THE BENNIES
The Bennies, a band that creates a sound equivalent to the mother of all caffeine hits, suffered a significant setback in the creation of their latest album Rainbows in Space.
“We’ve gone from national tours, to recording the album, to our guitarist Jules nearly losing his arm, to finally putting out the album,” explains bassist Craig Selak.
“Jules is a pretty unique guy. He’s 6 foot 5 inches and he looks like a biker but he’s a huge teddy bear. It definitely gave us some perspective on how much we love playing together. So when he was back, we were like ‘we’re not mucking around now, we’re ready to go.’”
Go they did, with the help of producer Sam Johnson who, as Selak puts it, exerted his powers of “working everyone so they don’t feel like they are getting worked” to push for the best out of all.
“Sam is a fucking genius,” Selak claims.
“Jules has worked with him before and he just couldn’t talk him up enough. There was plenty of time for work and plenty of time for Mario Kart so it was a really good vibe, and he was just so good at getting that live sound.”
With their reputation for crazy live shows, The Bennies’ sound could not be a more perfect fit. However it took some fine-tuning to get the songs to the desired standard.
“We used to set out to write a straight reggae tune for example. It’d be super laid back but seriously by the end of it everyone is bored. Then someone will be like ‘why don’t we just chuck a fucking noise breakdown and see what happens?’,” Selak explains.
Only time will tell how well these songs will be received, but fans should not be disheartened by the short tour planned throughout October and November.
“This one is a real quickie, we’re doing all of the states in about three weeks. We are doing another national tour around February and March, so we will do a lot more places on that tour.”
So, livers at the ready and audiences get their rowdy hat on. Oh and look out for Bowie, the loose cannon of the group.
“He’s the quiet drummer type,” laughs Selak.
“The classic drummer who looks like the shyest and nicest guy but he will take whatever is available!” (CD)
Nov 8, Blackwire Records, 219 Parramatta Rd, Annandale, tickets on the door, 9560 2280, blackwirerecords.com
Rainbows In Space out Nov 8 via Poison City Records
