Background
Curtis was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and lived in Frederick and Norman until moving to the Dallas, Texas area in junior high school.
Curtis was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and lived in Frederick and Norman until moving to the Dallas, Texas area in junior high school.
He was also drummer for the band Tripping Daisy from 1997 to 1999. Benjamin was the guitarist and backing vocalist for the rock band The Secret Machines until March 2007, when, according to the band"s website, he left to pursue a career in School of Seven Bells, previously his side project Before the Secret Machines, he was the drummer for the Dallas alternative rock band Tripping Daisy, from 1997 to their disbandment in 1999.
Curtis cited guitarists such as Michael Rother, Yoshimi P-We, and The Edge of U2 as some of his primary influences on guitar.
He played a heavily effects-laden spacy style of guitar, reminiscent of late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic rock. Curtis announced in late February 2013 that he had been diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.
Curtis died on December 29, 2013 at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in New New York He was 35.
He was a founding member of the bands Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, and UFOFU. Curtis was a member of School of Seven Bells, in which he sang and played instruments in addition to guitar. A benefit concert was held in New York in August 2013 and included performances by members of the Strokes and Interpol.