On Second Chances, Conquering Anxiety & Finding Strength By Embracing Vulnerability

Entering Fitzroy's Rochester Hotel, where both of today's interview subjects have previously called their place of employment, there's no mistaking the pair. Sitting over on the other side of the bar chatting with the bartender and clad in black, they definitely look like lifer musos. Strangers lead singer Ben Britton avoids beer while his bearded bandmate, vocalist/guitarist Mark Barnes, indulges. We all make our way out to the beer garden. 

Sony recently signed Strangers, which Britton says gave his band "a jumpstart of enthusiasm". "There's so many examples of bands these days that are just pushing through without any help and then labels kinda jump on board when the train's already rolling," he points out. "So our train came to a complete, burning stop and was robbed by four or five vicious cowboys [laughs]... We're just lucky that we get a second crack at it." When asked whether the Sony signing made their parents feel more comfortable with their career choices, Britton shares, "Dad's like, 'When are you gonna make some money?'"

"We'd come from our little fibro shack where the shower's, like, just gaffer taped onto the wall and then, like, arriving in Sydney airport and there's a guy holding a sign for "Strangers"."

Britton then shares some details on one of the band's meetings with Sony: "We'd come from our little fibro shack in Pascoe Vale South, all living together, where the shower's, like, just gaffer taped onto the wall and then, like, arriving in Sydney airport and there's a guy holding a sign for "Strangers", you know?" We joke about what the general public usually associate with major label signings — limos and massive advances, for example — and Barnes offers, "I try not to get caught up in that shit, you know what I mean? Like, it's just convenient that we don't have to wait in the cab line."  

The band received rave reviews when they supported Birds Of Tokyo on their national tour at the end of last year. So have they played any tracks off their forthcoming second album, Mirrorland, in live sets yet? "All bar one," Barnes illuminates. "I don't think we've done Sand yet."

Strangers released their debut, Persona Non Grata, back in 2012 and, on recording album number two, Barnes recalls, "It was definitely the most prepared we've ever been, going in the studio." Britton laughs, "We had enough fuckin' time!"      

While listening to the album's lead single (and title track), we're immediately floored by the song's dark, anxious themes ("Will I die here alone?"). Is this true to the inspiration behind the song? "It is," the band's frontman chuckles, before confessing, "I had really bad anxiety problems and depression, so I guess that whole record, and the theme of it all, is like — end of my rope, you know? And kind of crawling back." While in this "really shit place", Britton reveals, "I remember with the depression and anxiety and everything, I was getting to that stage of just going, like — I was suicidal a little bit, you know? ... I remember Tom [Larkin, producer] talkin' about it and saying, 'You've gotta open up to people and connect with people, because you're going through it and you can be that person to kind of be like... 'I've been through it, and it's fine'."   

But Britton admits that allowing himself to be vulnerable through song was "fuckin' scary", adding, "It's stress-inducing, putting yourself out there like that". "I kind of feel that there's a line you've gotta draw, and you've gotta have your own bubble, and you can't let people into that bubble sometimes 'cause people will take too much from what you're going through, maybe. But that's music; I guess you've gotta put yourself out there to connect... There's no way around it, like, there was no way around writing this record; I couldn't try and be somebody else."

At one stage, Britton says he was prescribed "pretty high" dose antidepressants, which he's since weaned himself off. Although Britton admits he still suffers from anxiety every "now and again", he mostly has it under control. "I exercise and try not to drink as much anymore," he divulges.

"The music industry has a total epidemic crisis on their hands when it comes to, you know, artists and mental health," Britton opines. "And, I mean, you can see it in the media — like, all that Sticky Fingers stuff at the moment and there's a guy who quite clearly needed help, you know? And wasn't given it — not defending his actions, but I kind of feel that, you know, he was diagnosed [with bipolar schizophrenia]." Britton's referring to Dylan Frost, whose band Sticky Fingers announced an indefinite hiatus following accusations of racial abuse. Britton concludes, "You're not fuckin' allowed — just because you're playing music — to act like a fuckwit."

Then Barnes weighs in: "I think we're a lucky band [in the way] that we've all gone to a dark place, but we've all got the other three to just give the other one a slap, or a hug, depending on what they're down about, you know? If we're just being a dick, then we're not afraid to tell each other that."