The Bennies

“A thumbs-up with a smile and a beer goes a long way!” I couldn’t have said it any better myself, but that pearler was revealed in my recent interview with The Bennies’ magnetic and very wise frontman, Anty Horgan, when we were chatting about his band’s most recent trip to China. “We’ve been there once before and geographically it feels like the other side of Saturn, and culturally so different. But it was the best two weeks of my life.”
“Most of the shows were packed and we’d have a really warm reception, and other nights we would play to only three businessmen and they’d be like, ‘what the fuck is going on here?!’ Those were the times we’d really work as a team and we’d create the fun ourselves. On one of those nights we got our hands on all these fireworks and by the end of the night we were all best friends! We didn’t know what they were saying and vice-versa but it didn’t matter – we’d just be hi-fiving and sculling beers!”
And with that he summed up the experience of The Bennies’ live show – unique, unpredictable but, most importantly, one hell of a good time. Anty has the gift of the gab (an essential quality of all the great frontmen) and he commands your full attention from the opening bars of songs like ‘Party Smashers’ (Rainbows in Space, 2013) or their ska’d-up version of The Clash’s ‘Bankrobber.’
It’s no wonder they’re in demand here, there and everywhere, with shows in every corner of the country over the next few months. “We’ve got heaps of stuff going on – shows across Victoria over the next month with the incredible Jeff Rosenstock [Bomb the Music Industry!] and the guys from Hightime. Then we’ve got a trip to Adelaide to play a festival that a friend of ours is starting to organise called Party Party Partay. It’s funny because we’re headlining it and we’ve got an album called the same thing! We’re thinking of suing him actually . . . nah, we love him!” Anty laughed. “Then we’ve got a weekend in Tassie with Luca Brasi and Clowns, and then we’ve got the Poison City Weekender, and I can’t wait for that.
“We were so lucky last year to be taken on by Poison City Records. They’re a really supportive team always looking out for us and it gives you so much more confidence in what you’re doing. There’s a lot of ego and macho stuff especially with guys in bands, so when you’re meeting people for the first time it can be a little standoffish ’cause everyone’s got to prove that their band is better than yours or whatever. But with these kinda gigs [the Weekender] you walk in hi-fiving and having a great old time.”
Anty promised not to have too good a time this year though, because the very next day they’re booked to play a psytrance festival in Adelaide. “Which is a little crazy, but to be honest it’s actually been a dream of mine to go to a bush doof – though I didn’t think I’d ever play one! We played it last year and got a pretty warm reception – better than I expected. I can imagine what effect distorted guitars might have on a fragile state of mind. It might be a bit obtrusive, but we had such a mind-blindingly good time. I think I’m still recovering from it!” he joked.
Still can’t get enough of The Bennies? You can see the guys at your local with NYC’s Morning Glory in September or in the big smoke with the seminal Dead Kennedys in October.
When&Where: Music Man Megastore, Bendigo – July 10; The Barwon Club, Geelong – July 11; and The Karova, Ballarat – July 13
Written by Natalie Rogers