Benee | Austin City Limits

Photographed by Lauren Castro

New Zealand singer and songwriter Benee has proven she is not just ‘a viral’ during her weekend one set at Austin City Limits.

After garnering a fanbase seemingly overnight, TikTok took ahold of her songs “Glitter” and “Supalonely” and ran with it. From viral dances to collage-type videos, the two songs had a strong hold over users during the worldwide quarantine. 

Benee has just finished off her Euro tour and has landed back in the states for a few performances. Flaunt caught up with her after her set and talked about being in your early 20s, cursing in her songs, and new music on the way.

How are you so comfortable on stage? You came out guns blazing during your set earlier.

Thank you. I kind of just blacked out, man. Like, you know, just do my thing. It's weird. I'm a super, super anxious person but soon as I start, when I get on stage, the fear is just not even there because there's so much of it. You know what I mean? It's adrenaline. I'm just so stoked to be here like people are listening to me right now?

Do you have to hype yourself up before you go on stage?

No, I've already got weirdly massive amounts of energy…I definitely crash but I mean, if I have a show, I chill all day and let all the energy out when I go out.

How’s the tour going?

We're going to Mexico City tomorrow morning, really early. It's been so freakin cool to get back into it. We were in LA for like five months or something after the tour, but before that, we did Europe and then ended up in the states and Canada…it was just so nice being able to reconnect with all the people over here…some people I hadn't seen in like two years. So yeah, it's been really nice.

You’re from New Zealand but you live in Los Angeles right?

I’m actually in the process of moving top of next year [to] somewhere in LA mainly because it's kind of like where the music hub is now. I also love it. A lot of parts of it definitely need a bit of…the 1% and then like people on the streets in tents is so sad. 

It was like a huge shock to us like the healthcare as well. When I first got here, I saw someone lying on the ground on the street and I was like, ‘oh my god, call an ambulance.’ And also plastic…specifically plastic cutlery. I’m out here like ‘guys, we need to save the planet.’

I’m 22. You’re 22. What’s your advice for your fellow 20-somethings?

I like being young. Now, I can’t get away with certain things. I’ve gotta act normal.

If you're 20-something now, we're kind of in the weirdest time to be branching into real life and like working and shit… and the weight of the world and everything that's going on right now. You know, I think you have every reason to feel how you’re feeling. A lot of us are feeling sad. 

I mean, it's gonna get better. It can only go up. Honestly, just ride that life wave. It's gonna test you,it's gonna put you through a lot of shit but part of living is pain and dealing with shit and like people go through a lot and especially now, I don't know anyone who has not gone through something. So you know, we're strong. 

How do your parents feel about using curse words in your songs? For example, your song ‘Beach Boy’ plays on the similar sounds of ‘beach’ and ‘bitch’ which is genius.

They don’t really mind and we don’t really talk about it. Though, I have a song called ‘Plain’ and I wasn’t trying to make it about one person or bring down another person. My mother thought that and doesn’t like the song. 

So yeah, unless it's like something that isn't appropriate or super inappropriate or whatever. Sometimes my mom is like, ‘oh, God, did you have to say that?’ Most of the time, they just love it. They're very supportive. They're adorable. My dad always cries at my gigs, it’s so cute.

You've been collaborating with a lot of different people, like, especially in the past year. What is it? What's your favorite part about collabing?

I mean, the way that I've done all my collabs have been like people send them to me. I did a lot of them on tour, like writing just in my hotel room– had my seat up and recorded it and then send it back. I mean, it’s always kind of fun. I always find that when I write in my room…I don't know, it’s way better. I’m always better writing at home compared to when I'm in a studio with my producer. When I'm in the studio with my producer, I feel like I'm super comfy. But like, you know, sometimes when you're working with new people, it's not the same. 

I just also love that they've come up with this thing that you didn't come up with and it’s like, what are you going to add to it? You know? It's a really interesting process and it's really fun to just share that artist's vision. I love all the artists that I've collabed with because they’re all doing something that I'm not doing I guess.

Who’s your dream collaborator?

Probably James Blake to be honest.

So I heard you have new music coming. What can you tell me about it?

I've been playing a new song called ‘Green Honda’ and a new song called ‘Morning Routine’ and both are quite… It's definitely a different energy for me. I just have recently loved songs that I make that I can imagine going off at a show because those are the most fun to sing. I don't know, they kind of hit a different spot. When I'm listening to New Music Friday, sometimes you hear a song and you feel the bass…it touches you or something and you're like, ‘Ah!’ so I don't know, I feel like that kind of ‘mmph’ is what I’m wanting in this new music. I feel I'll do a sad and slow album in a couple years but right now, I just want upbeat shit, you know?