Living The Dream

"All we've got left is what the king said: 'don't fuck with our dreams,'” The Smith Street Band's Wil Wagner belts out in the chorus of their 2013 EP title track Don't Fuck With Our Dreams. The king he is referring to and his inspiration behind the song was The Bennies guitarist Jules Rozenbergs. While on an extensive tour early last year with The Smith Street Band, Rozenbergs was set upon by a drunken punter at a Byron Bay show, who smashed a bottle over Rozenbergs' head and then stabbed him in the armpit. His response: “Don't fuck with our dreams.” It was a shocking event – one that rocked the band to the core, where their long-term future was put under a cloud for months. But as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger – and The Bennies perfectly represent this. The past 12 months have been arduous for frontman Anty Horgan and his bandmates. Their latest album Rainbows In Space was released in early November through Poison City Records, who they only signed to in August 2013. The album received critical acclaim among music pundits and fans alike, and showcases a unique blend of party-infused punk-rock and ska.

Already on the road as part of their tour throughout Australia, Horgan says this year will be their biggest. “Yeah, it's been really good,” Horgan begins, speaking of the past few months. “We've been really happy with how [the album] has been received, all the reviews have been really good, but I don't know how much you take them on board. I suppose most importantly we're really proud of it.”

The Bennies are a party band – they play simple chords with catchy melodies, choruses and sing songs about partying, getting drunk, smoking weed and having fun  Rainbows In Space epitomises this, but Horgan insits he isn't sure why the album turned out this way. “I mean we love Rancid, The Clash and Sublime and stuff like that – just good time-loving punk-rock,” he says. “I mean were pretty easygoing fun-loving guys as well, we like to party and have fun with mates so I think that influence comes through with the songs as well.” Following the release of the album, the band also headed off for an international run of shows in China and Japan in December last year. For Horgan, the tour was an uncanny experience and marked the first time he had travelled to those parts of the world.

It's a different environment for musicians and bands given the power of online and social media allowing them to reach greater audiences. The Bennies will play the biggest show of their career at Soundwave, courtesy of a simple Tweet to Soundwave boss AJ Maddah. Maddah, famous for his no-bullshit attitude and Tweets, posted online about having difficulty with a ska band booked for Soundwave Melbourne, and Horgan tweeted him saying he should put on The Bennies instead. “[AJ] was like, 'Yeah I had a listen you guys are unreal – you guys are on,' and that was it,” Horgan recalls. “He emailed us later and told us we we're on for the Melbourne show – so we got it through Twitter. It was so funny, we couldn't believe it. I don't check Twitter much but when I came back to check I was like, 'What the fuck?'”

But Horgan and co will be the first to admit they're still shocked at where they are at the moment – given the events from last year. Rozenbergs stabbing shook everyone in the band immeasurably. “We were all pretty freaked out – I mean, Jules couldn't move his arm for like two months, and I'm sure [the experience] is going to stay with us forever,” Horgan explains. “But Jules handled it so well and he came back with just more purpose than ever.” It was all about being able to take a positive out of a very negative experience for the band, and to see their close friends in The Smith Street Band name an EP about the incident was something they found truly flattering. “It was cool – 'Don't fuck with our dreams' is what Jules yelled at the guy, but it was a hard experience and that tour was the biggest thing we've done so far. We were absolutely on fire,” Horan enthuses. “Then we had to stop and we were at the hospital with poor Jules.”

2014 will also be another huge year for The Bennies. They will be looking at filming a video clip after the tour, and then will head back over to China for a run of festivals. “Then we're gonna come back to Australia – do another tour, hopefully write and record a new album and then head over to the States, so yeah, that's the plan,” Horgan finishes with a laugh.