As World Cup fever sweeps the … ahem, world … we take you back to last month’s WAMi Festival. On the closing day of the event, many members of the bands who performed that weekend, took part in a soccer tournament. Benny Mayhem, leader of outfit Project Mayhem, spoke to us while he was on the sidelines. get ready for some confusing sports commentary, as well us some banter about the band … and for that we go live to Wellington Park in Perth … gentlemen, begin!
Thanks for talking to us today Ben!
Not a problem.
So right now we’re at the WAMi soccer match. I think – oh! The indie team just scored – it’s all tied up at 1-1!
Yeah the fluro team just scored. Let me just set the scene. We’re at Wellington square, which is a park in the centre of Perth, and we’ve got two teams playing soccer, the extremely serious indie team (in fluro), and the less serious, beer consuming, punk rock and roll side (of which Ben is a part). So yeah, we’re in the first half, it’s going well. We’re one all aren’t we?
What will be your position once you’re on the field?
I think they’ve put me on the wing. Which is good, because I can’t play very well. I don’t really want to let the team down too much.
So now what’s this bet you’ve got happening … involving someone taking his clothes off?
The deal is, the captain of the indie team, (Bass Guitarist) Chris Pierucci from capital city – if they win by less than 5 goals, he has to run down Beauford St, which goes through Mt Lawley, it’s kind of the trendy area of Perth, completely naked. If they don’t completely cream us. So I’m hoping we can get a few goals and stay in the game!
Well should be interesting. You’re all having a couple of drinks and having fun with it!
Yeah, absolutely. Why not?
So how has the WAMis gone this year? You guys have played a couple of times in the past.
Yeah we’ve been playing WAMi shows for a couple of years now. We had our third straight nomination for best Punk band, which we won (for the first time) which was great! And we played out at the Civic Hotel out in Inglewood on Friday night, and it was a really good show. WAMi’s are always fun.
You guys have been together for a while, too – forming originally in 2001/2?
Yeah. Sort of wanted to form a band. Then it took quite a while to find good people. I’m from the country originally, and I was living down in Mandrel when I first started the band, so it was difficult to find people. But as we went, we started to play shows, we started to meet people, we eventually found the lineup we’ve got now, which has been going for about five years. So really happy with it – it’s exactly what we wanted to do.
And your first recording was released in 2004, on a Cassette funnily enough. What made you choose that medium?
Just being a bit of a traditionalist. Plus it was really a cassette quality release. It wasn’t perfect, it was done with the previous lineup, and we just thought it would suit an analog medium. So we put out a cassette.
Do you still sell them at shows?
No it’s all sold out. I think we gave the last four away to Against Me! A few years ago. But yeah it was good to do, and people spoke about it because it was a cassette. And in 2004, cassettes were definitely on their way out. I guess there are still a few bands doing it for novelty value though.
*about 2 minutes of shouting at the field ensues as the goalie prevents an indie goal*
Surprisingly exciting!
Transcribing this one’s going to be fun.
So your debut album came out last year?
Yeah we released it in November.
How does it feel to have that out there? I mean you’ve had many EPs and singles before then, but this was your first full length.
Yeah it’s our first full length. It was an ordeal, I can tell you that. Because we got a grant from the government, so we were on a strict timeline, and we’d never done anything like that before. As you said, we’d just done EPs and stuff. It was interesting cramming it all into a few months. And we were exploring new sounds with that one, so it was an interesting release. But it’s been good – it’s propped us up and allowed us to start touring.
What changes when you have a full length out?
Well you have an album to push, and it’s distributed nationally, so that’s handy, but we’re still building basically. We hope to release another album early next year, which will be on our own dime, and a little more paced and focused. Now that we’ve explored we can play to our strengths for a more focused release.
And from what I hear, your live shows are notoriously energetic, giving precedence to the name.
Well yeah, exactly – it’s not project sensible *laughs*. But yeah we like to give it our all when we can. Well every time we’re on the stage. We just try to kick it.
Would you know how to do it any other way?
Yeah it’d one of those things. Over the years you sort of develop and decide what it is that you want to do with yourself. So this is what we’ve become. So we just roll with it.
And you have done some extensive touring the last 6 or so months. When did you play Big Day Out?
The beginning of 2009. That was amazing, so good. We played early on in the day, so the big acts weren’t on yet. So at a local stage it’s good to do that, because a lot of people come – we had a huge crowd.
Was that your first big festival?
We played Hyper Festival before that which was more of an all ages sort of show. That was interesting because you had all these 14 year old girls screaming, and you’re sort of like – how do I react to this? I’m in my mid twenties! *laughs* But yeah it was great to do. And we played In The Pines that year as well, which is a wonderful festival here in Perth. It’s in an auditorium surrounded by all these pine trees, and they sell bottles of wine. It’s pretty cool.
What’s the story behind In The Pines? I haven’t heard much about it on the East Coast.
It’s specifically designed as a fundraiser for RTR FM. And this year they had a couple of bands from over east, the Tucker B’s and stuff. But they were all Perth bands who had moved over. So it’s specifically designed as a showcase of Perth music. Now it’s a bit of an industry thing in a way, but the public love it too. It’s pretty much the pinnacle of local music. If you’re playing Pines, you’re doing pretty well. Because the radio station has an indie focus too. So for a band like us to get to play that, it’s a great compliment.
And you made it over to the East Coast recently, too.
Yeah, we drove! It’s a long way.
Did you do any country shows along the way.
Unfortunately no, we would love to stop off along the way though. Here’s a pub, why not? But you know, having never done a tour like that, it’s all a DIY effort. Hopefully next time. As we get more and more coordinated we’ll do it.
It’s the Australian way for sure!
It is. Explore your country folks!
And so what is next for you guys? You mentioned a new LP?
Yeah there’s going to be a new LP. And for the moment there’s going to be a few more local shows here, then we’re going to shut up shop and focus on writing some new material. And then hopefully touring early next year. We’re just putting the plan together now, and we’re just going to keep talking to the media and building the relationships in the meantime. Exciting times!
Well best of luck with the match – hopefully you guys destroy it!
Yeah hopefully I get to play soon!
Project Mayhem’s debut selftitled LP is in stores now! Oh and the Indie team won – but only on a penalty shoot out. So I think that means Chris had to run naked?
