⚡️💥 VIDEO PREMIERE: "Scratch That Itch"
Plus Benny J Ward Talks About His Solo Music & Rinehearts
Benny J Ward cannot be contained.
While Ward’s outstanding Perth-based band Rinehearts worked on Full Bloom (Cheersquad Records & Tapes, Oct. 13) with power pop legend Dom Mariani (The Stems, DM3), Ward built a home studio and started cranking out some equally incredible solo material.
The result is a run of five stellar garage pop singles (also released by Cheersquad)—“Up and Down,” “Tell Me Tell Me,” “Televisions!” and “I Didn’t Mean It.” Today we’re proud to premiere the video for his most recent single “Scratch That Itch.”
“Basically, ‘Scratch That Itch’ is a letter to myself about wanting to write music I want to hear. It’s a bit reflective, and I guess somehow telling myself and others to just do it, write the songs the way you want them to go, paint the image how you see it,” Ward told me in the interview below.
⚡️💥 VIDEO PREMIERE: “Scratch That Itch”
Benny J Ward Interview
Congrats on all the great new music! What's the reason behind this current flurry of activity?
Benny J Ward: Thank you! I’ve always been in a musical flurry, but lately it’s been taken to another level through building a studio at our house. My head has just cracked wide open and I can’t stop. I’ve also given myself permission for that to be ok! I’ve stopped worrying about why and how and I’m just doing. I just want to write and release for the pure enjoyment and artistic pleasure of it.
“I have a computer bursting at the seams with song ideas, I can usually tell which ones the guys would dig for Rinehearts and which would be better suited to BJW.”
"Scratch That Itch" really brings to mind the best of Alex Chilton and Guided by Voices. Any particular inspirations for this song?
Benny J Ward: Wow, huge, I love that. Yes for sure, I have been listening to Billy Childish lately, it’s not as garage and unhinged as his music but he has been inspiring me lately. I watched a great short documentary on him and it really stoked some fires.
Big Star, The Byrds, The Beatles have all been in my mind for a while now whilst writing these tunes and working on the Rinehearts album. I have two close friends who are obsessed with Guided By Voices and Rinehearts often get likened to them.
I really love the ‘70s punk energy of your previous solo single "I Didn't Mean It." Who are some of your favorite punk and pop bands of all time?
Benny J Ward: My favorite punk band would have to be The Clash—me and my friends grew up listening to them when we started our first bands. My friend brought me their self titled album. Initially I didn’t know what to make of it, when it clicked I was hooked. It was like some fuse broke in my brain in the best kind of way.
I love fast paced stuff like OFF! too. The rock and roll greatness of The Stooges and MC5 are right up there for me. I love a lot of the Australian ‘70s/’80s bands—Saints, Radio Birdman, Lime Spiders. That stuff is incredible.
“Rinehearts is for Rinehearts and solo is for solo. I see them as two different things, both bring me great pleasure and I feel very fortunate to be able to do it all.”
On the pop side of things, definitely bands like The Stems, Hoodoo Gurus and modern (what I’d call) garage bands like Parquet Courts, Eddy Current, Royal Headache. I also love the pop harmonies of The Beach Boys, Beatles and Association very much. I don’t feel like an angry punk, I love the urgency of it all and the feeling it gives me, but I think the pop element of my songwriting is more the person I am.
Rinehearts also has a new Dom Mariani-produced album out called Full Bloom. How did you decide which songs should be solo releases and which were best suited to Rinehearts?
Benny J Ward: Yes, we are incredibly proud of the record and can’t wait for people to hear it.
Well, Rinehearts is collaborative and we share ideas, that’s how the songs get to where they end up. I have a computer bursting at the seams with song ideas, I can usually tell which ones the guys would dig for Rinehearts and which would be better suited to BJW. I also wrote a lot of the solo stuff during the recording of Full Bloom as that process took around a year and a half, so I needed to keep Scratching That Itch (pardon the pun…) while I was waiting to finish the record.
Cheersquad Records also suggested I give it a go and my wife also pushed me in that direction. I think they could all see I can’t sit still and I’m a much better person to be around when I’m occupied and busy hahaha.
Rinehearts have some upcoming tour dates. Can fans expect any of your solo material on the set lists?
Benny J Ward: Yes we have a tonne of really exciting shows coming up, we really can’t wait to get out there. As far as solo songs go, I’ve Just started doing shows with my two friends Matt and Dylan (Benny J Ward and The Matt Dylan’s). We’re doing all the solo songs and are currently recording more. So Rinehearts is for Rinehearts and solo is for solo. I see them as two different things, both bring me great pleasure and I feel very fortunate to be able to do it all.
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The second volume of our semi-annual music journal features some of today's best music writers and the most talented modern musicians:
Ryan Allen on The Ties That Bind Hardcore Punk & Power Pop
Tyler Asay on the Philadelphia Power Pop Scene
Eric Beetner on Kate Clover's Bleed Your Heart Out
John M. Borack on The Muffs' Legacy
Walter Chaw on the Pretty Flowers
Nadja Dee on Fountains of Wayne
Marko DeSantis on Uni Boys
S.W. Lauden on The Replacements' Lasting Influence
Allen Lulu on Kurt Baker: The Spain Years
Aidil Rusli on Southeast Asian Guitar Pop
Other bands quoted and covered in this issue include Sloan, Young Guv, Supercrush, Extra Arms, Couple, Best Bets, the Speedways, The Tisburys, 2nd Grade, Hurry, Billy Tibbals and many, many more!
Dug that. Need to check out the Rinehearts album too.
Thanks! More great discoveries!