“We honestly would play 365 days a week if we could,” Ben ‘Boo’ Gumbleton beams down the phone with a thinly veiled laugh, as if he’s joking. Just for the record, he’s not.
Back home in the Gold Coast for just a few days before electropop superstar Boo Seeka heads off again for the final shows of his Midnight Highlight national tour, he says he’s already itching to get back on the road.
And fair enough he’s excited, with two major shows coming up in Newcastle and Melbourne to finish up what’s been an “incredible” experience.
Boo Seeka Midnight Highlight Tour final show
- Corner Hotel, Richmond
- Friday, May 31
- Tickets on sale now
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“Just to be doing back-to-back shows every week since the beginning of the year,” Boo says, “it’s been awesome.” He means it in every sense of the word – awesome – like touring and playing shows is a magical source of human connection and inspiration permeating nothing short of awe. At a Boo Seeka show, that’s exactly what you’ll find.
Touring this third studio album around Australia over the last two months, with a run of Europe and UK shows supporting indie-folk darlings Boy & Bear for two months prior, Boo Seeka finds comfort in being on the move. “Jay and I, we love the road,” Boo says, referring to collaborator Jay Bainbridge. “Boo Seeka has very much been built on touring; it’s what we know and what we love.”
An important part of this national tour – and perhaps an important part of the foundation of the Boo Seeka project – has been bringing Midnight Highlight to all the regional bars and venues normally forsaken in favour of the capital cities. Boo’s managed to hit every corner of the country, from Maroochydore in Queensland to Margaret River in Western Australia to Hobart in Tassie, covering more states in two months than most Aussies would in their lifetime.
“When we first started, we were almost getting questioned why we were going regional,” Boo says. “I was like, ‘why the hell not?’ You know? There are people out there that wanna see live music.” If there’s any one thing Boo seems to be most passionate about, it’s this: the undying love of live music.
“Especially in these current times,” he says. “We’re at a time in our industry where these incredible, iconic festivals are having to fold” – referring to the recent cancellation of Splendour in the Grass, as well as Bendigo’s Groovin the Moo earlier in the year.
“We need to support each other in the music industry and do what we can to help each other.”
At the end of the day, what it comes down to for Boo is “[getting] out there, [putting] on an amazing show for the people that [are] trying to keep this industry alive.”
And there’s no better place to put on a show – the grand finale of the Midnight Highlight tour – than Melbourne’s very own Corner Hotel on May 31. “The Corner holds a very special place in our hearts, and especially mine,” Boo says.
The iconic venue in Richmond was the very first place Boo Seeka debuted to a live audience, supporting Kim Churchill in 2015. “We always talk about going to other venues and I’m always the first one to push back and go, ‘no, I just wanna go back to the Corner Hotel,” Boo laughs. “It’s been an incredible tour and I couldn’t think of a better way to end the tour [than] going back to a very special place in my heart, and hopefully another sold out show.”
“I mean, look, regardless if there’s one person there,” Boo says, “we’re still gonna put on an incredible show and I’m still gonna have a great night.” Then, adding, “But I’m hoping we can end with a big bang.”
There’s no risk of the show at the Corner being anything but a big bang – every Boo Seeka show played at the venue has sold out since that Kim Churchill performance almost a decade ago.
It’s been a whirlwind of albums and releases and worldwide touring since the initial days of Boo starting the project as a self-proclaimed “singer-songwriter [who] wanted to write electronic music and had no frickin’ idea what I was doing”.
Three studio albums later, and with Boo feeling like “nearly every release we do is different to the one prior,” the project has touched almost every corner of the musical spectrum, toured with all kinds of artists, and has signed on with Sony Music Entertainment venture Palm Tree Records.
But it all just keeps coming back to one thing for Boo, which he makes clear at the end of our conversation. “Honestly, just get out there and whether it’s Boo Seeka or it’s any other band, get out there and support your favourite artists,” he says, and you can tell he means it. “Every dollar helps,” he adds, “to keep this industry alive and keep the bands that you love on the road.”
You can buy a ticket to see Boo Seeka at the Corner Hotel on May 31 here.
