Robert Sledge
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Robert Sledge is a bassist, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five. Robert played a Hamer Explorer Bass throughout the early years of Ben Folds Five. It was used on their eponymous debut album. He later switched to a Fender Jazz Bass to record Whatever and Ever Amen, while playing his Gibson and Epiphone Les Paul basses in live shows from that time to the present. Between Whatever And Ever Amen, Sledge had a sponsorship from Epiphone for his use of the Les Paul Bass, which can be seen in the Ben Folds Five performance on Sessions at West 54th. He also plays an upright string bass for several songs.
Before playing with Ben Folds Five he was bassist for the band Toxic Popsicle.
After Ben Folds Five broke up, Robert Sledge performed for one summer with the short lived rock group "Brother Seeker," a band comprised of Robert and former Squirrel Nut Zippers members Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher. He later joined the band International Orange, as a songwriter and bassist. International Orange broke up in 2005. Currently he lives in Chapel Hill, NC, and teaches Guy Johnson, the bassist for the metal band Obsidian.
He was the only member of Ben Folds Five that was able to stand at all times (although Ben Folds would often stand during intense performances). He is known for his use of a Big Muff distortion pedal and rockstar flair.
Ben Folds made reference to Sledge in his song "Not the Same" on the album Rockin' the Suburbs with the lyrics:
You took a trip and climbed a tree/At Robert Sledge's party/And there you stayed till morning came/And you were not the same after that/
Though Folds used Sledge's name, he claims the events in the song actually happened at drummer Darren Jessee's party.
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