How old are you guys/where are you from?
DANIEL: I'm 17, not 18 for a while though. Siva just turned 18, and Harrison and Dom will be turning 18 in the next few months. We all from the South-Eastern suburbs of Sydney, South Coogee (soon to be Inner West however) and Maroubra.
How long have you been playing together?
DANIEL: Since about November 2008, coming up to a year now. Harrison, Siva and I have been playing together for a little longer in our old band, The Sycophants. But not too long as The Bennisons.
HARRISON: Too long.
Influences..
D: Our older stuff was a lot more poppy, I feel, a lot like old Arctic Monkeys, The Wombats, The Libertines, and those guitar indie bands. But at the same time it was a very erratic and formulated process, just like "I've got a verse, I've got a chorus, I've got a set of lyrics". And a lot of it was just poor mimicry. I really don't like a lot of our old songs because of that. I'm finding now I'm going back to older stuff, not imitating current bands I like. My dad has a massive music collection and that's been a primarily untouched resource up until now. What I'm listening to kind of changes from week to week I find. A couple of months ago it was Madness, and The Specials; 80s 2-tone. Then some 60s surf. Then it moved onto art-punk and noise like Sonic Youth, and Suicide for a bit. Last week was really about Lo-Fi, Detroit sound sort of thing with The Stooges, The White Stripes, and The Kills. Just yesterday I was listening to Ennio Morricone and his work on spaghetti western films. So it's pretty varied. We're still fundamentally an indie band though, there’s still that something that ties it all together.
H: We’ve all got different influences in terms of our playing. We all bring a different approach to playing but ultimately the sound of songs depends on what Holliday’s up to.
Being a school-aged band from Sydney, when you gig where do you play?
D: We've played Newtown RSL, Sutherland Entertainment Centre (YouthRock), Pine Street Creative Centre, Hilton Marble Bar as well as a few others. We were even able to play at the MCA twice last year for Generationext (the series of youth nights they hold) which was awesome to play to a big audience of people our age.
H: We don’t that play often; however we have played a few battle of the bands competitions with the most recent being YouthRock09 at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre in which we came 3rd and won the Silverchair song writing award.
As a young band do you think it's easy to get a gig in Sydney?
D: If you're desperate for a gig, you can get one easily. But they are usually band comps out the back of no where and just have a really bad vibe. We played a few when we were starting out as The Sycophants but they're really draining. In terms of getting a good gig, it’s pretty much about who you know and who knows you. You've got to know people who can tell you when things are on. You've also got to get your name our there so you get offers from bigger doods. Coming 3rd in YouthRock09 really helped with that.
H: I’ve found the biggest let down is us being underage. We’ve had heaps offers for gigs only to have them cancelled when the bookers found out we’re actually underage.
Do you/have you ever played pub shows? Was that easy or did it take lots of negotiation?
D: We have, but they've always been through a booking agent and always with parents to supervise us you know. So we haven't really, something we're hoping to do regularly once we're all 18.
How are you feeling about the upcoming 'Save FBI' gig?
D: We're geed. Seriously geed. This will be the biggest show we've done and with 3 awesome bands. We were set to play with Tom Ugly (back when they were [is] and before they won Unearthed High) for YouthRock08, but they changed heats and it never happened. It's amazing how far they have come now. We're all genuinely humbled to be playing with all of them.
H: geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed
What's one thing you've learned since you started playing together?
D: I guess that no matter what you're like now, you're going to hate it in a year. Not sure what lesson that is though.
H: How to play bass.
Have you guys released anything/do you have anything in the pipeline?
D: Nope, nothing yet. We plan to record at the end of this year, and depending on the quality of it, we could be releasing it as an EP. If we keep going at the same pace in 2010, we'll be doing and EP at the end of that year before Harrison and I start uni (Siva will already be there). If the pace quickens, an album? Who knows?
How can people get in touch with you or hear your music?
D: www.myspace.com/thebennisons even with our shit recordings. You can email me on thebennisonsmusic@gmail.com
Any upcoming gigs?
D: Our next one is at The Annandale Hotel for the 'Save FBI' gig. After that, we're playing a house party then taking a big break before final assessments, trials, then the HSC.
