The Bennies - Anty Horgan
Questions: Stuart Millen
The Bennies are a party band. Big smiles, good times and a lot of fun is what they’re all about. Hailing from Melbourne, the four-piece have been working hard to get where they are, with shit-ton of shows around the country as well as numerous overseas tours. The band are finishing off their year with a bang, with some time in the studio and a pretty hectic touring schedule, including supports for the Dead Kennedys and NOFX.
Vocalist Anty spoke with Caught in the Mosh from the back seat of a car as they drove to their latest gig and gave us the lowdown on touring, recording new material and playing Soundwave 2015.
I take it you’re in Geelong at the moment?
Not quite. We’re actually in a car on our way down to Geelong right now. It’s actually quite funny, I have the giggles because one of the other guys in the band is sitting across from me in the car doing an interview at the same time. It’s funny. So sorry if I suddenly start giggling. (giggles)
You’re on the last week of the Morning Glory tour, yeah? How’s it been going?
It’s been unreal. The shows have been really good. Loving playing with Morning Glory from New York. They’ve been unreal dudes and they’re a great band. The shows have had really good turnouts and we’ve gone to some places we haven’t been before. The shows have been really well received and we’ve been given a lot more weed than we ever have before as well. So yeah, it’s been a really good tour.
The Morning Glory tour is pretty hectic, with 17 shows in 17 days. When that’s done, you have a night off in Adelaide and then the Dead Kennedys tour starts. Then you’re off to the US for a month? Is that heavy scheduling the way you like it?
It’s awesome. It is a heavy touring schedule for us. It’s probably the most intense we’ve ever done. But it’s what we all want to do and how we want to do it, so it’s all really exciting for us.
Vocalist Anty spoke with Caught in the Mosh from the back seat of a car as they drove to their latest gig and gave us the lowdown on touring, recording new material and playing Soundwave 2015.
I take it you’re in Geelong at the moment?
Not quite. We’re actually in a car on our way down to Geelong right now. It’s actually quite funny, I have the giggles because one of the other guys in the band is sitting across from me in the car doing an interview at the same time. It’s funny. So sorry if I suddenly start giggling. (giggles)
You’re on the last week of the Morning Glory tour, yeah? How’s it been going?
It’s been unreal. The shows have been really good. Loving playing with Morning Glory from New York. They’ve been unreal dudes and they’re a great band. The shows have had really good turnouts and we’ve gone to some places we haven’t been before. The shows have been really well received and we’ve been given a lot more weed than we ever have before as well. So yeah, it’s been a really good tour.
The Morning Glory tour is pretty hectic, with 17 shows in 17 days. When that’s done, you have a night off in Adelaide and then the Dead Kennedys tour starts. Then you’re off to the US for a month? Is that heavy scheduling the way you like it?
It’s awesome. It is a heavy touring schedule for us. It’s probably the most intense we’ve ever done. But it’s what we all want to do and how we want to do it, so it’s all really exciting for us.
Your whole year has been busy, with plenty of touring, both here and overseas, including your second visit to China. China’s not somewhere you’d expect a Australian band to tour. How’d that come about?
That was through friends of ours, the Smith Street Band. They toured there once, on their way over to America. They got along really well with the guy that booked their tour and we ended up meeting him too and he said he’d take us there one day. Then through him and This Town Touring we went to China. Twice.
How were the shows?
Yeah, they were wicked. It was a really once in a lifetime... Well, we did it twice, so a twice in a lifetime opportunity (laughs). But nah, it was really good. The shows were really good. We played two of these massive ones, like, the biggest we’ve ever played, which were like the Big Day Out equivalent. and then we played some smaller shows in smaller towns. So we got to see the country in a really unique, different way.
How did the crowds respond, give the language barrier?
I don’t think they get the specific lyrics or anything like that but I’d say one of the strengths of our band is our live performance. It’s involving and engaging. So I think that translates the language barrier. We all love what we’re doing so we have smiles on our faces and we’re very inclusive of the crowd, so I think that transcends any language issues. So, it was fine. It was great.
I noticed photos of you playing in a shopping centre, the domain of the reality TV star. That must’ve been a trippy experience?
