Alec Benjamin Shares His Crazy and Fun Experiences on Tour

Us Weekly caught up with musician Alec Benjamin in the middle of his successful “12 Notes” tour that recently swept through Asia and kicked off dates in the U.S. on Sept. 6. So not surprisingly, the “Let Me Down Slowly” hitmaker is exhausted – but loving every minute of life on the road.

“I’m in bed right now!” laughed Benjamin. “Any opportunity I have to just get a little bit of extra rest is what I’m trying to do.

“We didn’t have that much time to rest in between Asia and then this tour. And then we’re going back to Australia and then we go to Europe.”

But there’s one thing that gets the 30-year-old hitmaker out of bed — his fans.

“The participation is awesome and people are very respectful,” said Benjamin. When I was younger, I went to concerts and I wasn’t the one who was sitting in the back or sitting up front and singing along really loud or getting really into it. I kind of showed my appreciation for the artist by just sitting there and watching [be]cause that’s how I enjoy a show. However people wanna participate in the show is totally up to them.”

And even the most surprising and unexpected fan interactions bring him the most joy.

“I did a gender reveal the other day at a show,” he said. “It was at a meet and greet, and stuff like that happens and it’s really great because I get to know the audience. And by the way that I react, they get to know me, and I think that’s really fun.

“I think it’s really lovely,” added Benjamin. “Imagine for me, people [who] are willing to [and] waiting to come to my concert to reveal the gender of their baby is honestly a huge honor.”

The singer released his third studio album “12 Notes” in May. The project is a collection of 12 journal entries, with each one representing a different chapter of Benjamin’s life.

And he’s giving Us a total tour rundown, including who he calls before a show, his most bizarre fan requests (it involves tattoos) and his the craziest (and scariest!) tour experience.

Keep scrolling for more exclusive backstage details:

Us Weekly: Before you get on stage is there something you always have to do to prep for a show?

Alec Benjamin: I’ve just been kind of taking a nap actually before I go on stage, which isn’t something that I used to do in the past. I feel like I’m kind of in a good rhythm, and I feel like we’re pretty well prepared. So I do a meet and greet and I take a nap and then I eat. Maybe I shouldn’t eat so close to when I go on stage, but that’s kind of what I’ve been doing lately.

Us: Do you ever get nervous before you go out on stage?

AB: Yeah. I feel like there are certain shows where it depends. If I have a lot of family, I get a little bit anxious because right up until I go on stage, I’m spending time with my friends and my family. Sometimes that makes me nervous if I don’t have the opportunity to clear my head before I go on stage. But I find that less and less, I think a lot of my nerves come from insecurity. And the more I perform and the better I get to know my audience, the less insecure I become. So I have less nerves now going up on stage than I did when I first started. I feel more comfortable on stage now than I’ve ever felt.

Us: How do you calm your nerves?

AB: Sometimes I’ll call my mom, that makes me feel better. Sometimes I wait by the stage longer. I normally get to the stage like two minutes before I go on, but sometimes I’ll sit by the stage for like 10 minutes before I go on stage. I just like being close to the audience that makes me feel better.

Us: You have a lot of fans and sometimes they want the most unusual things autographed. Are there any autograph requests that have made you laugh or raised an eyebrow?

AB: I get a lot of people asking me to draw a picture or write out something for them for a tattoo. I’ll do it, but I don’t love doing it because I have terrible handwriting and I’m not a good graphic artist. I normally tell people, ‘If you do this and then you regret it, you can’t be mad at me.’ I have questionable handwriting and if I make a spelling error, you have to double check my spelling. It’s just kind of intense to know that something that I’m gonna be writing, can be tattooed on someone’s body forever.

Us: Nowadays audiences and their enthusiasm can be expressed so unpredictably — it could be anything from singing off-key, holding up their camera phones recording, or clapping off-beat. How do you keep your focus on stage when these things happen?

AB: I find that sometimes it varies. I think that different cultures have a different way of showing respect.

