Dead Letter Circus are an Australian alternative rock band from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. Their 2010 debut album ''

This Is the Warning ''This Is the Warning'' is the debut album by Australian alternative/progressive rock band Dead Letter Circus. It was released on Friday 14 May 2010 and distributed by Warner Music Australia. For those who pre-ordered the album on the band's web ...

'' debuted at No. 2 on the Australian album charts and spawned a number of singles that were played heavily on radio, and was later certified Gold and voted by listeners into

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's ''Hottest 100 Albums of All Time'', at number 86. The band's third studio album, Aesthesis, was released on 14 August 2015.

History

2004–2008: Formation and self-titled EP

Three members of the defunct Brisbane band Ochre formed Dead Letter Circus in late 2004, releasing one self-titled EP, and the singles "Disconnect and Apply", " Next in Line" and "

The Space on the Wall "The Space on the Wall" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Dead Letter Circus, released in August 2009 as the lead single from their debut studio album ''This Is the Warning ''This Is the Warning'' is the debut album by Australi ...

". "Disconnect and Apply" received significant radio play on

, where it became one of their most played tracks. They performed at the

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

Come Together Music Festival Come Together is an all-ages Australian music festival performed at Luna Park Sydney. Beginning in 2005, it was originally two separate events, one in April and one in September. In 2006, a two-day festival was held in June (on the Queen's Birth ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

and the Over-Cranked Music Festival in

- performing with bands such as

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

, Cog, Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect, Chevelle and

Helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

. They also toured Australia extensively on their own headline tours. In 2008, drummer Scott Davey left the group and was replaced by Luke Williams from Melodyssey. On 30 October 2008, Dead Letter Circus began their ''Next in Line'' tour to coincide with the release of the single, playing primarily with Australian bands Melodyssey (still featuring Williams) and Rook. On 29 November 2008, they performed at

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

's Open Arms Festival in NSW. On 4 September 2009, Dead Letter Circus released the single "The Space on the Wall", supported by a national tour with guest bands

Sydonia Sydonia was an alternative rock/metal band formed in 1997 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band consisted of Dana Roskvist, Adam Murray, Sean Bailey and Sam Haycroft, who was replaced by Ant Connelly, after he left to pursue other ventures. The ba ...

and Many Machines on Nine. Following a showcase at

Musexpo MUSEXPO is an international music, media & technology conference based in Los Angeles. Since its inception in 2005, MUSEXPO has played host to thousands of executives from all around the world and showcased 100+ artists from dozens of countries, m ...

, Dead Letter Circus signed with Warner Bros. Records in Australia and New Zealand and CAA for live bookings in North America, and toured the eastern states of Australia in late January through to early March 2010.

2010–2011: ''This Is the Warning''

On 16 February 2010, Dead Letter Circus revealed via MySpace that their debut album was complete. he band announced a ''This Is the Warning'' album launch tour, playing shows in most major capital cities in Australia through April - June 2010. The album was released on 14 May 2010, titled ''

''. It had its debut at Number 2 on the ARIA Album Chart. Dead Letter Circus supported

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...

at their Brisbane shows on 5 and 6 December 2010. They also supported

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drumm ...

on their Sydney and Melbourne shows on their

A Thousand Suns World Tour A Thousand Suns World Tour was the worldwide sixth concert tour by American rock band Linkin Park. The tour supported the band's fourth studio album ''A Thousand Suns''. The tour ranked 35th in Pollstar's "Top 50 Worldwide Tour (Mid-Year)", earni ...

. In early 2011 they played another headline tour of Australian capital cities with

Floating Me Floating Me (sometimes stylised as FLOATINGME) were a progressive rock group from Sydney, Australia, featuring Lucius Borich from Cog, Jon Stockman of Karnivool and Andrew Gillespie, Antony Brown and Tobias Messiter from the '90s grunge/metal ...

. In May 2011, it was announced that the band had signed a deal with

Sumerian Records Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen. On 9 May 2011, ''This is the Warning'' was released in the US, with a short UK tour in June and July to promote the release. The band later extended summer tour into the US, supporting

Animals As Leaders Animals as Leaders is an American instrumental progressive metal band from Washington, D.C. It currently consists of guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka, having been formed by Abasi in 2007. They are a prominent b ...

in a 24-city national tour from July to August. Afterwards, the band returned to Australia for a 21 date national tour to raise awareness about the dangers of

coal seam gas Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Au ...

titled the "No Fracking Way Tour". Rob Maric explained the theme of the tour, stating, "it's important to everyone. The planet is descending into complete self-destruction. Musicians have a fortunate position of influence so it's a good opportunity to just say to a large amount of people 'hey, check out this topic'. I respect artists more than politicians so when they speak, I tend to listen."