Ha! Yeah, that was one of the more bizarre experiences of our lives. The night before, Jules, our guitarist, had sprained his ankle. Then on the day, we were all really hung-over, so a shopping mall was the last place we wanted to be. But we got asked to play a 50 minute acoustic set, which was really bizarre. We ended up being able to plug in fully and it was just... you know, one of the things we do really well is we embrace those situations. We see them as missions. Or as levels in a video game. We go at them with a big smile and see the funny side of it. And it ends up being the best fun ever. It was weird but so funny.
Sounds like you’re having a blast. Do you ever feel like pinching yourself, with everything that’s been happening?
Yep, yep, yep. Definitely. But at the same time, everything we get to do happens quickly because we work really hard. This is all stuff that we’ve worked a lot at. We practice all the time. We write and think about music and playing all the time. So when we get an achievement or something good happens, it’s not like it’s come out of nowhere, we’ve worked really hard at it. Sure, there are those moments where you do want to pinch yourself and go what the fuck’s going on, but at the same time, it’s something we’ve worked really hard at.
In relation to the reality TV thing, Dave Grohl commented on that a while back, saying it’s not the way to get into music and that kids should just get out and play, regardless of whether they know who to or not. Do you guys know what you were doing when you started out?
Nah, not at all. We kinda knew what we wanted to do and all, but... I read that article and it was a really good read. And we’ve had similar frustrations I suppose, with being independent in Melbourne. You see those bands where their first gig is their album launch and they’ve spent three months promoting it, paying for ads, doing photo shoots, making t-shirts. And you kinda think, you haven’t played the shitty gigs yet, where you fuck up and realise that maybe this song doesn’t work or this n that, this on-stage persona doesn’t work, or things like that. We definitely went through that for a few years, playing every fucking gig we could and we learnt what to do and what not to do. I think it’s a bit sad when bands try to fast track that.
That was through friends of ours, the Smith Street Band. They toured there once, on their way over to America. They got along really well with the guy that booked their tour and we ended up meeting him too and he said he’d take us there one day. Then through him and This Town Touring we went to China. Twice.
How were the shows?
Yeah, they were wicked. It was a really once in a lifetime... Well, we did it twice, so a twice in a lifetime opportunity (laughs). But nah, it was really good. The shows were really good. We played two of these massive ones, like, the biggest we’ve ever played, which were like the Big Day Out equivalent. and then we played some smaller shows in smaller towns. So we got to see the country in a really unique, different way.
How did the crowds respond, give the language barrier?
I don’t think they get the specific lyrics or anything like that but I’d say one of the strengths of our band is our live performance. It’s involving and engaging. So I think that translates the language barrier. We all love what we’re doing so we have smiles on our faces and we’re very inclusive of the crowd, so I think that transcends any language issues. So, it was fine. It was great.
I noticed photos of you playing in a shopping centre, the domain of the reality TV star. That must’ve been a trippy experience?
Ha! Yeah, that was one of the more bizarre experiences of our lives. The night before, Jules, our guitarist, had sprained his ankle. Then on the day, we were all really hung-over, so a shopping mall was the last place we wanted to be. But we got asked to play a 50 minute acoustic set, which was really bizarre. We ended up being able to plug in fully and it was just... you know, one of the things we do really well is we embrace those situations. We see them as missions. Or as levels in a video game. We go at them with a big smile and see the funny side of it. And it ends up being the best fun ever. It was weird but so funny.
Sounds like you’re having a blast. Do you ever feel like pinching yourself, with everything that’s been happening?
Yep, yep, yep. Definitely. But at the same time, everything we get to do happens quickly because we work really hard. This is all stuff that we’ve worked a lot at. We practice all the time. We write and think about music and playing all the time. So when we get an achievement or something good happens, it’s not like it’s come out of nowhere, we’ve worked really hard at it. Sure, there are those moments where you do want to pinch yourself and go what the fuck’s going on, but at the same time, it’s something we’ve worked really hard at.
In relation to the reality TV thing, Dave Grohl commented on that a while back, saying it’s not the way to get into music and that kids should just get out and play, regardless of whether they know who to or not. Do you guys know what you were doing when you started out?
Nah, not at all. We kinda knew what we wanted to do and all, but... I read that article and it was a really good read. And we’ve had similar frustrations I suppose, with being independent in Melbourne. You see those bands where their first gig is their album launch and they’ve spent three months promoting it, paying for ads, doing photo shoots, making t-shirts. And you kinda think, you haven’t played the shitty gigs yet, where you fuck up and realise that maybe this song doesn’t work or this n that, this on-stage persona doesn’t work, or things like that. We definitely went through that for a few years, playing every fucking gig we could and we learnt what to do and what not to do. I think it’s a bit sad when bands try to fast track that.
