When Clint Boge quit The Butterfly Effect in 2012, the Brisbane band made no bones about the fact that they were not parting on good terms.
After over a decade and three studio albums – two of which cracked the ARIA top five – the inner workings of the band had imploded and it had become increasingly apparent to the four of them that it could not continue in the way it was going.
“It all ended on pretty nasty terms,” says Boge, reflecting on the end of his first run with the band. “It was especially bad between myself and Kurt [Goedhart, guitarist], which we never really hid from.
“We didn’t speak to each other for years, and it was only after a Dead Letter Circus show at the New Globe Theatre a few years back that he came up to me. I gave him this massive hug and we had this really good chat. I knew that there was something there – all I had to do was float out an email to see if [the rest of the band] felt it, too.”
In 2017, The Butterfly Effect announced a series of return shows, which marked Boge’s first time fronting the band in over five years. What was originally slated for a run of a dozen shows quickly ballooned into over 20, with the band staging several sold-out shows in the years since.
“At first, we were just feeling each other out – it had been a while since we’d done this together,” says Boge. “As soon as we got off the road, however, we all agreed that we were ready to do it again. That led to Kurt saying to me that we needed to start making new music again if this was something we were serious about and, just to show him I was serious, I had a demo within a week.”
That song ended up being “Unbroken”, which was released back in August and marked both the first new Butterfly Effect single in six years and the first new material with Boge in over a decade. The frontman views the new single as a perfect summation of what the band itself has gone through, returning now as strong and united as ever. He’s the first to admit, however, getting to this point didn’t come without a degree of trepidation.
“You don’t want to be seen as the old glory hounds,” he says. “You see so many of the old rockers out there trying to relive their best years, and it kind of hit me a bit … like, is that who I want to be? It’s quite disconcerting. What’s different about this, for me at least, is the sincerity. I think that’s very important. That’s where we’re at.
“We’re not trying to bounce around the stage like we used to – hell, I’ll be knackered by the third song,” he laughs. “This band has come a long way. We’re very respectful of it, and we’re just loving the chance we’ve gotten to make the most of being back.”
It’s with this that The Butterfly Effect have been added to the lineup of the 2019 Good Things festivities, taking in the east coast capitals alongside fellow Queenslanders Violent Soho and The Veronicas as well as the likes of Parkway Drive, A Day to Remember and Simple Creatures. It’s been nearly a decade since the band were festival regulars, and to say they’re excited for their return is a considerable understatement.
“Normally, you see the promo for these sort of things, and you see the international band filming something on their phone telling you how excited they are to be playing,” says Boge. “You don’t really pay it any mind – it’s easy to just not believe at all. I’m telling you this with absolute sincerity: we could not be more excited to be playing this festival.”
Catch The Butterfly Effect at Good Things at Flemington Racecourse on Friday December 6. Grab your tickets at goodthingsfestival.com.au.
