We're half way through this decade already, and the news for musicians is doom and gloom the world over - record sales are down, venues are closing - and everyone is trying to figure out how the fuck they can make music for a living and not be starving in a gutter. Well, our old chum Benny Mayhem has found at least one way, having spent the last year busking around the UK and Europe. And while that might not be quite as hifalutin as the '80s fantasy of being a Learjetted rock star, if you get to travel the world playing music to people who pay you for it, who gives a shit? It has always been the music that matters most.

It all came about like this: Benny Mayhem finds himself without a band after his (much loved) Western Australian punk rock ensemble Project Mayhem go tits-up. Wanting to travel anyway, Benny opted out of starting a new band right away and took to the road with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a bagful of songs; forging a solo identity as a folk-punk troubadour that he could literally take anywhere. So he did... A year busking around the UK and Europe, and Benny Mayhem's solo adventure has been epic from the get-go.

So, the time has come to record all of the songs that have come from Benny Mayhem's European busking adventure and put them out into the digital world so folks can have a listen. The first song up is Mindless Greg The Media Consumer; a catchy folk-punk tune with a swaying, sea shanty-like vocal melody and a kazoo solo that could launch a thousand ships. Underneath the old-world-ness; the immediacy of Benny Mayhem's trademark lyrics and social observations. All up, a bloody good little tune that absolutely captures the feel and swagger of Benny Mayhem's folk-punk troubadour soul.

So as the world adjusts to the new order of things, and musicians reinvent their way of thinking about making a living, Benny Mayhem has gone back to one of the most traditional and successful methods: getting off your arse and playing in front of other humans. So far it is working a treat.
credits
released November 28, 2014

Guitar vox and kazoo by Benny Mayhem
Recorded and mixed by Paul O'Nell at Spirit Recording Studio, London
Mastered by Tony Mantz at Jack The Bear's Deluxe Mastering, Melbourne
Greg rendered by Dominique Rae at Blue Beast Design, Perth
Art design and direction by Mike Wafer at Fuck Yeah! Media, Perth
Media servicing and digital distro by Firestarter Distribution, Brisbane
With thanks to Aaron Harry, the Mayhem Family and Adam Weston