Due to popular demand, after their successful debut SA tour in 2013, alternative Aussie rock band Dead Letter Circus are returning for a second running, performing at popular hangouts in Pretoria, Joburg and Cape Town. We emailed vocalist and lyricist Kim Benzie a few questions to find out more.
This is your second time touring SA. What was the experience like the first time around and what can fans expect from the forthcoming tour?Kim Benzie: Our time through SA was honestly the highlight of our world tour; as much for the place and the people as for the show. It's quite an intense and interesting place to visit. I'd love to do some writing and recording there.
Would you say that with 2010 album 'This Is The Warning', the lyrics and voice behind the album aimed to open listeners ears and eyes to the injustices and deceptions in the world, and then with follow up album 'The Catalyst Fire' it was a continuation of that discussion?
Yeah, definitely. TCF was aimed at a people now awake but pondering things like action over apathy, helplessness as an individual vs empowerment as a collective.
Is there a concept for a third album? Will it follow this same sort of lyrical political slant of previous releases?
We are pretty deep into the next one and I can say some of the songs are coming through as the next chapter to the other albums, not all though. I've been conscious about telling tales based on more basic personal feelings too, this time.
How important is it for musicians to convey a message through their sound and lyrics?
From the beginning of song and storytelling it's always been about documenting a time, embedding history into an immortal state to be passed on. Music is more important than a lot of people realise and as critical as those impassioned avid music fans claim. As well as the soundtrack to our lives, often it is the recall trigger for a memory, the confirmation of a shared concept, the ladder from the hole.
You've shared stages with some big names; which have been some of the more memorable experiences?
I'd say beating Chino and Steph from the Deftones in table tennis backstage at Big Day Out is probably up there for me. It was a nail biter, but in the end we prevailed and took the crown.
What's the reasoning behind the name? It's a secret until next year.
If you had to describe the band and your sound as a meal, what would it be and why?
Like an ostrich burger, surprisingly red and sweeter than all the beef.
Besides the SA tour what's next for DLC?
We are writing the album of 2015.
Catch Dead Letter Circus at the following venues in November:
- Friday, 14 November: Arcade Empire, Pretoria - Dead Letter Circus, Deity's Muse, Only Forever and Newtown Knife Gang (R130 from Computicket or R150 at the door)
- Saturday, 15 November: Sundowners Sports Bar, Alberton - Dead Letter Circus, Newtown Knife Gang, Deity's Muse and Man as Machine (R130 from Computicket or R150 at the door);
- Wednesday, 19 November: Rumours Lounge, Joburg - Dead Letter Circus, Deity's Muse, Newtown Knife Gang and Only Forever (R130 from Computicket or R150 at the door)
- Saturday, 22 November: Mercury Live, Cape Town - Dead Letter Circus, 3rd World Spectator, Deity's Muse and Only Forever (R130 from Computicket or R150 at the door)
Tickets are on sale nationwide through www.computicket.com as well as at Computicket outlets and Checkers stores.
deadlettercircus.com
