The Bennies

Once a band gains a reputation as a great live act that can be all they are recognised for, being the first thing that comes up when people search them out online. The Bennies were one such band, but with their latest release Wisdom Machine they have managed to shake this stereotype and garnered praise for the music itself.

As bassist Craig Selak explained, this was something that the band had made a priority when they headed into the writing and recording sessions. “We definitely tried to add a few more layers to the songs this time around to shake off that tag of just being a live band,” said Craig. In order to achieve this goal the band worked with the same producer from their last record, Sam Johnson, to “come up with a sound that we felt represented the energy of a live show but had a bit more of a polish on it from a recording sense”.

The time and effort that the group put into the record certainly paid off for them, with the album hitting number ten on the Australian charts, which came as a shock to Craig and the rest of the band. “F*CK NO we were not expecting that at all. It’s been seven or eight years of long hard work so we’re really glad to get that kind of response,” said Craig.

The success of Wisdom Machine also saw the band make an expedition to Europe to perform a run of shows and festivals alongside some of their idols. Craig recalled some of those experiences for us: “We got to watch Rancid from the side of stage and smoke a bunch of joints with Less Than Jake and their tour band. It was just an amazing experience for our first time in Europe and something we weren’t expecting at all but are totally grateful for.”

With their own tour around Australia now well underway the band made sure to learn from their experiences in Europe, “particularly with Less Than Jake, a band that’s been around for such a long time but still approaches their live shows and touring with such enthusiasm and professionalism”.
Craig added: “That’s definitely something we want to emulate in our career because we’d love to be as enthusiastic and as relevant as they are at that point in their career when we hopefully get there.” (JA)

Jul 9, 7.30pm. Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville. $25+b.f. Tickets & Info: factorytheatre.com.au