Backstage with Benee in Melbourne opening for Olivia Rodrigo

“Vibes on tour are immaculate when you’re with people you love and trust, and with people who are really fun and take care of you.”

Last weekend, Fashion Journal’s Features Editor (and makeup artist) Lara Daly caught up with LA-based, New Zealand-born singer Benee while she was in Melbourne, opening for the Australian leg of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts world tour.

If you didn’t catch the two pop stars performing at one of four sold-out shows at Rod Laver Arena, you might have seen them at Nova Cinema’s cheap Monday night screening of The Substance in Carlton, squealing through the gore and eating popcorn incognito.

Discover more about Australia’s musical talent in FJ’s Music section.

While getting ready for her Sunday night performance (drinking Pals and listening to Fousheé’s new album, Pointy Heights), Benee chatted to Lara about nails, ramen, tattoos, vintage shopping and what else she’s been up to in her downtime on tour.

Benee on performance dressing…

“I love a maximalist, colourful, multi-textured outfit that pops on stage and is also comfortable. We are working with [creative director and stylist] Imogen Wilson and you know the vibes… all of the outfits are just so cool. I usually go for boots, like, big fluffy boots because they’re just cute and fun to bounce around in. All of the outfits [for this tour] are fucking cute, honestly.”

On Australian fashion…

“We went into the Melbourne P.A.M (Perks And Mini) store the other day, we love P.A.M. We’re also wearing some Briar Will, Ramp Tramp Tramp Stamp, Bye Bambi, Be Right Back. Luckily, all the local brands in Australia are so good, there are so many young – I don’t even know, they might not be young – just so many emerging cool local designers and artists here which is sick.”

On nails….

“Nails are always changing on tour, I just love to have Gel X or acrylic all the time because my natural nails are just so shit, they don’t grow, they just they break. So I love to make them pop on stage. I got these ones done at a mall downtown the other day, it’s Pochacco! [anime character]. So, now they’re these cute little animals but I usually get something crazy on the nails because it just adds to the vibrations… Sometimes, I get press-ons. This girl from New Zealand called Sofnails sends me press-ons which is so nice.” 

On glam…

“Well, I’ve been going rogue, which is like, fun, but it’s also so much nicer to get glam done by professionals. But usually, I just have my hair out and do my own glam, whatever I’m feeling on the night. I love to fucking flip my hair around so [tonight] I’m getting my extensions put back in, they’ve been hibernating, and I’m stoked to be adding some weight to my hair. For makeup, I usually do a big eyeliner when I perform, or a sparkle, and I usually do the [Charlotte Tillbury] Pillow Talk lip liner.”

On tour vibes…

“Vibes on tour are immaculate when you’re with people you love and trust, and with people who are really fun and take care of you. It’s just nice to be able to keep calm and I feel like that happens when you have a good team. Our tour manager Devon is just so good. We’ve had a fair share of, like, real bad tour managers. They’re always dudes. It’s been a pleasure working with the ladies, they just get it, you know? Especially when you’re a gal, there’s just deeper… deeper thought.”

On exploring Melbourne…

“I love Melbourne and always love returning back here. It’s been so long, the last time we were here was about two years ago, playing a bunch of festivals. It’s always just nice to come back and reconnect with my team here and my listeners here. In my downtime, I’ve been cruising around town, going to vintage stores, eating ramen – I’ve been eating a lot of ramen on this trip – and just exploring and going to parks, there are so many cute parks here. We went to this sick place down an alley off Bourke St and decorated my phone case the other day! I’ve also been hanging out with Grace (Mallrat) and they took me to Swop, I found a really great hat and a T-shirt there.”

On opening for Olivia Rodrigo…

“Where do I freakin’ start? Opening for Olivia Rodrigo has been so fun, we’re on our third show tonight. She’s just so sweet and, obviously, super good at what she does, it’s been pretty inspiring to watch her. We actually ended up bumping into each other at The Substance [on Monday night] which was so random. I just see this girl, and she takes off her mask, and she’s like, “Hi” and I was like, “Oh my god, hi!”. She was there by herself, so I invited her to come sit with us. I think we both enjoyed [the film], it was my second time watching it. Honestly, I closed my eyes a little more because I knew the gory scenes that were coming up. But yeah, that was a fun little way to meet each other.”

On tattoos…

“I bumped into Juju [tattoo artist] at The Substance as well – it was just a fucking hot spot for mingling, right? – and I ended up going and getting a tattoo from them, I love their work. They touched up my manuka and gave me a couple of fresh ones. There are a bunch of cool as tattoo artists here,  there’s another artist called Eilish, who I love here. Their work is so sick. That’s one of the funniest things about touring, it’s like food, vintage shopping and tattoos. It’s nice to be able to squeeze that all in and then, I don’t know, get a tat in each city on tour. Then it just reminds you of that time stamp. It’s pretty fun.”

To hear the latest music from Benee, head here.