Speaking of recording and releasing music, you were in Three Phase Studios with Sam Johnson at the end of August. What can we expect from the sessions?
Yeah... We recorded a bunch of songs. We didn’t really know what we were going to do with them, but we sort of just decided we’d do a 7”. That’ll hopefully be out by the end of the year. Were hoping that a single off that will be out very soon. There’ll probably be about four songs on the record and maybe a bonus download. It’ll be much of the same sort of stuff, the same ideas, as Rainbows in Space. Maybe a little more explored. We’re trying to see it as a prelude to an album that we’ll be doing as soon as we can next year.
A new album? Cool! Is it a challenge transferring your live energy to tape in those studio sessions?
It’s not really something we think about. It’s a different beast in itself. There are other things we can do to make it sound better than the live show and that’s by adding layers, horns and scratching, extra guitars, harmonies and stuff like that. So there are other things we can do to counteract the fact we’re not being so live.
You then popped into Bedlam mid Sept for a “live recording”. Is that something different again to the recording at Three Phase?
Yeah, that was a completely different experience. We were up in Brisbane two weekends ago and we were just crashing at their (Bedlam Records) house. They’re great dudes and they have an awesome studio downstairs. We were all just hanging out, smoking bongs and they asked if we’d like to come down and record some songs and film it. We said fuck yeah, that sounds like a great thing to do. We went and recorded an older song called Sensi-mi and a new song called Heavy Disco. We got some smoke machines and lasers and a couple of dudes from the house sat around in the background and smoked some bongs while we played, just making it a fun ol’ time. So that was a different thing (to August’s Three Phase recordings) altogether. It was pretty tough though. We’d be partying pretty hard for about five days, so it was pretty hard to... I think I might sound a little haggard, so we’ll just have to see how it comes out.
But it was a great opportunity. Too good to pass up!
Yeah, it was a really good experience. It’s a little awkward setting up to do things like that but it was a once in a lifetime... One of those things that just pop up out of nowhere and they’re an awesome experience.
Yeah... We recorded a bunch of songs. We didn’t really know what we were going to do with them, but we sort of just decided we’d do a 7”. That’ll hopefully be out by the end of the year. Were hoping that a single off that will be out very soon. There’ll probably be about four songs on the record and maybe a bonus download. It’ll be much of the same sort of stuff, the same ideas, as Rainbows in Space. Maybe a little more explored. We’re trying to see it as a prelude to an album that we’ll be doing as soon as we can next year.
A new album? Cool! Is it a challenge transferring your live energy to tape in those studio sessions?
It’s not really something we think about. It’s a different beast in itself. There are other things we can do to make it sound better than the live show and that’s by adding layers, horns and scratching, extra guitars, harmonies and stuff like that. So there are other things we can do to counteract the fact we’re not being so live.
You then popped into Bedlam mid Sept for a “live recording”. Is that something different again to the recording at Three Phase?
Yeah, that was a completely different experience. We were up in Brisbane two weekends ago and we were just crashing at their (Bedlam Records) house. They’re great dudes and they have an awesome studio downstairs. We were all just hanging out, smoking bongs and they asked if we’d like to come down and record some songs and film it. We said fuck yeah, that sounds like a great thing to do. We went and recorded an older song called Sensi-mi and a new song called Heavy Disco. We got some smoke machines and lasers and a couple of dudes from the house sat around in the background and smoked some bongs while we played, just making it a fun ol’ time. So that was a different thing (to August’s Three Phase recordings) altogether. It was pretty tough though. We’d be partying pretty hard for about five days, so it was pretty hard to... I think I might sound a little haggard, so we’ll just have to see how it comes out.
But it was a great opportunity. Too good to pass up!
Yeah, it was a really good experience. It’s a little awkward setting up to do things like that but it was a once in a lifetime... One of those things that just pop up out of nowhere and they’re an awesome experience.
And speaking of unique experiences, you were lucky enough to play Melbourne Soundwave earlier this year and now you’re touring (almost) nationally with the 2015 festival. How’d that initial booking come about and more importantly, how come they let you back?
