Alt-soul rockers The Benjees' are set to release their debut album Alright Alright Alright on July 14, but Music Times is exclusively premiering the music video for the single "Filthy F$cking Rich" ahead of time.
The New York-based band started in 2014 after a series of mishaps. Both the drummer, Graham Doby, and the keyboardist, Martin McDonald, joined The Benjees while in between projects after breaking up with their previous bands. After Ben Roberts, the band's lead singer/guitarist forgot to cancel an audition for a bass player, Joe Visconti joined them as well. The band then started gaining recognition after their performance at last year's CMJ festival.
"The whole idea behind being 'rich' really isn't about having a ton of money; it's about being able to do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. And yeah, 'money can't buy you happiness,' but it sure the f*ck helps get you started," Roberts said about the inspiration for the song.
With influences from Jack White and The Beastie Boys, their first music video, shot in New York City, shows a fun, playful and comedic side of The Benjees to go along with their raucous music, which has hints of punk and soul mixed in.
"The Benjees have always been about having a good time, and this was no exception. We had a late show the night before and we partied as quickly as possible after the show before we had to wake up at the crack of dawn and get ready to shoot. It was the only day everyone involved could do it, so we bit the bullet and did it, despite zero to little sleep," said Roberts.
Despite the rush, everything worked out.
"It all went pretty much according to plan, which is always scary for some reason because you're just waiting for the sh*t to hit the fan and then it never does, so you're left hanging. Everybody involved did a great job and went way beyond our expectation, we were lucky. We shot it gorilla style in Union Square, and there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong, from police to weather, to the random strangers we encountered throughout the day. We were handing out real money, and money does strange things to people. With this video, we wanted it to take you away for a minute and make you wonder about what you might do without any financial worries at all. Imagine if you didn't need to worry about another bill again in your life? What would you do?"
Check out the clip for yourself:
The Benjees are hosting a record release party at The Bowery Electric on July 10 and hope to begin an East Coast tour in September. For tour dates and other information on the band, head over to their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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