From tension to release: The Butterfly Effect is back from the brink

Today heralds a new era for Brisbane rockers The Butterfly Effect, releasing their fourth full-length album, IV, after a lengthy hiatus.

For vocalist Clint Boge, this album marks a triumphant return to The Butterfly Effect of yore. “I hope everyone reasonates with it because there’s a lot of love that went into it,” he says, which is a far cry from the tension which prompted Boge to leave the band in early 2012.

Following Boge’s not-so-amicable departure, bandmates Kurt Goedhart, Ben Hall and Glenn Esmond tried to continue performing under the TBE banner with new recruit Paul Galagher on vocals, but things were never quite the same.

“When I left the band I just really needed some time out, I just wasn’t in a good spot,” Boge adds. “We were really toxic, the relationships were breaking down, and I just thought to myself – I need a break.”

Citing creative differences as a primary reason for leaving the band, Boge admits a lot of it boiled down to mental health.

“We weren’t really talking about [mental health] as much as we are now, which is a little bit sad – but I’m glad that we’re having those conversations more so now than we ever did then,” he explains. “I just needed to take some time to get my head back together and have a bit of a break from all the things that were bothering me.”

Along with the mental health break, Boge did some solo work and explored new projects in the US, which “fell over” due to extenuating circumstances out of his control.

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“It is what it is… But it brought me to here, and The Butterfly Effect are back together,” he says. “And a lot of bands have reformed in that time; the reformation thing is really catching on – you’ve got Grinspoon back, Shihad… Karnivool and Cog and us and Sunk Loto… I mean some of the bands never really went away, they just took a break.”

When Boge left The Butterfly Effect, some of the tracks from IV were already sitting in the vault – including latest single, ‘Visiting Hours’.

“In 2008, after we released Final Conversation of Kings, we pretty much mostly recorded the first five tracks for what would have been the new album, and ‘Visiting Hours’ was in that batch,” Boge says. “And there is talk of us doing tracks one and five for a new release. So – just so everyone out there knows, we have got new tracks coming behind this album.”

Laughing, Boge wants to assure fans they won’t have to wait 14 years for the band’s next release: “It’s like you’ve had to wait longer for our album than you would a Tool album, and that’s saying something!”

All it took for The Butterfly Effect to get to this point was the reunion of Boge and Goedhart at a Dead Letter Circus show at Fortitude Valley’s New Globe Theatre in 2017.

“We kind of met each other halfway across the floor and I just gave him a big hug and just said, ‘Hey mate, I’ve missed you, and I don’t care what happened before I’m okay with it’,” Boge recalls. “I think ageing and growing and evolving and maturing helped us with all of that.

“Obviously having children and partners and buying houses and all that sort of stuff makes you grow, and then you kind of look back on your behaviour as a younger person, and if you’re reflective enough you realise that it probably wasn’t the right thing. And we came to that conclusion together, which was really cool.”

Working with producer and “mixing guru” Forrester Savell (Cog, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus), Matt Bartlem (Boo Seeka, Jarryd James) and Nick DiDia (Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen), the band worked all over South East Queensland with “everyone” (including friends from Dead Letter Circus, Clint Vincent and Luke Palmer) to create IV.

“We kind of wanted to have little bite-sized chunks where we’d do two or three songs at a time, which I think really helped us because that means vocally you can really pour yourself into it and give it your all,” Boge says. “We did that with Begins Here, and we did that with the EP… Imago was a little different, though.”

Boge believes the band’s second studio album, released in 2006, suffered for the way it was recorded.

“We were in the States and we didn’t have that kind of money – the time or the budget – to bite off chunks, we had to do it all at once,” Boge laughs. “And I think it suffered a little bit, for mine, by the time we got to the end – which is the track at the end – I was worn out. And I think you can hear it in my voice.”

Although a lot has changed since Final Conversation of Kings – a fitting title for a band to go out on, if ever there was one – Boge’s song writing remains a form of “therapy” for him.

“It’s love, loss, the existential crisis – ‘Why are we here? Why do I exist? Is there more? Is there something on the other side?’ – it’s the metaphysical realm, it’s all of that and a bag of chips,” he says. “I try to encompass all things when I’m writing lyrics; I try not to disqualify anything.”

Boge says it all comes down to being honest with himself, which is difficult at times: “Sometimes I’ll sit there and I’ll write stuff and I’ll just go, I can’t talk – what am I trying to say? Do you know what I mean? It’s difficult being honest with yourself,” he explains.

“That’s what I’ve come to lately: it’s being honest with yourself over and above anything else. And that’s difficult because there’s some demons in my closet, and they’re not exactly pleasant to deal with – that’s just the honest truth.”

The band has embraced new trends, including the prevalence of streaming services and social media. Four singles – ‘Unbroken’, ‘So Tired’, ‘Nil By Mouth’ and ‘Visiting Hours’ – have been drip-fed on streaming sites, socials and YouTube over the past two years.

“We’re just putting it out there, I think there’s nothing else you can do,” Boge says. “I mean, the landscape has changed so much. There’s a different vibe out there, people are into different things. We’re consuming music in different ways, so look – we just have to put it out there and do the best we can with what we’ve got.”

Boge explains it’s tough for bands in the current climate, with commercial radio not dedicating much air play to local talent.

“I just think look, if you’re going to play classic rock or whatever, can’t you play one new track an hour? Does that really break the bank? Not really, but that’s my personal opinion,” he says. “I think we owe it to Australian artists to be supporting them on the biggest national platforms and via radio.”

He continues: “I’m not going to point any fingers or say anything derogatory, but I just think that that’s the way it should be, and unfortunately it’s not that way.”

The band will “keep pushing” with a national tour kicking off at the end of this month, taking Thornhill and Caligula’s Horse on the road with them.

Boge says the boys can’t wait to get back on the road for their first tour since their reunion tour back in 2018, because it gives them a chance to reconnect with their loyal fan base.

“I just think it’s incredible that people have stayed with us as long as they have – and I think that’s an important part of the Australian music scene – is that people, once they love you they’ll stick with you,” he says. “And that’s a good relationship to have, I’ve got to say, because we disappeared for quite some time and we’ve still got people that love us – so thank you, to everyone out there. You are so loved.”

They are also re-releasing their entire back catalogue, on coloured vinyl.

“I love the coloured vinyl, I get tickled very often by that; I’ve got them up on my cupboard and I just look up and go, man, that’s a damn good lookin’ vinyl,” Boge laughs. “I just think there’s so many people out there that probably wouldn’t access our music any other way. But putting a bit of plastic on the turntable and letting it rock, that’s a good vibe.”