2012–2014: ''The Catalyst Fire''

The band started work on a new album in early 2012. According to Benzie, the album may take a more electronic approach than ''This Is the Warning;'', stating "I think we're kind of in a cyborg half-human, half-robot stage at the moment. Yeah, I definitely think we could (be going in an electronic direction). We're leaning toward a bigger, fatter sound, rather than just the guitars." Benzie also stated that thematically, the album would explore the issues of the first album, but build on those as if it were a second chapter in a first person narrative; "Most of the next one’s going to be a bit of the after-effect: how can you combat things like that (not feeling in control of your own life)? How can small people deceive world bankers? The answer will actually be everyone – what everyone does within their individual bubble, how we choose to act, and if that will butterfly effect out." Benzie also said the band aims to have a worldwide release by the end of 2012. In an interview with ''Chemical Magazine'' in early 2012, they stated that they hope to go into the studio near the beginning of March and have stated that the new album will have a similar feel to songs like "Cage" "This Long Hour" and "The Space on the Wall". Via their Facebook page, "Our new single 'Wake Up' was officially added to rotation on triple j radio today! If you are keen to hear it then simply drop a request between 6–9pm weeknights." On 1 May 2012, the band released "Wake Up" as a free download on their website. The band performed at a concert in India during November, at Waves '12, a cultural festival of the

BITS Pilani Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a Deemed university in Pilani, Jhunjhunu, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. After expansion to a campus in Dubai, it has ...

, K.K. Birla Goa Campus.
In early January 2013, guitarist and founding member Rob Maric announced he would leave the band. Maric had been largely absent from the band's activities in 2012 and decided he would not return. On 8 January 2013, the band announced Clint Vincent from Melodyssey as the "new guy". The 8th happened to be Vincent's birthday, with the post stating it was the "perfect time for an introduction." The group immediately went on to perform at the

festival (Gold Coast only) on 19 January and the ''Breath of Life'' festival in Tasmania in March, before heading off on a limited national tour. The band signed with record label

UNFD UNFD (pronounced as an initialism ˈjuːˈenˈefˈdiː/ is an independent record label based in Melbourne, Australia. The label is home to a number of Australian artists including Thornhill, Ocean Grove, Hellions and In Hearts Wake, and int ...

in April 2013, to release the second album. On 28 June, Dead Letter Circus announced their second studio album titled '' The Catalyst Fire'' was due for release on 9 August 2013. On 5 July, Dead Letter Circus released the new video for their single "Lodestar", directed by Lori Balotti. On 29 August 2014, preceding 4 sold out acoustic shows, Dead Letter Circus released a surprise acoustic EP titled '' Stand Apart'' which contained 6 re-imagined songs from The Catalyst Fire.

2015–2017: ''Aesthesis''

On 20 February, Dead Letter Circus teased their third album on their official Twitter page. Following that post, several different posts were released featuring the band working on their third album. On 8 May, Dead Letter Circus released a new single entitled "While You Wait". On 10 July, Dead Letter Circus announced on their Facebook page that their third album, ''Aesthesis'', will be released in Australia and New Zealand on 14 August 2015. It debuted at No. 2 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

on 22 August.

2017–present: ''The Endless Mile'' and self-titled album

In February 2017, the band announced ''The Endless Mile'', an album including reimaginations of songs from their back catalogue, including from their self-titled first EP. In March, the band announced that a new studio album of original material would follow. The band began recording in August 2017 with Forrester Savell. The band's self-titled fourth studio album was released on 21 September 2018. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2019 The ARIA Music Awards of 2019 are the 33rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) and consist of a series of awards, including the 2019 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA ...

, ''Dead Letter Circus'' was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.

Musical style and influences

The band have cited rock acts such as

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates b ...

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...