Q & A with the Bennisons
Indent caught up with the Bennisons right before heading into a rehearsal for the Indent Save FBI gig on the 12th of July. The Bennisons will join Cloud Control, Tom Ugly and Sierra Fin from midday at the Annandale Hotel.
How old are you guys/where are you from?
DANIEL: I'm 17, not 18 for a while though. Siva just turned 18, and Harrison and Dom will be turning 18 in the next few months. We all from the South-Eastern suburbs of Sydney, South Coogee (soon to be Inner West however) and Maroubra.
How long have you been playing together?
DANIEL: Since about November 2008, coming up to a year now. Harrison, Siva and I have been playing together for a little longer in our old band, The Sycophants. But not too long as The Bennisons.
HARRISON: Too long.
Influences..
D: Our older stuff was a lot more poppy, I feel, a lot like old Arctic Monkeys, The Wombats, The Libertines, and those guitar indie bands. But at the same time it was a very erratic and formulated process, just like "I've got a verse, I've got a chorus, I've got a set of lyrics". And a lot of it was just poor mimicry. I really don't like a lot of our old songs because of that. I'm finding now I'm going back to older stuff, not imitating current bands I like. My dad has a massive music collection and that's been a primarily untouched resource up until now. What I'm listening to kind of changes from week to week I find. A couple of months ago it was Madness, and The Specials; 80s 2-tone. Then some 60s surf. Then it moved onto art-punk and noise like Sonic Youth, and Suicide for a bit. Last week was really about Lo-Fi, Detroit sound sort of thing with The Stooges, The White Stripes, and The Kills. Just yesterday I was listening to Ennio Morricone and his work on spaghetti western films. So it's pretty varied. We're still fundamentally an indie band though, there’s still that something that ties it all together.
H: We’ve all got different influences in terms of our playing. We all bring a different approach to playing but ultimately the sound of songs depends on what Holliday’s up to.
Being a school-aged band from Sydney, when you gig where do you play?
D: We've played Newtown RSL, Sutherland Entertainment Centre (YouthRock), Pine Street Creative Centre, Hilton Marble Bar as well as a few others. We were even able to play at the MCA twice last year for Generationext (the series of youth nights they hold) which was awesome to play to a big audience of people our age.
H: We don’t that play often; however we have played a few battle of the bands competitions with the most recent being YouthRock09 at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre in which we came 3rd and won the Silverchair song writing award.
As a young band do you think it's easy to get a gig in Sydney?
D: If you're desperate for a gig, you can get one easily. But they are usually band comps out the back of no where and just have a really bad vibe. We played a few when we were starting out as The Sycophants but they're really draining. In terms of getting a good gig, it’s pretty much about who you know and who knows you. You've got to know people who can tell you when things are on. You've also got to get your name our there so you get offers from bigger doods. Coming 3rd in YouthRock09 really helped with that.
H: I’ve found the biggest let down is us being underage. We’ve had heaps offers for gigs only to have them cancelled when the bookers found out we’re actually underage.
Do you/have you ever played pub shows? Was that easy or did it take lots of negotiation?
D: We have, but they've always been through a booking agent and always with parents to supervise us you know. So we haven't really, something we're hoping to do regularly once we're all 18.
How are you feeling about the upcoming 'Save FBI' gig?
D: We're geed. Seriously geed. This will be the biggest show we've done and with 3 awesome bands. We were set to play with Tom Ugly (back when they were [is] and before they won Unearthed High) for YouthRock08, but they changed heats and it never happened. It's amazing how far they have come now. We're all genuinely humbled to be playing with all of them.
H: geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed
What's one thing you've learned since you started playing together?
D: I guess that no matter what you're like now, you're going to hate it in a year. Not sure what lesson that is though.
H: How to play bass.
Have you guys released anything/do you have anything in the pipeline?
D: Nope, nothing yet. We plan to record at the end of this year, and depending on the quality of it, we could be releasing it as an EP. If we keep going at the same pace in 2010, we'll be doing and EP at the end of that year before Harrison and I start uni (Siva will already be there). If the pace quickens, an album? Who knows?
How can people get in touch with you or hear your music?
D: www.myspace.com/thebennisons even with our shit recordings. You can email me on thebennisonsmusic@gmail.com
Any upcoming gigs?