(laughs) We were really lucky with how we got on the show earlier this year. We saw that AJ was tweeting about another ska band on Twitter. So we just tweeted back to him saying put a new ska band on, rather than complaining about some other ska band. Or something like that. Put on a new ska band. And that was all. That was the first contact we had with him. And straight away, his response was “You guys rock. You should do Warped nationally and be one of the locals at Melb SW”. We were kinda like, is this real? That was actually our pinching ourselves moment. Like, what’s going on here. But there wasn’t much contact going forward. We weren’t quite sure if we were playing or not. Then we found out we were. We went down and we were really lucky. We were on first of the day but we played to a tent full of people. Everyone came to watch us. It was an amazing experience to play there. We loved it. We had the best day. And we’re so happy to be invited back. It’s really flattering and exciting for us.
Yeah, I saw that set. It was a really fun show.
Cheers man. Thanks. It was really fun. I can’t believe how many people came down early to watch it. We thought we’d be playing to security guards really.
Do you approach those festival shows any differently to your normal pub gigs?
Yeah, on a show like that we’re on the bottom of the lineup so we’ve gotta keep it really short, make sure we don’t get in anyone’s way, and play our strongest songs. Just smash it out real hard. Whereas at our own shows, we might indulge in some of our more out-there sounds or milk certain bits and stuff like that. But the more we play festivals, the more confident we get to expand, indulge, so we’re still learning that.
I spoke with Stevo from Area-7 earlier this month. He said Soundwave would be their final shows and that there are some fantastic bands that can take their place, specifically mentioning you guys. It must be nice to be recognised by one of Australia’s favourite ska bands?
He’s too kind. They’re really sweet dudes those guys. It’s actually a bizarre thing you know. I grew up going to all their shows when I was underage and fuckin’ loving it, buying their shirts and stuff. So it’s pretty amazing that they’re saying such nice things about us. But yeah, it’s going to be awesome to be able to party with those guys and see them kind of end their career on such a high note. It’s going to be really fun to be able to do the tour with them.
Party time!
Yeah, exactly! It’s going to be fun. There are so many fucking good bands playing! It’s going to be a riot!
(laughs) We were really lucky with how we got on the show earlier this year. We saw that AJ was tweeting about another ska band on Twitter. So we just tweeted back to him saying put a new ska band on, rather than complaining about some other ska band. Or something like that. Put on a new ska band. And that was all. That was the first contact we had with him. And straight away, his response was “You guys rock. You should do Warped nationally and be one of the locals at Melb SW”. We were kinda like, is this real? That was actually our pinching ourselves moment. Like, what’s going on here. But there wasn’t much contact going forward. We weren’t quite sure if we were playing or not. Then we found out we were. We went down and we were really lucky. We were on first of the day but we played to a tent full of people. Everyone came to watch us. It was an amazing experience to play there. We loved it. We had the best day. And we’re so happy to be invited back. It’s really flattering and exciting for us.
Yeah, I saw that set. It was a really fun show.
Cheers man. Thanks. It was really fun. I can’t believe how many people came down early to watch it. We thought we’d be playing to security guards really.
Do you approach those festival shows any differently to your normal pub gigs?
Yeah, on a show like that we’re on the bottom of the lineup so we’ve gotta keep it really short, make sure we don’t get in anyone’s way, and play our strongest songs. Just smash it out real hard. Whereas at our own shows, we might indulge in some of our more out-there sounds or milk certain bits and stuff like that. But the more we play festivals, the more confident we get to expand, indulge, so we’re still learning that.
I spoke with Stevo from Area-7 earlier this month. He said Soundwave would be their final shows and that there are some fantastic bands that can take their place, specifically mentioning you guys. It must be nice to be recognised by one of Australia’s favourite ska bands?
He’s too kind. They’re really sweet dudes those guys. It’s actually a bizarre thing you know. I grew up going to all their shows when I was underage and fuckin’ loving it, buying their shirts and stuff. So it’s pretty amazing that they’re saying such nice things about us. But yeah, it’s going to be awesome to be able to party with those guys and see them kind of end their career on such a high note. It’s going to be really fun to be able to do the tour with them.
Party time!
Yeah, exactly! It’s going to be fun. There are so many fucking good bands playing! It’s going to be a riot!
You put out Rainbows in Space last November. Your initial vinyl pressing sold out and you’re about to release a second run. In these days of ipods and mp3s, are you surprised with the sales of the vinyl?
