When the Hungry Kids of Hungary disbanded in 2013, bassist Ben Dalton could easily have chosen the road walked by many musicians before him: take up booze, hard drugs and a corner of the local pub and moan to whoever would listen about how he “used to be famous, man.”
To be honest, I’m pretty sure this never really occurred to him. But he did say he was open to any avenue in the months after the band parted ways. He even considered the bleak possibility of trading in music for the stability of his day job in the financial world. Thankfully this idea didn’t last long.
Throughout his soul searching, the concept of starting a new band just kept interjecting itself. “I had a chat to some friends who were keen on the idea as well and we just decided, let’s do some crazy rock music. And it worked out really well.”
Ben admits the idea of starting again from scratch was daunting. “I was hesitant at first because just being the bass player of a band that ended, I didn’t think anyone would really give a shit. And they probably still don’t so I’ve had to continually prove myself (to myself as well) that I can write songs and be a front man. It’s a whole new game. It’s challenging; but it’s been rewarding because it’s so challenging.”This time round, Ben has a lot more creative ownership within the band, right down to the name itself which is taken from his initials, BJD. “Instead of just being ‘the Ben Dalton Band’, I wanted it to be a bit more random, more interesting and that’s where this idea of the Born then the Joy then the Dead came from. It’s an expression of life.”
The thing about starting an indie rock band is, you’re competing with an endless ocean of other indie rock bands and, no offence to the genre, but so much of it all just sounds the same. What is it then that makes Born Joy Dead unique?
To Ben, it’s the pure joy they have in performing, the variety of their influences and the fact that they’re going beyond the bounds of the genre and pushing limits. At the moment the band is exploring Frank Zappa, John Zorn, Mike Patton from Faith no More and as much 'weird jazz stuff' as they can get their hands on.
Reminiscing on his earlier influences, Ben says they’ve been eclectic and ever-changing right from the start. Apart from a few years of Nu Metal fandom (which he refers to as a “dark period”), he has pretty strong 90’s roots and loved the diversity at the time. Sonic Youth and Weezer were both iconic indie bands but each had such different sounds. “I think my first album was Oasis ‘Definitely Maybe’. Learning my pop chops as a kid. The three chord songs. My first concert was John Farnham though... I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Ben is quite outspoken about modern indie music. “It’s easy to write a four on the floor indie club tune but to be successful in indie circles it’s almost more important how you look on stage, how many beers you’ve drunk up there and how fucked up you look. That’s not us. We’re very performance driven and we’re keen to try all sorts of stuff, try and fit it into this indie pop genre and make it a little bit freaky.”
With his beard, glasses and quirky band (complete with quirky band name), Ben looks suspiciously similar to your typical indie rock hipster. But, in a vast genre replete with sameness, he is just that little bit different. He shyly admits, “I do have a beard but that’s just because I hate my chin. I’ll never have a funky moustache with wax in it. I just can’t pull that off. Good on the people who can though.”
Ben’s upfront in saying that he’s not trying to be anything and he’s not trying to impress you; he’s simply having a kick-ass time making tunes he loves with a bunch of good mates. “I’m just doing it for the love of the music. I don’t mind if people hate us. I’d rather they strongly hate us or strongly enjoy us. I don’t want to be bland, I don’t want to be in the middle.”
Brisbane crowds certainly aren’t noobs when it comes to indie and it seems they’ve been really appreciating this honesty and joy for music. During Born Joy Dead’s first headline show at The Brightside in February, Ben was stoked to see how much people were getting into it. And, with their first EP about to be released, he’s already eager to find out what their second album’s going to sound like.
“The journey’s been tough but totally worth it. I haven’t been happier I don’t think.”
Born Joy Dead's debut EP ‘Stones In My Shoe' is out 17 April. They launch it at Black Blear Lodge 8 May.