D: Our next one is at The Annandale Hotel for the 'Save FBI' gig. After that, we're playing a house party then taking a big break before final assessments, trials, then the HSC.
How old are you guys/where are you from?
DANIEL: I'm 17, not 18 for a while though. Siva just turned 18, and Harrison and Dom will be turning 18 in the next few months. We all from the South-Eastern suburbs of Sydney, South Coogee (soon to be Inner West however) and Maroubra.
How long have you been playing together?
DANIEL: Since about November 2008, coming up to a year now. Harrison, Siva and I have been playing together for a little longer in our old band, The Sycophants. But not too long as The Bennisons.
HARRISON: Too long.
Influences..
D: Our older stuff was a lot more poppy, I feel, a lot like old Arctic Monkeys, The Wombats, The Libertines, and those guitar indie bands. But at the same time it was a very erratic and formulated process, just like "I've got a verse, I've got a chorus, I've got a set of lyrics". And a lot of it was just poor mimicry. I really don't like a lot of our old songs because of that. I'm finding now I'm going back to older stuff, not imitating current bands I like. My dad has a massive music collection and that's been a primarily untouched resource up until now. What I'm listening to kind of changes from week to week I find. A couple of months ago it was Madness, and The Specials; 80s 2-tone. Then some 60s surf. Then it moved onto art-punk and noise like Sonic Youth, and Suicide for a bit. Last week was really about Lo-Fi, Detroit sound sort of thing with The Stooges, The White Stripes, and The Kills. Just yesterday I was listening to Ennio Morricone and his work on spaghetti western films. So it's pretty varied. We're still fundamentally an indie band though, there’s still that something that ties it all together.
H: We’ve all got different influences in terms of our playing. We all bring a different approach to playing but ultimately the sound of songs depends on what Holliday’s up to.
Being a school-aged band from Sydney, when you gig where do you play?
D: We've played Newtown RSL, Sutherland Entertainment Centre (YouthRock), Pine Street Creative Centre, Hilton Marble Bar as well as a few others. We were even able to play at the MCA twice last year for Generationext (the series of youth nights they hold) which was awesome to play to a big audience of people our age.
H: We don’t that play often; however we have played a few battle of the bands competitions with the most recent being YouthRock09 at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre in which we came 3rd and won the Silverchair song writing award.
As a young band do you think it's easy to get a gig in Sydney?
D: If you're desperate for a gig, you can get one easily. But they are usually band comps out the back of no where and just have a really bad vibe. We played a few when we were starting out as The Sycophants but they're really draining. In terms of getting a good gig, it’s pretty much about who you know and who knows you. You've got to know people who can tell you when things are on. You've also got to get your name our there so you get offers from bigger doods. Coming 3rd in YouthRock09 really helped with that.
H: I’ve found the biggest let down is us being underage. We’ve had heaps offers for gigs only to have them cancelled when the bookers found out we’re actually underage.
Do you/have you ever played pub shows? Was that easy or did it take lots of negotiation?
D: We have, but they've always been through a booking agent and always with parents to supervise us you know. So we haven't really, something we're hoping to do regularly once we're all 18.
How are you feeling about the upcoming 'Save FBI' gig?
D: We're geed. Seriously geed. This will be the biggest show we've done and with 3 awesome bands. We were set to play with Tom Ugly (back when they were [is] and before they won Unearthed High) for YouthRock08, but they changed heats and it never happened. It's amazing how far they have come now. We're all genuinely humbled to be playing with all of them.
H: geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed
What's one thing you've learned since you started playing together?
D: I guess that no matter what you're like now, you're going to hate it in a year. Not sure what lesson that is though.
H: How to play bass.
Have you guys released anything/do you have anything in the pipeline?
D: Nope, nothing yet. We plan to record at the end of this year, and depending on the quality of it, we could be releasing it as an EP. If we keep going at the same pace in 2010, we'll be doing and EP at the end of that year before Harrison and I start uni (Siva will already be there). If the pace quickens, an album? Who knows?
How can people get in touch with you or hear your music?
D: www.myspace.com/thebennisons even with our shit recordings. You can email me on thebennisonsmusic@gmail.com
Any upcoming gigs?
D: Our next one is at The Annandale Hotel for the 'Save FBI' gig. After that, we're playing a house party then taking a big break before final assessments, trials, then the HSC.
