Dead Letter Circus

“I’ll admit, before going into the studio we honestly thought this could be the last time we’d all be together, but in the process of making this album I believe we all felt a rekindling of our passion for making music,” says the Queenslander. “Our personal lives and friendship are at an all-time high at the moment after finishing the recording. We’re all feeling super positive.”

Benzie’s enthusiasm is infectious as he details what would become the catalyst for Dead Letter Circus’ third studio album. “We did an acoustic EP [Stand Apart] which featured songs from our last album [The Catalyst Fire] and on that we built a really simplistic sound around the vocals. We wanted to showcase a different side of the band. We soon realised people really enjoyed being able to hear the lyrics so clearly. Some of my buddies said, ‘Oh wow, I didn’t understand the power of the words,’ and said they started to appreciate the story within the songs.”

Rather than letting the success of the Stand Apart EP and subsequent tour go to his head, Benzie began writing again, penning lyrics without any music to speak of. “Normally we would write an epic piece of music first that would dictate the mood and emotion of what I’m going to sing,” he says. “Then I would go away and write the words – but this time we did everything in reverse.”

Despite feeling confident about the album today, Benzie says at first he was reluctant to change the way they’d always crafted their songs – their tried-and-tested formula had proved to be a winner in the past.

“I was a little apprehensive at the start. I didn’t know if these little songs would ever be DLC tracks, but when I showed one of the guys he said, ‘Dude! We should have a jam and see what can come of this.’ So we all got together, had a jam session and we wrote the first song in the course of a couple of hours, built around the vocals I had already written. That night opened our eyes to the possibility of making music another way.”

This was the spark that lit the fuse leading to an explosion of creativity. “I had a bunch of ideas already laid down, so I thought, ‘Let’s get this started.’ When we booked the studio, we only had one demo completely finished. We had to convince our label and own manager that we were ready. I said, ‘We’ve got this,’ and I reminded them that we’ve never let them down before. Of course, unbeknownst to them we had very little organised!” laughs Benzie. “We went into the studio with a few tiny ideas and came out with an album three months later, all done.”

We’ve all heard the teaser single, ‘While You Wait’, but Benzie is keen to keep the mystery alive over what to expect from the rest of the LP. “Actually, I only just finished tracking the final vocals yesterday,” he says. “The album has a very broad mix. We’ve tracks that feature our signature sound as always – we can’t really escape that – but we’ve managed to find some super fresh ground in the rock department. The one thing we haven’t done is decide on a title. That’s next on my list actually, after we shot a video clip for ‘While You Wait’ – but I can tell you the album will be released in August.”

Although we will have to wait another few weeks to hear Dead Letter Circus’ latest creation in its entirety, those who managed to get a ticket to their sold-out gig at Newtown Social Club are in for a treat. “We will hand-select a couple of songs to debut there,” Benzie says. “But we’re always going to make time to play our signature and older songs – honestly, we’d be upset if we didn’t play [those] as well.”

Dead Letter Circus have never had a problem selling out venues in Australia or overseas, and their decision to play this upcoming string of shows at more intimate venues was a deliberate one.

“I love sweaty little club shows,” Benzie says. “We did a few of them when we were touring overseas and it was like being back in the good old days. I remember thinking, ‘Ah, I love this!’ They were so much fun. Everyone’s in the moment. There’s no big light shows, it’s just the music, the sweat and the people – they can touch you and you can touch them. You’re not separated by a barrier and a couple of metres of elevated stage. It’s up close and personal.”

While it’s obvious Dead Letter Circus are in an enviable position in 2015, it’s always a good idea to have a future goal.

“All I know is, I donotwanna be a judge on Australia’s Got Talent or The Voice,” says Benzie. “But I really hope that Stu [Hill], our bass player, is on that I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! show. I think I’d get great pleasure out of seeing him on that.”