What Bonjah Learnt Playing On The Streets.

With the release of Evolution, the first single off third album Beautiful Wild, Bonjah confirmed their reputation as tight, toe-tapping groove merchants capable of convincing even those unfamiliar with the Melbourne outfit to get a bit of a booty shake going on. We’d heard those deliciously fuzzy guitar tones before, alluding to a shift towards rock, but the record’s release has confirmed this proper. 

“The writing process was a little bit different this time around,” begins the raspy-voiced frontman Glenn Mossop. “I put together a lot of demos for the guys to listen over; although we came together after each demo was done, it was a little bit different because we didn’t all get together and write. I think it’s been three years since the last album so there was a lot of progression in that sense from the roots sort of days. I guess we’ve sort of grown more electric and blues in that way. It’s just something that was a natural progression for us to move into this sort of sound because it’s been so long, and we’ve gathered different influences along the way, especially over three years and as you get a bit older. I was sick of the acoustic guitar – I really wanted to play electric.”

"I was sick of the acoustic guitar – I really wanted to play electric."

With a couple of early July warm-up shows in Melbourne selling out, Mossop was pleased with the reception of the new material.

“We’re still getting comfortable playing them live, but it’s really nice to have that uncertainty when you play live as well. It kind of gives it a little bit more of an organic feel to the set when you’re playing new songs and you as a band are still finding the groove in it. It’s exciting and they’re really fun to play, and I think everyone’s getting into them, which is great. The set now is a lot livelier with a lot of the songs on the new album so you can really let loose and get in there. We’ve always found that we love to really come out of our shells when we play live and the last two records, as much as we tried, I don’t think the songs really let us get there. But with this album they are.”

As Bonjah settles into the new live dynamic, Mossop has noticed a change in their audience too.

“We’ve been gathering a little bit more of a variety of people to the shows now with the new record because it’s got that little bit of grit behind it, so that’s really cool to see. We’re getting new fans coming to shows so the crowd is changing a bit, but it’s still a good time. I’m noticing a lot more older men coming to the shows. I think it was ‘cause the first album was very clean – not to say that girls don’t like rock‘n’roll either ‘cause there’s plenty out there that do – but I guess it was a certain type of crowd with each record.”

With the national album tour keeping the outfit busy until the end of October, Mossop shares some insights on their preparations.

“It’s very organic for us. We rehearse a little bit, but to be honest we don’t really prepare that much. We don’t like to pre-rehearse or anything like that, so yeah, it will be a really organic tour and what happens on the night happens on the night. I can’t really say what will happen, we’ll see,” he chuckles.

Though such an attitude may appear lackadaisical, the Bonjah lads can back it. They’ve done their time on the streets honing their craft and this shared history allows them to play with the intimacy of family members who know each other’s nuances. The ‘whatever goes’ approach is therefore a huge part of Bonjah’s appeal.

"We spent so much time playin’ on the street when we first arrived and we kind of learnt how to jam"

“We’d be a very different act, and very rehearsed and playing every song as it’s meant to be, so I’m glad for those [days busking]. As much as we weren’t eating well and we didn’t have much money to our names, that didn’t matter – we were doin’ what we loved. We spent so much time playin’ on the street when we first arrived and we kind of learnt how to jam, and trust each other and wherever it went it just went. You get comfortable in feeding off each other and following each other wherever that might go. We’ve been playing long enough together that it’s kind of an interesting connection because without saying anything you know when people are gonna change. It’s really cool to feel that and be a part of that on stage.”