On 2 June 2020, coinciding with the BLM media blackout, Dead Letter Circus posted a black square to their Facebook page.
Fans supported the action, but have had hide nor hair from them since.Speculation as to their movements continued in the comments section of that post up to as recently as seven weeks ago, only for the band to resurface on social media last month, with a post about their forthcoming appearance at Wallapalooza Festival in November.
"We had never taken a break in the whole time DLC has been around," vocalist Kim Benzies says of their long absence.
"We did two small shows, the kind of shows you do for your mates, then our first proper show was about 1,000 people, then we never really stopped from there. "Our life from about 2007 was really just tour, write, tour, write – we never had a break, never really put any effort into the rest of our lives."
The onset of the coronavirus pandemic, however, presented the Queensland alternative rockers with the opportunity to take a break – no explanation offered, just to step back quietly.
"That home life and life around DLC – which will be life after DLC as well – none of us had had a chance to put any effort into that," Kim says.
"It was actually pretty amazing for us. I actually had a baby in this time as well, and I found it really incredible, the closeness, because I wasn't going away all the time. I really enjoyed that change of pace."
Though he's grateful for the respite, Kim is fervent when he says time apart from his bandmates was like losing an arm.
"We haven't been in the same room since our last show in February in WA. I found it a real effort not to bug the other guys and give them a bit of space," he says with a laugh.
"We'll be friends when we're old men, regardless of what we're doing." Dead Letter Circus still haven't come back together as a group, not physically anyway. The first time will be practicing for their set at Wallapalooza.
"Our rehearsals for this show will be our reunion – we'll be presenting new ideas, stuff that we've been writing in the gap on our own. Everyone's pretty refreshed from the break, that's the main thing.
"You kind of lose perspective over time about something that is such a dominant part of your life, especially for the people around you. It was really amazing – that first six months, it's almost like a novelty, not being a part of it."
Kim says he even went so far as to not listen to his own music for an extended period. "I went to the gym and started pumping through the albums after eight months of not listening to our stuff. There was almost this parting sense of I didn't write them – I'd forgotten how deep and powerful the music is from the band.
"I really appreciated it from a totally new perspective. I don't think there was any other way I could have taken a break with a pandemic coming along."
Rekindling his love for his craft, Kim contacted his bandmates immediately. "I called the guys and told them 'I'm blown away by what we created', and we all shared a similar story for having had a break. I think it's going to be a powerful thing for us on our swing back."
When the world first shutdown and the prospect of live shows seemed a long way from happening, Dead Letter Circus resisted the urge to join the wave of bands and artists embracing livestreams.
Rather, they preferred to wait until the time came when they could again experience the sweat and energy that comes with being in front of a real audience.
"We love the sweaty hands in the air, jump up and down," Kim says. "Just with the energy of how we do it, it's those moments for me that are so much about sharing a connected space with each other."
Their performance at Wallapalooza will invigorate Dead Letter Circus in a way that Kim says will launch them as a band again, to motivate them to write new music.
"We've got our own private moments captured from shows on our phones, and I've been looking at them going 'holy sh.t, we get to do that again!'
"I think it's going to be amazing. It's already been quite an emotion stirrer to know all that's coming and all the nerves and things that go with it.
"And the bands we get to play [at Wallapolooza] with as well – we've always been fans of Grinspoon, but The Butterfly Effect, they're like family to us – again, we'll know those people when we're old and our kids will be friends.
"It's the perfect gig for us to roll back into. It's the icing on the cake as far as the perfect comeback show."
Dead Letter Circus play Wallapalooza at Mudgeeraba Showgrounds (Gold Coast) 20 November.
