Sydney’s smoothest neo-disco operator Donny Benet is bringing the songs of Nile Rodgers to this year’s At First Sight festival.
American guitarist Rodgers established himself as a member of Chic in the mid-to-late ’70s, and the band became a prominent feature of the prevailing disco movement. Outside of Chic, Rodgers – both with and without Chic bass player Bernard Edwards and drummer Tony Thompson – wrote and produced songs for several other big-name artists of the era, including David Bowie, The B-52s, Diana Ross, Duran Duran and Madonna. Accordingly, Benet’s performance won’t be restricted to Chic material.
“We will be grabbing stuff from all over his career,” he says. “One of the inspiring things about Nile Rodgers is his flexibility as a producer while still keeping his signature touch on the song or project he was involved in.”
Chic were incredibly prolific in their heyday, churning out seven albums in the space of six years. This run culminated in 1983’s Believer, after which they disbanded. However, Rodgers’ name has never faded from relevance. In fact, so successful was his work as a producer and guitarist in the ’80s and ’90s that his 1960 Fender Stratocaster became popularly known as The Hitmaker. His contributions to Daft Punk’s 2013 release Random Access Memories are evidence that he’s still an in-demand producer and guitarist. Benet attempts to pinpoint his defining quality.
“I think his main signature is his guitar work, which in turn inspires the sound he gives to the project. His rhythmic qualities as a guitarist influence the arrangement – both rhythmic and timbre – of the music he’s involved in.
“Being involved with Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson in certain projects facilitates the Chic sound, which in many cases is a desired sound. Putting that sound and approach into the mixing pot of artists like Bowie creates something quite distinctive and also helps bolster artists like Madonna and Duran Duran. One of my favourites is his work on ‘Original Sin’ by INXS.”
Disco music has clearly had a big influence on the entire Donny Benet discography. You can hear it on his own two albums, 2012’s Electric Love and last year’s underrated collaborative effort Weekend At Donny’s. Unsurprisingly, Benet has been an avid disco and funk fan since his youth.
“When I was about 12, my dad bought me an electric bass and told me to teach myself how to play,” he says. “He also had a copy of a 30-minute episode of an English TV show called Rock School. There was about ten minutes dedicated to bass playing in the funk episode. The three bass players interviewed and featured were Larry Graham [Sly and The Family Stone], Bootsy Collins [James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic] and Bernard Edwards/Nile Rodgers. They’re three very good starting points. Also, growing up in the ’90s with grunge was pretty hard for someone who wanted to play funk music. It was pretty boring music to play.”
Benet has also ventured into jazz, releasing three albums with Triosk before launching his solo career. On top of that, he’s a member of Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders, so he’s no stranger to the rock realm. He’s already carved out an exceedingly broad back catalogue, which reflects his perspective on making music.
“I don’t think one sets out to play a particular style of music at any point of their career. Influences and interests always change over your career as a musician. I’ve never really set out to play disco music exclusively. These days, playing and making a meagre living from music itself is hard to consider a serious prospect. I was over in the Greek islands a few months ago and would spend the day driving around Milos from beach to beach listening to ’70s/’80s Greek music. I really got off on the music. Maybe I’ll start playing Greek social clubs – who knows?”
For now, however, he’s focused on the music of Nile Rodgers. In order to present Rodgers’ music in all its glory at At First Sight, Benet will have some esteemed company. Along with his demi-legendary five-piece Show Band, a bunch of guest vocalists will be announced closer to the festival. And Benet’s no stranger to this kind of show. At the 2014 Sydney Festival he teamed up with Jack Ladder for a performance of Lou Reed songs, and in years past he’s covered a wide assortment of tracks with the likes of Kirin J Callinan and Spod out front. In other words, he knows how to approach a cover version.
“[For At First Sight] we’ll try and nail the songs as played while adding the Show Band touch. If they sound great to begin with, there’s no point bastardising them just for the hell of it. As long as people dance, I’ll be happy.”
Many people have reservations about covers shows, either because they don’t think it’s a particularly constructive exercise or they fear the songs getting ruined. Given the prevalence of malnourished cover bands, these fears are warranted, but Benet doesn’t take this sort of thing lightly.
“It is quite a challenging exercise, as you’re learning new material in a short space of time for a small amount of shows. It can be positive in that audiences will hear you perform music they’re either familiar or unfamiliar with and hopefully you add your signature to it. I don’t mind doing it, as you play other people’s songs and through doing that find out the successful musical attributes of the song, which in turn will maybe assist you in the future when composing. That, and if all goes to shit we can at least score a few gigs playing covers at Penrith Panthers.”
[Donny Benet photo by McLean Stephenson]
At First Sight 2015, with Donny Benet,My Disco, Lost Animal, Acid Baby Jesus, Richard Cartwright and more, takes place at Carriageworks on Saturday November 14.
