EXCLUSIVE: Kim From Dead Letter Circus Interviews 10 Years Ahead Of Aussie Tour

Local heavyweights Dead Letter Circus kick off their tour in support of new album Aesthesis in Bunbury tonight, playing a handful of shows before they're joined for the majority of the sojourn by Tennessee rockers 10 Years in Ballarat next Wednesday 7 October.

Since the two bands will be spending a healthy amount of time together in the near future, we thought it'd be a good idea to open channels of communication and see what they could learn about each other by having Dead Letter Circus vocalist Kim Benzie do our job for us get philosophical with 10 Years' Jesse Hasek ahead of their meet-up next week.

Here's what went down…

KB: Hey man, thanks so much for coming over. We've been trying to make this tour happen for a couple of years but we couldn't sync our schedules until now. We're pumped it's finally happening.

Soundwave was your second trip to Australia; I watched that show and was blown away with the love for you guys here, having had no radio play. It seems the Aussie underground is more than aware of 10 Years - how did it feel from the stage?

JH: It was overwhelming in a sense. We didn't expect it at all. It seems that Australia is naturally inclined toward the kind of music that we create. It felt natural in front of them - like we didn't have to win them over but they were already there with us.

KB:When you think back to that tour over here, what was the most Australian thing that happened?

JH: Walking down the beach - dodging jellyfish while the locals laughed at me and said "...it's just water... you should really watch out for the blue bottles". At that moment I realized just how tough you all are and felt pretty American at that point.

KB:Where a lot of the bands from the US lean on the aggression component of heavier music, you guys seem to really do your own thing. Did being a little outside of the box make it hard for you guys on the way up?

JH: I never stopped to think about it. We just did what did. We didn't really notice if we fit in or not. This many years later I think people have just come to accept us for whatever it is that we are.

KB: Some US bands are quite famous for creating strange words and outside of the English language. Did you ever secretly practice or try to create your very own Disturbed-style YammaNamma for 10 Years?

JH: Not really. I do love wordplay though, and that's where words like "Cali-formula" came from. Sesquipedalia. You're welcome.

KB: You guys have never been scared to use your music as a vessel for a message with often brutal, socially conscious lyrical content throughout your discography. Is this path something you fell into or always intended to do?

JH:It was an unintentional honesty that I've always had, I guess. My dad made the joke to me that I'm always making protest songs.

KB: You hail from a very extreme country where strong opinions can provoke very strong reactions. Have you experienced any blow-back from using your voice to shout your ideals?

JH: Thankfully, we're underground enough to where stupid people don't take notice. If I were a Kardashian or Justin Bieber I'd imagine there would've been some blow-back for sure.

KB: Seven albums deep now with the release of From Birth to Burial - I'm actually struggling to get my head around how deep into the rabbit hole you guys have gone with this project. This is a very confident-sounding record; was it an easier one to create?

JH: Not really, no. A lot of self-reflection and honesty comes from some pretty dark places. It comes from understanding your shortcomings and triumphs and tragedies.

KB: Fortunately, it also sounds like you guys are here to stay with more albums to come. Do you think you'll simply know when it's the last album?

JH: It'd be a hard to pill to swallow. Not sure. As long as I have something to say and a way to say it, then I'll keep doing it. I'd never run through the motions for monetary gain. Wouldn't be able to do it if I wasn't proud if it.

KB: As we are taking you to some regional, out-of-the-way places on this tour, do you have any boxes you need ticked or bucket-list kinda shit that only deep Australian culture can provide?

JH: I would love to kill and eat a kangaroo with my bare hands. Then wear its dead skin as a victory garment.

KB:If someone made an animated movie about your band and the entire cast had to be Australian animals voiced by Australian actors, who would you cast, and as what?

JH: Me - Nicole Kidman as a cat spider (ouch)
Tater - Will Farrell as Chris Farley (figure it out)
Chad - Russell Crow as Tugger the Tugboat (South Park)
Bass - Jim Jeffreys as an Immu
Kyle - Heath Ledger as a gay dingo.

For a full rundown of dates, venues and booking information for Dead Letter Circus' Aesthesis tour, featuring very special guests 10 Years, see theGuide or The Music App.