Five Questions With… Bonds Of Mara's Dave Benedict

By Jason Schneider

The collective resume shared by Sal Costa, Dave Benedict, Bryan Crouch, and Daryl Ralph reads like a well-curated playlist of dark, melodic modern rock. Individually, they’ve spent years perfecting their craft, and surviving the perils of the music industry as members of Canadian rock fixtures My Darkest Days, Default, Hail The Villain and Sons of Butcher.

Now they have come together as Bonds Of Mara to forge an organic new sound, propelled by intense grooves, confessional lyrics and raw punk energy. Building the band from the ground up was a thrilling prospect for the quartet as it gave them a blank slate to create a different creative approach and musical aesthetic in comparison to their previous bands.

Indeed, since coming together less than a year ago, Bonds Of Mara has made a serious splash within the rock community with their debut single Lights Out, which climbed to number 15 on the Canadian Rock Radio charts. An aptly titled and compelling icebreaker for Bonds Of Mara, the track has given audiences a sense of what to expect in the future.

Their new single, Killed The Love, has just been released and the band crisscrossing Ontario this month in support. They play the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on Thursday, March 5 and you can check out their full upcoming schedule on their Facebook page, @ BondsOfMara. We caught up with bassist Dave Benedict to gauge the progress so far.

Bonds Of Mara is a relatively new band. How did everything come together and what's the meaning behind the band's name?

We all knew each other from playing shows together throughout the years. A little over a year ago we started talking about putting something together that could feed our musical passions, and just to try something different. The name Bonds Of Mara was from something [guitarist] Sal [Costa] brought forward that comes from Buddhist scripture. Mara is the demon that bonds you to bad things. So essentially, we are all trying to shed ourselves from the bonds of Mara.

You've just released your second single Killed The Love. Is this further indication of more music people can expect from you?

Yes. Our next step is to record an EP or full-length album—something a little more for people to chew on at the live shows. We are playing and testing out a bunch of new material right now on this tour. So if you come to the shows you will get a little taste of what we have been up to and what to expect in the near future.

What's your view on the current state of rock?

Rock has taken a bit of a back seat for almost the better part of a decade, but we like to think that people want it back again. It's like a dirty fungus that you just can't get rid of, like that itch in your jockstrap—or your annoying little brother that you love but want to punch in the face. We just need some really good new bands to start waving that flag again and start to rub the industry in that uncomfortable undeniable way.

What are some of your goals for the coming year?

To push this further and to hopefully open our music to a different and wider audience. Getting on a good support tour with a big band would be a nice win for us at this point.

What's your best touring story?

Actually, our photographer Randy Gilbert just showed us a video clip of Sal falling off stage during a My Darkest Days show in St. Catharines at a venue called Barracuda Pretty. We couldn’t stop watching it! So right now that has to be a favourite touring moment for sure.