A chat with Ben from The Butterfly Effect

Miranda Cashin chats with drummer Ben Hall from The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect. Picture: Picture submitted

MIRANDA Cashin chats with drummer Ben Hall from The Butterfly Effect

Are you preparing for the tour?

Yeah we are, we started rehearsing yesterday so we’re easing our way into it.

Have you played at Rockhampton before?

Yeah, several times in the past. The last time we played there was the first time we played at The Great Western – it’s a bit of a crazy little venue.

You did a bit of an European tour earlier this year – how was it?

Yeah excellent! We did a month there in May and we head back there in just over three weeks.

Are you excited to return there?

Yeah totally. It’s a beautiful part of the world and it’s also quite a new challenge to try and enter other markets. So it’s really exciting.

What sort of crowds do you get over there?

Small ones! But we’re working on it!

How does touring overseas compare to playing more local gigs in Australia?

I guess it’s very much back to the start for us over there – back to playing in front of 50 people, 100 people a night. But it’s good as we’ve got the band to a good level in Australia and it’s kinda nice to just play. Play with no lights, no crew, it’s just the band and what they did when it first began. It’s good for us as it gets to the point where you put a show together and there’s a lot to do with visuals and stuff here now in Australia and it’s good to just get back to playing the songs. And if the songs aren’t good than you don’t pull it off. It’s refreshing to just be back playing the songs and the straight-up delivery of them and just see how they are perceived and see how people take it.

For this leg of the tour you’ve brought along Epidemic…Over, how did that come about?

I think we played with those guys up there before and our booking agents book them a lot up there and when we go up there we usually play with them.

Do you have a favourite support band you’ve toured with?

There’s been a few over the years…it’s hard to say. They’re all been good, lots of good stories come out of asking support bands. I don’t know if I have a favourite…they’re all pretty fun.

You play a mixture of solo shows and festivals do you have a preference?

Festivals are really good because they’re little more exciting. You might play to cross-over audiences who don’t know you sometimes which his really good as it’s a chance to win over some new fans. But on the flip side at festivals you don’t get a sound check you have to just get on stage. So sometimes the elements can swallow you up and spit you out and you might end up sounding horrible or you might have some technical difficulties. They might be the most comfortable but they are definitely the most exciting.

Do you have a favourite gig or festival that you’ve done?

I think the Gold Coast Big Day Out which was the last Big Day Out we did, was fantastic! It was a really good one.

Are there any crazy fan stories?

Yeah there is. There’s been a few. They exist, I’ll leave it at that, they’re around.

Anything in particular you’d like to share?

There was one guy in Adelaide who used to paint pictures of us. But like he’d paint pictures of us with snakes coming out of our eyes and ears and it was really strange. He tried to sell us these paintings. We were like that doesn’t look like us and he was like $100 it’s yours. It was a bit odd.

How would you say your music has changed over the years and with each album?

It’s hard to say. I find the music changes according to each record. Begins Here was a bit heavier than the stuff that we’ve written since. Because we toured that album a lot we got a bit tired of playing heavy rock. It wasn’t very dynamic and you couldn’t really explore sort of facets. The next album was sort of the opposite and more dynamic and melodic and it was great to have a bit of fun on stage and jam and stuff. The next record was a cross between the two. Hopefully the song writing is getting better. That’s the goal at the end of the day.

Is writing a collaborative effort?

We are in the room together all the time. Usually any songs will start with a bass idea or a guitar idea so we’ll just go in there and play around with them until we find something out of it.

Do you have a favourite song?

Yeah I have a few. I quite like Worlds on Fire from the latest record.

What about a favourite one to play live?

I like playing Window and the Watcher, the first single from the latest record.

Is that because it gets a lot of recognition?

It’s just a nice song, it’s fun to play.

You recorded your latest album on the NSW’s Central Coast – why was that?

It’s a good studio and the album prior to this one we did in LA and did in seven weeks and it just felt like we might have been a little too far from home. We needed to get away from Brisbane as there’s lots of exterior influences that can disrupt the process we’re also at the point where members have had babies so we tried to be far enough away as to get the job done but close enough so that if we needed to fly home we could.

Taking you back to the beginning of the band – how did the band come about?

I went to school with Kurt, the guitarist and we poached the guitar player and singer from other bands that were playing around Brisbane at the time. We ruffled a few feathers. But I think everyone’s alright now and all relationships are good now.

Does your name refer to the chaos theory?

That’s correct yes.

Why did you choose that?

I don’t know – it was a long time ago now. I think my mind’s starting to play tricks on me as to why we chose it. I think we chose it because it was a little bit different to a lot of he band names that were around at the time. At that particular point it was Limp Bizkit and Korn and they were all sort of words that were spelt with a different letter. Band names were doing that sort of thing and we wanted to be a bit different. And it was a good theory, the butterfly effect, we liked it. From what I can remember that was it I think.

Has music always been a passion of yours?

Yeah I’d say so. I love nothing better than a bit of musical therapy and it’s always been that way, so yeah I’d say so. Always really enjoyed listening to music and enjoyed the different emotions that come from different music.

What sort of bands would you cite as an influence?

It changes over time. When we first began it was Deaftones and Faith No More and grunge and that sort of stuff inspired us. These days it’s pretty hard for us to all agree on one band that we like.

How does it feel being cited as an influence for other bands?

It’s a great honour. From time to time I’ll be flicking through the classifieds and see a band wanting a guitarist like The Butterfly Effect and I just think ‘those poor kids have no idea!’.

Where do you get your inspiration for writing from?

That’s a good question! You can get it anywhere, sounds like a VB ad doesn’t it – you get it any old how, matter of fact I’ve got it now! Movies are really good for inspiration, we’ll get art house movies and that sort of stuff. Anything, sit down behind you kit and listen to something and just play along with it. It’s everywhere, you’ve just got to keep it fresh. While I’m gardening and planting plants I can be thinking of grooves or what I’d like to achieve with a certain song. So it’s everywhere.

So you’re a bit of a gardener?

I love gardening! I’m looking at the garden at the back of my house right now, looking at my gardenias that are in flower. It’s a good time for them, they only last for about a month, but it’s a good time.

Do you miss your garden when you’re on tour?

I do miss my garden! I get my partner to go outside on skype on the computer and I get her to try and show me the plants and how they’re growing and what’s starting to flower. I’m getting old!

If you weren’t in Butterfly Effect what would you be doing?

Probably playing drums trying to be in Butterfly Effect!

How do you cope being constantly on the road and touring?

I don’t know, you just do it. We’ve been doing it now for close to ten years and don’t seem to spend as much time on the road as we used to spend. I know that on the Imago tour we were away for close to four months, in which we came home for a week in the middle and then went again. We used to do it fine. It’s probably harder on our families than it is on us. We’re sort of veterans so to speak. You get into a routine and you learn to make it work for you. You can’t party too hard and you’ve got to eat healthy otherwise you’ll fall apart.

Do you have a favourite place you’ve toured?

Europe would be probably – just because it’s exciting and new to us.

Any pre-gig rituals?

I warm up for about an hour before hand. No beer, just stay focused.

What sort of things do you request for your rider?

Just pretty standard. Some beers, there’s nothing too crazy on there. Red bull, some m&ms, some snakes alive.

What’s next for you guys apart from heading overseas?

Just to write and get this next record finished.

When do you expect the next record to be released?

Early 2011 I’d say. It’s still quite early, still in the middle of writing the first couple of songs.

The Butterfly Effect will play at The Great Western in Rockhampton on October 30. Doors open at 6pm.

Originally published as A chat with Ben from The Butterfly Effect