BENJALU
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Tomorrow
The Heritage Hotel, Bulli
Tickets: 42845884
Downtime is not something the band members of Benjalu are comfortable with.
The lads would rather be performing, recording, writing new material or, in the odd breaks, going to the beach or pub.
They've been on the road so much lead vocalist Ben Gumbleton isn't entirely sure whether they've been to Wollongong before.
"If there's any time we spend it recording; we don't like sitting around," Gumbleton says.
Their latest EP, Way to the Coast, isn't released until next month but the band is already working on the next one.
Fusing folk, blues, roots, reggae and rock, Benjalu are happy not to fit into a particular genre.
Originally a trio of "pretty shy kids" that took out the Silverchair Songwriting Award in 2006, Benjalu now have five members.
They have supported the likes of The Living End, Kate Miller-Heidke and Jon Stevens, and Gumbleton says one of the benefits of not playing to a particular genre was that it enabled the group to perform with a diverse range of artists.
"It's cool to know that our music and sound can share the stage with so many others," Gumbleton says.
"The time we spend together we listen to so much different music. One day we might be listening to Metallica and the next it might be Latin. We're pretty much joined at the hip."
Gumbleton and other band members - Luke Elsley, Anthony Morris, Nick Saxon and Nick Cook - are all multi-instrumentalists and Gumbleton says this keeps the band's performances energetic.
"You don't see us standing still," he says. "We're not putting it on, music for us is about us having fun - we get lost in the music and it makes us move."
"We were pretty shy kids [in high school] but we love performing now."
Having fun and being happy is a common theme and it shows in the band's latest EP.
"Way to the Coast is about the way to the sunshine - it's a metaphorical thing for finding a happy place," Gumbleton says.
"For a lot of people going to the beach or going to the coast is a happy place."
Despite being a relatively new band, there has been a lot of changes over the years, especially with drummers.
"I think we wear them out because we play so many gigs," Gumbleton jokes.
At one stage a drummer walked out on the band a few days before a tour. Gumbleton, who normally plays guitar, had to quickly learn the drums for the band to get by.
"We feel like this is our family now and no-one's going anywhere," he says.
