Bonjah are back, fresh from playing to thousands at JuWi Festival in Germany and selling out their London show in 2012, Bonjah returned to Australia and headed straight into the studio to get down some new ideas for album number three.
Currently on the road for the first time in over 6 months, the band have promised to give us a taste of some new tracks their sets, along with old favourites their old albums. You can catch them on a bunch of dates along the east coast throughout February.
We caught up with Regan in between shows to find out which Australian music venue has the best food, where he likes to eat in his home town and his biggest cooking disaster.
What were your food influences when you were growing up and what kind of food did you eat at home or with your family?
My biggest memories of growing up were salads pretty much every night. Plenty of fish burgers, lentils, bake bean & hash brown bake. Really inventive stuff! Peanut butter, honey & banana on toast in the morning.
Influences I would say my Mum & Brother, I remember Mum being in the kitchen a lot & not really appreciating until I was much older. She can really cook. My brother is also a great cook, he got right into it at high school and I learnt a fair bit off him.
Where’s your favorite music venue to eat at and why?
That would be a tie between the Brass Monkey in Cronulla, Settlers Tavern in Margaret River, WA or Ding Dong in Melbourne. The Brass Monkey has incredible prawns, pizzas & the owner is just a top dude who really looks after artists who play there. Settlers portions are massive, its always really nice food & it goes down a treat after the drive from Perth. Ding Dong, well its just awesome isn’t it?
How hard is it to keep up a healthy diet on tour?
It’s pretty tough as the places you stop in the middle of nowhere don’t have a huge range of choices. In saying that it does all come down to personal choice and self control. It was a lot harder in the early days we we would literally be on endless tours over a period of 3-4 years. We didn’t have a penny to our name so a lot of pies were consumed as they are everywhere, cheap and filling. These days we all eat pretty well and are defiantly more health conscious. When you are playing your shows you want to be at your best and really full of energy, the biggest way to achieve that is drink as much water as poss, sleep when you can and eat well. Pretty basic and cliche but so true.
What music do you play when you’re cooking?
I got a CD recently in the Sth of France by these guys who were playing at the restaurant where we were eating. The vibe and musicianship on it is through the roof, its also really nice hearing something you don’t hear that often. Watching these guys play guitar so effortlessly just for a meal at the end of it was so inspiring. They didn’t have much but were so stoked just to be playing together.
Imagine for a second you can request anything on your rider at a gig. What food do you put on it?
I’m huge on Japanese food, I love it. I could eat it everyday so I would say fresh salmon or tuna sushi…. Anything Japanese really, the food they eat is just off the chart. Fresh & healthy too which is a bonus.
What has been your biggest cooking disaster to date?
My first roast chicken a few years ago, I was all happy and had everything under control. I had the chicken coming along nicely, the veges were doing there thing & I was proud as punch { I could barely boil an egg at the time so this was a big deal}. Then as I went to get the tray out of the oven I dropped it all over the floor and burnt my hand. Il never forget it. My girlfriend and I salvaged what we could and ate it anyway. It didn’t look the best but tasted awesome despite the odd crunch.
When you tour overseas on tour, what food from home do you miss the most?
Melbourne has the whole food thing down, we are so lucky to have so much on offer and eat like kings in this city. I would say I defiantly miss the breakfasts here. It is just not the same overseas, its either to greasy, not enough or something is over cooked. Its being a little picky as its always awesome to try the cuisine of wherever you are though. I also miss the coffee heaps, it is really hard to find a coffee done really well.
Where’s your favorite place to eat in your hometown?
Oki 2 Go in St Kilda, Naked Japan in Albert Park, The Convent in Abbotsford or Mama Seatas on Bourke St. All are so awesome it would be to hard to choose. I’m boarder line obsessed with these places! If you are ever in New Zealand you should check out my brothers ‘Cafe Strada’ in Masterton, The BEST food going round. You will not find better Eggs Bennidect or Steak sandwich than here!
This is your last day on earth, what would you eat as your final dessert?
Banoffee Pie, it is so yum and I just recently learnt how to make it.
Warning, it is highly addictive and hard to stop eating. Its easy to make too!
Enjoy!