The one thing though I don’t love is when people throw things at me on stage. I know that they want to give me something and a lot of times people make bracelets or whatever, but then the items start getting bigger and then people throw cell phones and that’s not really safe.

And there’s this new thing that people do where they’ll write messages to you on a tablet or their phone, and then a message is running on the screen and that’s kind of annoying.

I really don’t even like to say that because people pay their hard-earned money to come to a show, and I want them to be able to enjoy it as much as they possibly can. But when you’re holding up that in the middle of the crowd at me, even if I read it and I want to respond to it, if I’m in the middle of a song, I can’t really do anything about it. Also, normally there’s people behind you, so you’re kind of ruining their experience. But I never wanna be the guy who’s like, ‘Hey, stop doing that. It’s not a good look on stage, but, if someone’s reading this and they’re thinking like, ‘Hey, I wanna do that.’

Us: What’s the most bizarre message you’ve gotten from stage?

AB: It’s kind of a fun thing when somebody proposes to someone at a show. I don’t find that to be really a distraction. I think it really adds to the experience. I think what’s cool about a concert is I try to sing the songs as close to the record as possible because I’ve gone to shows where the songs are nothing like the record. And I fall in love with an artist because of the songs on the record. I do wanna hear the songs [that are] kind of true to the record.

Normally what people are holding up on their phone is like, ‘Can I have a guitar pick?’ And it’s like, first off, no. I’m not gonna stop the show to give you a guitar pick (laughs). It’s gonna ruin everyone else’s experience.

I appreciate the fact that anybody is there and they care enough that they really want like a guitar pick that I use or they want a set list. That’s awesome. But there is a time and a place. At my meet and greet, I spend a lot of time with people. And then after the show every night, if people wait out by my bus, I go out and I take pictures with everybody. That’s a good time to get to talk to me and interact with me.

Us: What’s your craziest concert or tour experience?

AB: My craziest tour experience was when I was in a bus accident [nearly nine years ago]. That was the craziest thing that’s probably ever happened to me in my life. I was opening for someone and I was on the crew bus and the night before I was like, ‘This kind of sketchy.’ And they were like, ‘No, if anything happens. You’ll just stay in your bunk.’ And I got thrown out of my bunk, we went off the road and into a cornfield in Nebraska. We blew a tire. The driver that I have on this tour is amazing. And I think the driver that we had on that tour was not really not taking good care of the bus and wasn’t really getting the appropriate amount of rest. And yeah, that ultimately almost killed everybody. That’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me.

Us: What song of yours is the most challenging to perform live?

AB: Depends on the night and it depends on how my voice is feeling. But I would say the most challenging ones are the newest ones because they don’t have as much time under my belt playing them.

Us: How about your favorite song to play live?

AB: Right now it’s the first song on the set list. It’s “I Sent My Therapist to Therapy.” It’s on my new album and I just enjoy playing it. It’s fun.

Us: Tour life takes you all over the world. I know you’ve been to so many places. Is there one souvenir you’ve picked up from touring that you’ve cherished the most?

AB: The thing I cherish the most about going to different places is trying the cuisine. I’m not really a big shopper. I don’t really buy things. I’m not like a big souvenir guy, but when I go to a new place, I love to eat. That’s my favorite thing. So, when I reminisce about my travels, one of the things I talk about most are the different restaurants I get to go to. I feel I’m very fortunate in my life, and I’m really lucky to get to do this career. I don’t really spend money on a lot of things [and] it’s not really what makes me happy. But what makes me happy is getting to experience different cultures. And one of the best ways to do that is through food. So I kind of ball out on food.

Us: Is there one place and one country that you’ve balled out on food that is No. 1 on your list?

AB: It’s so hard to say, but one of the things that I really like to do while I’m on the road is I love to take my crew and my band out for dinner and go to a really cool spot. So last time we were in Indonesia and there was a Chinese restaurant in the hotel and we did like a family style Chinese dinner, and it was awesome. It was me and my whole crew and we just had the best dinner ever. It was a very, very memorable experience.

For a complete list of “12 Notes” tour dates, click here.