By Laura Giagos
Italiano disco-funk bass provocateur Donny Benét, hailing from Sydney, Australia, has carved a distinctive presence in the indie music scene. Often positioned on the fringes, Benét’s infectious bass-driven dance grooves and hypnotic charm have made him unmistakably unforgettable. With his now-iconic skullet and handlebar mustache, Benét (real name Ben Waples) has captivated audiences worldwide with his unconventional style and solid disco tracks since the release of his debut album, Don’t Hold Back, in 2011.
A lot has changed for Benét since then. He’s released five more studio albums, collaborated with numerous artists, toured extensively across the U.S. and Europe, launched his own record label, and become a father—all while proudly maintaining his signature look. “To put it politely, I’m an interesting-looking person, so I have to make sure my music is really good,” Benét laughs. “My thing has always been: Would I listen to this music if it were by someone else? Yes. Would I enjoy it if it were a fat, middle-aged dude jumping around? Yes. That ticks all my boxes. I’ve been middle-aged since eighteen. I haven’t changed my look since I was twenty-five. I look at old photos of me aging, and I say, ‘Yeah, I still look the same.’”
Currently on tour supporting his sixth studio album, Infinite Desires, Benét’s look has remained consistent, but his music has evolved in ways that elevate him far beyond mere gimmickry. His career has always been steeped in tongue-in-cheek humor, leaning heavily on his distinctive appearance. Early on, he gained notoriety for his humorously seductive songs, though he admits that his recent work has taken on a more restrained tone. Reflecting on his debut album, Benét acknowledges the heavy influence of Prince’s early career, though, like Prince, he has grown beyond the provocative material that once defined his work.
His 2018 album, The Don, was a breakthrough moment, propelled by the hit single “Konichiwa,” which boasts an impressive 8.9 million streams on Spotify. The Don marked a turning point, with Benét’s tours expanding and his fan base growing. He followed its success with 2020’s Mr. Experience, though the release was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These albums symbolize not only his artistic growth but also the evolution of the Donny Benét persona. “The Don was this young Casanova. I was in my mid-thirties, and my friends were discovering Tinder after breaking up with long-term partners. They were trying to get laid, and it went just terribly for them,” Benét laughs. “For Mr. Experience, I had just had a kid, and there’s a line in the song ‘One Night in Paradise’ where I say, ‘There comes a time when sleep is the new sex.’”
Like many musicians, the COVID lockdown disrupted Benét’s touring plans and scrambled the release of Mr. Experience. To stay connected with fans, he turned to social media. “I got on Instagram quite early. I was in a band called Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders, along with another artist, Kirin J Callinan. We all curated our pages back when social media was fun, you know? People were taking pictures of their lunches or sharing screen grabs of songs they made.”
This early embrace of social media proved fortuitous, as Benét’s unique persona resonated with an increasingly global audience. “It was a really fortuitous avenue to go down. At that time, all the platforms had basically opened their algorithms to keep people entertained and distracted. Since then, and you probably hear this from every single artist, probably one of the most frustrating things to do now is trying to reach your audience on a platform that you built.”
Before fully embracing his debonair alter ego, Benét made a living as a freelance jazz musician and teacher in Australia. He took up the bass at around twelve, after his father, a fellow musician and teacher, bought one for $400—a significant expense at the time. “It would sit outside my room in its box, and it had the price, $400. And every time I leave my room, I’d see $400, and I feel guilty so I was like, I better learn this thing,” Benét reminisces. His passion was ignited when his father brought home a cassette of the 1980s British TV show Rock School, featuring funk legends Bootsy Collins and Nile Rodgers. For a young Benét, that tape was transformative.
Now 44, Benét is thrilled to be in the U.S. on a solo tour, performing in cities he’s never visited before, including Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado. “Coming to America, I’ve never had a bad experience. I find Americans patient, warm, and charming—and definitely brash.”