BUILDING ON A LEGACY
Dave Gleeson isn’t interested in catering to fuckwits on social media. All he wants to do is rock out with his childhood heroes The Angels and keep the coals burning as this train thunders on, writes Benny Doyle.
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n Australian rock circles, there are few shadows more towering than that of Doc Neeson, the iconic lead singer of pub heroes The Angels. Dave Gleeson knows that better than most. Vocalist for The Screaming Jets and radio host on commercial station Triple M, the 44-yearold joined the legendary Adelaide group almost two years ago. Since then the quintet have released an ARIA top ten album in the form of last year’s Take It To The Streets and toured the country as part of A Day On The Green. But for every fan that has embarked on this next part of the journey with the present incarnation of The Angels,
plenty of purists refuse to jump on board. “They’re fans who have been with The Angels through thick and thin, with hard rock obviously being their main arena. But the response has been unreal as far as the fans at the shows,” he beams. “Obviously there are some [people] out there who still won’t accept that I’m the singer in the band. But there’s been a lot of people who have come along and had a look and said to me, ‘Mate, I haven’t seen The Angels like that since 1985’.” Living for the now and doing what feels right has led Gleeson to this point, and although he might seem like a young upstart, the wild-eyed
LIVING THE DREAM
2013 saw Melbourne party punkers The Bennies sign a record deal, release a new album, tour internationally and have a member stabbed on tour. Vocalist Anty Horgan tells Eli Gould about their wild journey.
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lready on the road as part of their 26-show tour throughout Australia, Anty 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. “We’re pretty easy going 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.” 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
larrikin feels an inherent connection to The Angels. “They’ve been a part of my life since I was probably 14 years old and my brother used to pump [them] in our downstairs bedroom, y’know,” Gleeson remembers with fondness. “Even to the extent where they’ll say, ‘Do you know this song?’ and they’ll play the intro and suddenly I’ll just go, ‘Knocking at the window – is that how it goes?’ It’s just in my head somewhere. Having said that I do have to brush up on a few lyrics and have had to over the last couple of years and learn a lot of songs, because we choose from a pool of about 40 including the [stuff ] on the new album. There’s still another 20 or 30 I have to learn before I get my stripes I reckon.”
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No doubt that will happen over the next six months as Gleeson and The Angels – with Sam Brewster filling in for bassist Chris Bailey who, like Neeson, is currently battling cancer – hit every corner of the country, playing pubs, clubs and theatres far and wide. “It’s definitely shot a bit of life and put a bit of fire in it and everyone is feeding off each other, which is all you can ever want in a band,” Gleeson concedes. “They’re inspired so it’s really great to be working with guys like that and it’s nice to be [here] while they have a purple patch. But the sound of The Angels is firmly ensconced in the guitars of Rick and John Brewster. It’s all in their hands. I reckon they could pick up any fucking guitar, anywhere, and it would sound like The Angels. It’s just inherent in them blokes.” WHAT: Talk The Talk (Liberation) WHEN & WHERE: 15 Feb, Harrigan’s Drift Inn, Jacobs Well; 28 Mar, Caloundra RSL; 29 Mar, Coolangatta Hotel; 30 Mar, A Day On The Green, Sirromet Winery, Mount Cotton
the biggest show of their career at Soundwave, courtesy of a simple tweet to Soundwave boss AJ Maddah. Maddah was 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. I don’t check Twitter much but when I came back to check I was like, ‘What the fuck?’”
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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. The now-infamous attack on guitarist Jules Rozenbergs 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. 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. WHEN & WHERE: 14 Feb, The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba; 15 Feb, Crowbar; 16 Feb, The Time Machine. Nambour THE MUSIC • 12TH FEBRUARY 2014 • 35