Isabel LaRosa joins The NEW 96.5's Bennett to chat about what her writing process looks like with her brother Thomas, her rise to stardom through TikTok, her latest single "favorite," and much more. Tap here to listen now!

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With Third Eye Blind's Summer Gods tour just around the corner, Stephan Jenkins sits down with Bennett of The NEW 96.5 to chat about the band's discography, which lyrics mean the most to Stephan, and what he's looking forward to most about performing at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion on Friday, July 12, 2024. Listen now!

As a long-time fan of Third Eye Blind, Bennett shared with Jenkins what keeps him going back to see the band's shows, seeing them more than any band he ever has.

"What brought me in first were the words... the lyrics, always, right - and that stayed true throughout your whole discography. I've always felt that way, your words really just capture me. But, it's the feeling at these shows, it's a sense of community," Bennett says of the connection he once shared with his siblings, and now with his wife.

"I just go from feeling, like how do I want to feel? How do you want to feel? How do you want things to grow? What's the mood?," Jenkins says of how he crafts the band's setlists. "Joy has many different components to it. We're not a party band, we never have been," he adds. "That's not anything that's ever interested me. There's more of a totality of feeling that's important to me, that feels compelling to me, that I'm trying to develop. So, I just kind of see it. What gives you the sense of collective feeling, connection, with each other? Warmth -- that's what I'm looking for."

Third Eye Blind is bringing their Summer Gods 2024 tour to U.S. cities this summer, kicking off on June 8 in Spokane, WA, and wrapping on August 3 in Woodlands, TX, while making stops in major cities along the way.

"On this tour we're going to do an acoustic section. I've absolutely vowed that I will have new music, so I'm gonna have new music," Stephan says of what we can expect from the tour as a whole. "We'll do a section where we strip out all the amps, just bring in acoustic guitars, mandolins, hippie drums, and kind of try to reimage songs. There'll be all kinds of different stuff going on."

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To celebrate the release of his new single Cheat Code, Lukas Graham joins Bennett of The NEW 96.5 to chat about his latest projects, his past work, and for an exclusive performance in our NEW 96.5 Performance Lounge. Listen now!

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During his Fireworks & Rollerblades tour stop in Philadelphia, Benson Boone sat down with The NEW 96.5’s Bennett to chat about his new album, pre-show rituals, and more.

After Benson shared what he did the night ahead of his show, (he saw a movie, walked around, and went rollerblading), Bennett was curious if any of those are Benson’s pre-show rituals, and it turns out that last one is.

“This tour we've all been kind of getting into blading a little bit,” Boone shared. I've been rollerblading for a while and we're kind of getting some of the boys into it… Very on brand with the album."

Speaking of the album, as Bennett noted, “it is out,” and “people are loving it,” and went on to ask Benson how it’s been performing his songs live.

“Before I came on tour, I was pretty worried about singing these songs live because they're really difficult to sing,” Boone admitted at first. “But pretty much after the first night, I mean, like it all feels really good to sing all of it and my voice has never felt better. And I think they are like, like these songs kind of hit a little different life,” he continued, "so it's been a blast.”

Back to the topic of rituals, when it comes to maintaining and taking care of his voice, Benson noted, “I haven't really figured out anything that I do every day and I have to do it. I just kind of like… try and take care of my voice. I do the throat coat thing, I brought a steamer but I haven't used it yet. So yeah, just like drinking a lot of water, trying to stay healthy,” and as Bennett pointed out and Benson agreed, being 21 also helps.

After Bennett taught Benson some Philly slang and Eagles chants, the singer shared his favorite song off his album, as well as which tracks he’d obviously hoped, but didn’t know if people would respond to.

“My favorite song on the album is a song called ‘My Greatest Fear.’ And that one's actually like, I think a lot of people have been really liking that one. Same with 'Be Someone.' But those two, I didn't really know how they would go, especially ‘My Greatest Fear,’ but yeah, they've been really liking those.”

Also discussing the “crazy transition” of recording these songs in the studio, to performing them live and having his fans sing/scream the lyrics back to him. “The first couple of shows we did on tour… the album was not out. So I was just like performing a lot of these songs with no energy back. But now that they know the words, it's crazy.”

For all that and more, check out Benson’s entire interview above.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Bennett

Bennett is broadcasting #LIVEfromJamaica #LIVEfromSandals at Sandals Ochi in Ocho Rios, Jamaica!

During his stay at Sandals Ochi, Bennett chats with Ilia Tomlinson of Chukka Caribbean Adventures #LIVEfromJamaica about the tubing excursion he experienced in Jamaica thanks to Chukka. Listen now to Bennett's interview with Ilia to hear his experience, and what you could experience, too!

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Bennett is broadcasting #LIVEfromJamaica #LIVEfromSandals at Sandals Ochi in Ocho Rios, Jamaica!

During his stay at Sandals Ochi, Bennett chats with Lafaine Wiggan, PR & Event Planning Officer of River Raft Limited about what it's like rafting on the Martha Brae River, and how to book this rafting experience while staying in Jamaica. Listen now to Bennett's interview with Lafaine to hear it!

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Bennett is broadcasting #LIVEfromJamaica #LIVEfromSandals at Sandals Ochi in Ocho Rios, Jamaica!

During his stay at Sandals Ochi, Bennett chats with Carol Bourke, General Manager of Sandals Ochi about the friends he's made during his stay, all that you can experience at Sandals Resorts, and Bennett gets a massage live on-air! Listen now to Bennett's interview with Carole.

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