Well, we pressed a lot of vinyl, so I’m surprised that we got through them so quickly, but not really surprised that they sold out. With the sort of people we play to, and the gigs we go to, vinyl is the sort of thing that everyone buys. I mean, I don’t have a CD player any more. I just buy vinyl and it comes with a download code, so you get the physical thing that you want, with the artwork, but you also get the files that you can put on your iPod. It’s kind of the thing we sell the most of.
You released a cover of the Clash’s Bankrobber to help Polyester Books.
What prompted that?
Yeah, we did. Jules, our guitarist, works at that store and they’ve been really supportive of us. It’s a great bookstore. We got to do a photo shoot in there, quite early on, maybe a year or so ago. We’d recorded the Bankrobber cover a while ago and we wanted people to hear it but we didn’t know what to do with it. So we thought it would be good to help out people that had helped us out. So that was our way of helping them out, sort of throwing them a bone. We also did a gig, where all the money from the gig went to them as well. You know, we’ve had a lot of people support us along the way, so it’s nice to be able to give back every now and then. Especially for something we support, whose ideology we agree with.
Nice, that’s good to hear! Right, one last quick question... The photo on the front page of your website has you guys drinking WA’s Emu Export. You’re from Melbourne. Why aren’t you drinking VB?
(laughs) That photo was taken at a radical house party we got to play in Perth. There was just Emu flowing everywhere so we just go on it and the cans just worked their way into the photo. It wasn’t planned. But yeah, it’s funny. A lot of people have called us on it. It’s pretty bad beer! (laughs)
OK. Well, thanks for your time Anty. Good luck with the rest of your year. You’ve got a shitload of shows to play!
And good luck with the Soundwave tour.
Thanks man! Come say hello and have a beer with us.
Well, we pressed a lot of vinyl, so I’m surprised that we got through them so quickly, but not really surprised that they sold out. With the sort of people we play to, and the gigs we go to, vinyl is the sort of thing that everyone buys. I mean, I don’t have a CD player any more. I just buy vinyl and it comes with a download code, so you get the physical thing that you want, with the artwork, but you also get the files that you can put on your iPod. It’s kind of the thing we sell the most of.
You released a cover of the Clash’s Bankrobber to help Polyester Books.
What prompted that?
Yeah, we did. Jules, our guitarist, works at that store and they’ve been really supportive of us. It’s a great bookstore. We got to do a photo shoot in there, quite early on, maybe a year or so ago. We’d recorded the Bankrobber cover a while ago and we wanted people to hear it but we didn’t know what to do with it. So we thought it would be good to help out people that had helped us out. So that was our way of helping them out, sort of throwing them a bone. We also did a gig, where all the money from the gig went to them as well. You know, we’ve had a lot of people support us along the way, so it’s nice to be able to give back every now and then. Especially for something we support, whose ideology we agree with.
Nice, that’s good to hear! Right, one last quick question... The photo on the front page of your website has you guys drinking WA’s Emu Export. You’re from Melbourne. Why aren’t you drinking VB?
(laughs) That photo was taken at a radical house party we got to play in Perth. There was just Emu flowing everywhere so we just go on it and the cans just worked their way into the photo. It wasn’t planned. But yeah, it’s funny. A lot of people have called us on it. It’s pretty bad beer! (laughs)
OK. Well, thanks for your time Anty. Good luck with the rest of your year. You’ve got a shitload of shows to play!
And good luck with the Soundwave tour.
Thanks man! Come say hello and have a beer with us.
The Bennies play the remaining dates on the Morning Glory Tour this month, support the Dead Kennedys on their tour in October and have just been announced as support for many of the November NOFX shows. They then play the huge 2-day Soundwave festival in 2015.
Soundwave dates and venues:
Sat 21st and Sun 22nd Feb - Adelaide, Bonython Park
Sat 21st and Sun 22nd Feb - Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse
Sat 28th Feb and Sun 1st March - Sydney, Olympic Park
Sat 28th Feb and Sun 1st March - Brisbane, RNA Showgrounds
Weekend and Single Day tickets are available now from Soundwave
Soundwave dates and venues:
Sat 21st and Sun 22nd Feb - Adelaide, Bonython Park
Sat 21st and Sun 22nd Feb - Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse
Sat 28th Feb and Sun 1st March - Sydney, Olympic Park
Sat 28th Feb and Sun 1st March - Brisbane, RNA Showgrounds
Weekend and Single Day tickets are available now from Soundwave
