They had never walked onto a stage before, but this was soon to change. Benjalu’s first ever performance at a state wide school band comp won them $10,000 in prizes and a spot next to past winners Silverchair and Alex Lloyd.
Since then, benjalu have been thriving and following the steps of independent acts before them, benjalu is a band that prides itself on the old school, grassroots approach of touring to promote their music and in 2008/09, travelling the dirt roads and highways of Australia they clocked well over 400 shows together. An approach that has seen them gain the respect of their fans.
If Tetris was a real life game, these boys would be sure favourites; One van, 4 boys, a P.A, their backline and enough clean clothes to keep them out of trouble.
Bohemian front man, Ben Gumbleton the 14th rich tenor vocals have been compared to Eddie Vedder. His long term band members of 4 years, Luke Elsley on lead guitar and Anthony Morris on bass bring instruments such as the clarinet and harp to this four piece with Nick Saxon on drums. The boys love switching roles on stage for different songs, bringing more fun to their energetic live shows.
Having numerous opportunities to hone their craft, benjalu mix catchy rock grooves with warm bass lines and catchy melodies. They infuse genres such as blues and roots, jazz, contemporary rock and hints of reggae to maintain a fresh sound.
With their two independently released EP’s benjalu have received awards such as best blues and roots and best young talent at the 2009 1233 ABC radio Newcastle music awards; Have featured on two nationally released compilation CDs ‘Jam for Awareness’ and ‘Home Grown Roots Vol. 3’ alongside the likes of John Bulter, Missy Higgins, Grinspoon, Blue King Brown, Paul Kelly and Ash Grunwald. Channel Ten’s ‘New Wave’ television series used benjalu’s song as the soundtrack for their show. Song’s such as ‘My Shelter My Fortress’ and ‘The Lie’ have featured on national and international radio stations, Triple J, ABC, FBI and Nefarious Bovine radio (USA).
Benjalu have never wanted to put themselves into one genre. This has enabled the boys to share stages with a wide variety of national and international acts stretching from acoustic solo artists to well respected rock bands such as The Living End, Children Collide, State Radio, Kate Miller Heidke, The Beatiful Girls, True Live, Dallas Frasca and many more!
2010 has already seen benjalu touring up and down the coast of Australia. A national tour with Marshall and the Fro will keep the boys busy from May through to August. Their first ever single and a debut album are in the pipeline to be recorded sometime this year. With a tour booked to New Caledonia in November and plans to hit the summer of 2011 harder than ever, benjalu have no intentions of stopping, will stick to their roots and continue to evolve. |
 Benjalu are:
Gumby - vocals, guitar
Luke Elsley - guitar, harmonica
Anthony Morris - bass, woodwind
Nick Saxon - drums
CONTACT benjalu
MANAGEMENT
Important!! Please CC management in all emails
P: (02) 933 15 888
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