, Soundgarden,

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

and

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

as influences on the band, while also crediting electronic artists such as

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

and UNKLE. The band, however, acknowledges that "while we don't sound like a mash up of these bands, they have all definitely infused our minds with a love for writing epic, layered and high energy songs." The creative process has been described as spontaneous and improvisational, with the band often finishing the structure of content of songs in the recording studio. According to Benzie, "the guys are very much improvisational players. If we have a basic structure, what we do generally is Rob and I create the seeds f the songs and we'll take them with the band into the studio and just jam around it – record everything and then have a listen and then put the bits together. We developed this knack of finding out which songs are flowing. We don’t ever write whole songs before we go into the studio. We generally take the seeds of songs."

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

has described the band's sound as "delay-based guitar textures...interlaced with subtle synth undercurrents, creating complex patterns out of a set of simple rhythms without cutting down on melody...executed with a surgical precision that recalls the incarnation of

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, ...

promoted by Maserati -- while the sheer intensity brings to mind

God Is an Astronaut God Is an Astronaut are an Irish post-rock band from County Wicklow, formed in 2002 by Niels and Torsten Kinsella. Their style employs elements of electronic music, krautrock, and space rock, reminiscent of Tangerine Dream. The band currently co ...

more than

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...

." ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' describes the band as "frenetic rock" but within it "lies a clarity and self-assuredness punctuated by Maric's undulating guitar work and Benzie's vocals. The songs also have a positive message, led by Benzie's state of mind." They have been compared to

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership for ...

and Karnivool as well.

Members

Current * Kim Benzie – vocals, keyboards, percussion (2005–present) * Stewart Hill – bass (2005–present) * Luke Williams – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) * Clint Vincent – guitar (2013–present) * Luke Palmer - guitar (2015–present) Former members * Scott Davey – drums, percussion and backing vocals (2005–2009) * Rob Maric – guitar (2005–2012) * Tom Skerlj – guitar, keyboards, percussion (2011–2014) ;Timeline ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2005 till:31/12/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:2005 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2005 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:Guitar2 value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards,_percussion id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:EP value:gray(0.4) legend:EP LineData = layer:back at:05/05/2007 color:EP at:01/11/2008 color:EP at:14/05/2010 color:studio layer:back at:09/08/2013 color:studio at:29/08/2014 color:EP at:14/08/2015 color:studio at:21/09/2018 color:studio BarData = bar:Benzie text:"Kim Benzie" bar:Maric text:"Rob Maric" bar:Vincent text:"Clint Vincent" bar:Skerlj text:"Tom Skerlj" bar:Palmer text:"Luke Palmer" bar:Hill text:"Stewart Hill" bar:Davey text:"Scott Davey" bar:Williams text:"Luke Williams" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Benzie from:start till:end color:Vocals bar:Benzie from:start till:01/01/2011 color:Keys width:3 bar:Benzie from:01/01/2015 till:end color:Keys width:3 bar:Maric from:start till:01/01/2013 color:Guitar bar:Maric from:start till:01/01/2011 color:Guitar2 width:3 bar:Skerlj from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2015 color:Guitar2 bar:Skerlj from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2015 color:Keys width:3 bar:Vincent from:01/01/2013 till:end color:Guitar bar:Palmer from:01/01/2015 till:end color:Guitar2 bar:Hill from:start till:end color:Bass bar:Davey from:start till:01/01/2009 color:Drums bar:Davey from:start till:01/01/2009 color:Vocals width:3 bar:Williams from:01/01/2009 till:end color:Drums bar:Williams from:01/01/2009 till:end color:Vocals width:3

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ,

AIR Awards of 2017 The AIR Awards of 2017 is the eleventh annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Queen's Theatre Adelaide, Australia on 27 July 2017. This is the first ...

, ''Aesthesis'' , Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavey or Punk Album , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - , 2010 , , ''This Is the Warning'' , , ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album , , , , ARIA Award previous winners. , - , 2015 , , ''Aesthesis'' , , ARIA Award for Best Rock Album , , , , ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , ''Dead Letter Circus'' , , Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album , , , ,

Queensland Music Awards

The

Queensland Music Awards The Queensland Music Awards (commonly known as QMA and known as the Q Song Awards from 2006 to 2010) are annual awards celebrating Queensland's emerging artists. They commenced in 2006. Each year, the QMA Song of the Year is immortalised in a ...

(previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating

Queensland, Australia ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006. , - ,

, "The Armour You Own" , Heavy Song of the Year , , -

References

External links

Official site

Sonic Bids Artist Profile - Dead Letter Circus
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Brisbane Australian progressive metal musical groups