House

·        A SPLICE OF SPACE JAM
Music: Shepherd, Thayil, Cornell, Cameron
©1996 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

For more playlists, visit our playlist page.