Grammy Winner Ben Rice talks Texarkana, Gaga, and Co-producing Disney’s Wish
By Phoebe Warren

Ben Rice has music in his blood. His parents are former music ministers, and his four siblings all share a love of music. Ben fondly recalls listening to his Walkman on family road trips, playing vinyls on his father’s record player, and finding musical inspiration from church, family, and friends. Many musicians are similarly inspired, but few have the opportunities and drive to achieve the success that Ben enjoys. From Texarkana to Hollywood, artistic wishes have paved his path.

Ben’s family moved to Texarkana when he was in the first grade. When he was twelve, his parents joined Redwater First Baptist Church as music ministers, where Ben found himself inspired by drummer Dennis Harper, who played in the church band.

“I’ll never forget that moment as a young 12-year-old seventh grader,” he said. “I knew right then that I wanted to play the drums. That initial inspiration and mentorship from Dennis started me on a path of falling in love with playing music myself and finding endless ways to enjoy music from the inside out.”

In high school, Ben participated in Redwater’s mentorship program, which allows students to shadow professionals in their chosen industries. Ben shadowed Chip Bricker, owner of S.M.A.R.T. Productions, as well as chief engineer Greg White and mastering engineer Frank Pyror. Ben described the experience as instantly addicting. “Once I saw a glimpse of how recording studios operated and how music is recorded and produced, I was immediately and forever hooked,” he said. This experience, he continued, was “the most foundational part” of his music career. He later became an assistant engineer at S.M.A.R.T. and also played drums as a session musician during recording sessions. “I was, and always will be, endlessly fascinated with working on ‘both sides of the glass,’” Ben said. “It’s an incredible experience to be on the side of creating and playing music, but [at S.M.A.R.T.] I truly learned the value and the gift that it is to be the one to capture and shape someone else’s musical vision.”

While working full-time at S.M.A.R.T. Productions, Ben began pursuing a music degree at Texarkana College, where he became friends with Kelly Carr. Bonding over a passion for music and a bottomless appetite for creativity, Kelly and Ben—along with Micah Dorsey, Jay Budzilowski, and Eric Russell—formed the band Pilotdrift. (John David Blagg later joined the band.) Ben credits his experiences with Pilotdrift as the “blueprint” for everything he does in his career today, as a musician, engineer, producer, songwriter, and collaborator.

“The challenges of creating something you love with the people that you love are still the challenges that I embrace and am fulfilled by to this very day in my career,” he explained. Discussing changes and rearrangements with artists can be tricky, and Ben says the key is to lead with building trust and earning respect.

“When you have trust and respect, it builds comfortability. When you have that, you can navigate changes, suggestions, and ideas with ease because the environment for collaboration and mutual respect has been established,” he explained. “Music and art are subjective mediums that we all enjoy, and I try to always understand the vision of the artist I’m working with to best help accomplish it. I do my best to bring that vision to life by applying myself in all aspects of my skill set and by always leading with respect and kindness.”

Following these principles has enabled Ben to work with truly extraordinary artists, including Lady Gaga. Ben started working at the esteemed Record Plant Studios in Hollywood in 2012, and in 2013, he was assigned to the Lady Gaga sessions as a staff engineer. Six months later, he was invited to join Gaga’s team as her engineer.

**Blood Pop, Lady Gaga, Ben Rice, and Rami Yacoub during the making of Gaga’s *Chromatica* album.**

“I have been extremely fortunate to have spent many years working side by side with [Lady Gaga],” Ben said. “I will never forget attending the Grammys for the first time with her and winning my first Grammy because of the work we did together on A Star Is Born. My friendship and years of experience working with Gaga—specifically on A Star Is Born, Chromatica [album by Lady Gaga], and most recently in co-producing ‘Hold My Hand’ for Top Gun: Maverick—have been the most defining and rewarding times of my personal and professional life. I greatly admire not only her incredible talent as a singer, musician, and writer, but also her honesty, kindness, respect, and empathy for others.”

In 2020, Ben began the most exciting and challenging journey of his career yet: partnering with multi-platinum, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Julia Michaels to create the soundtrack for Disney’s new film, Wish. Released in theaters on November 22nd, 2023, this musical film marks 100 years of Disney Studios and was designed to pay tribute to Disney’s storied history and look ahead to the next 100 years.

**Ben with Julia Michaels. photo by phillip faraone (getty images).**

“I was, and still am, overjoyed that Julia called me to join her in this pursuit as her partner,” Ben said. “We first started [working on Wish] in 2020 and have spent the last three years working with the filmmakers to write and produce all of the songs for the film. It has been the most intimidating and fulfilling opportunity of my career. I think the biggest challenge was fighting the fear of failure in tackling such a daunting task. I am indescribably honored and grateful to have been Julia’s partner in writing and producing the songs for Wish, which is a film we both love and believe in so very much and will be forever proud of.”

“I’ve questioned myself and my abilities at every step, and I’ve learned that that’s a necessary ingredient to growth”

— Ben Rice

While the debut of such a significant project is certainly a cause for celebration, Ben, who lives in Los Angeles, said that the most special part of 2023 was getting to spend more time with his family. While working on Wish, he was able to do a considerable amount of work from his home studio and thus spend more time with his wife, Kacey, and their two children, Maddox and Veda.

“So much of my career has required years of personal sacrifice and time spent away from them, and it has been very challenging balancing work and family,” Ben said. “Kacey is the love of my life, and our children are the best things that have ever happened to us.”

Though Ben and Kacey love living in LA, the Rice family makes annual trips back to Texarkana. “The things that I miss most [about Texarkana] are my closest friends, my bandmates, and the proximity to my family and Kacey’s family,” Ben said. “We have made Los Angeles our home, but we always miss the feeling of home that Texarkana and our friends and families have provided.”

Though Ben is now thousands of miles from his childhood home, he has retained the humility and optimism of his early years. “I’ve questioned myself and my abilities at every step, and I’ve learned that that’s a necessary ingredient to growth,” he said. He advises those interested in music production to “walk through each door that opens itself to you,” to “be a sponge,” and to cherish “each step of progress, no matter how difficult it may be.” Ben’s ultimate piece of advice applies to everyone with a wish, musical or otherwise: “Always do your very best,” he said, “and good things will come.”

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