“At the moment we’re rehearsing like three or four times a week and if we’re not at a gig we’re playing a gig,” Selak says of the band’s newfound motivation. “It’s five days a week worth of focus for us. You’d think we’d be better after that much time.”
Mates since school, The Bennies began their musical life as a covers band with a party focus. Undergoing one obligatory line-up reshuffle on the path to their current incarnation, The Bennies have settled into a groove that all members feel comfortable with. “We’ve been playing together for just over four years now,” he explains of their history. “We spent the first couple of years playing over 100 gigs a year and nobody knew about us. We’d been doing all of this awesome stuff. This is gonna be the second time we’ve toured Japan, and no one’s heard of us.
“We decided that we could just keep doing what we were doing and play ourselves into the ground or we could have a look at some of our mate’s bands that were doing really well and see what they were doing. They were all playing less and actually talking about what they do. So we’ve been trying to do that now. That mindset has changed everything for us. Early in 2009, we changed from being called Madonna, and obviously had issues with the name, so we took what we’d learned from covering Love Of Science Fiction and started trying to get our own disco-punk feel happening.”
While it seemed to be difficult for The Bennies to etch themselves into the fabric of the Melbourne ska-punk scene, a support slot for a successful Japanese band paved the way for their slow-burn accomplishments overseas. “A couple of years ago we supported a band from Japan called Doing Life,” he says. “It was really fun and their tour manager, who is based in Australia, told us that he takes bands over to Japan and asked if we’d come with them. We had an absolute blast and then we put out a CD over there.”
With The Bennies readying themselves for their second tour of duty in Japan, they are more comfortable with what to expect this time around, although their first tour presented them with a host of pleasant surprises. The Australian music scene is supportive in its own way, but often littered with apathy and a collective “meh”. As long as you’ve got a spare set of strings or a lead, you’re in.
“Last time we had absolutely no idea what to expect over there,” he laughs. “That was the really fun thing about it. This time we’re familiar with the bands we’re playing with and ‘cause we’ve sold a few CDs we know there are people who are interested in us. In the last few years we’ve played a bit more and have more confidence in being the headline band.
“The crowd were crazy last time; it was absolutely mental. We played a gig at 3am in this underground club and the venue owner ended up on my shoulders singing a Clash cover we were playing. Everyone is super nice and there’s just such a respect for other bands. Last time, before the first gig, all the other bands came and gave us all a hug and a beer and they did this big group hug and a big cheers saying ‘Good luck to the Bennies, have a great tour.’ We were shocked, normally here, you just get some guy coming up going ‘Oi, can I borrow ya fuckin’ bass amp?’ These guys were giving me a beer and wished us well.”
With The Bennies’ last album PARTY!PARTY!PARTY! aging nicely, a fresh release is definitely on the cards and the band are hoping that will be sooner rather than later. “It’s nearly written now,” he says. “We’re probably about 90% through it. We’re taking a couple of months off and writing through October. Then in November-December we’re supporting Poor Habit in Adelaide and Melbourne. Hopefully, after that, we’ll have it all done.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
