Ben Hanscom

Benjamin "Ben" Hanscom is a member of the Loser's Club and subsequently Shark Puppy. He is the canonically an architect and the only child of single mother Arlene Hanscom, and moved often throughout his childhood before settling in Derry. Much of his songwriting is influenced by his childhood love for and ultimate relationship with fellow band member Bev Marsh (especially as evidenced in his early propensity for writing poetry), as well as his loneliness, imposter syndrome, and self-image issues stemming from his weight.

Musical Origins
"Ben still writes poetry, in a way, he never stopped. Some of it is for Bev, and some of it isn't. He copies his favorite lyrics onto the backs of postcards he picks up from the post office, each one a place that he'd love to visit but likely won't live to see. Over time, he starts taking note of the similarities between the poetry he loves and the lyrics he transcribes; the way the form flows, the themes, the imagery, the feelings. He still writes poetry, but he starts writing lyrics too; he knows that's what the would be if he could ever work out how to put them to music. His songs (because that's what they are, they're songs) are filled with his hopes and dreams, his thoughts and his fears. He hides his songs in a shoebox under his bed, tucked away between a box of old clothes and his stuffed teddy bear he's convinces he doesn't need anymore but can't bring himself to throw away. By 1993, when he's sixteen, he's amassed a collection of lyrics, most of them incomplete, all with varying degrees of poeticism. Many of them sit untouched at the bottom of the box and won't see the light of day, but there are others, ones he comes back to despite his better judgement. Carefully folded, sitting atop the bones of his hopeful songwriting career, is the beginning of what could be something beautiful. January embers, it reads, my heart burns there too."