BREAKING BENJAMIN frontman Benjamin Burnley has revealed an unusual travel arrangement ahead of the band’s upcoming European tour — and it all comes down to his long-standing fear of flying.
In a new interview with Jesea Lee, Burnley spoke about the band’s return to Europe, which is set to begin on June 6 at the Rock Im Park festival in Germany. While most touring musicians would simply board a plane and go, Burnley explained that his journey will look very different.
“I’m heading to Europe towards the end of the month. And I don’t fly, so I have to take a boat out there, so I have to leave a week earlier than everybody else,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The singer went on to admit that the decision isn’t exactly about comfort — more about choosing what he considers the lesser of two uncomfortable options: “Yeah, definitely… And as long and drawn out as the ship is, and as boring as it is, every time I’m, like, ‘Oh, man,’ I just think about flying and I’m, like, ‘Okay, I’m good, actually.'”
Burnley expanded on his dislike of travel in general, saying that the demands of touring often clash with his personal comfort zone: “Honestly, I don’t like traveling in a… I’m really in the wrong profession. And I don’t like traveling or speed in any way. I don’t like going fast. I certainly don’t like being high… So I’m not that comfortable with [being on a ship] either. It’s just you pick the lesser of the evils, kind of thing.”
Despite the extended journey, Burnley clarified that the band’s logistics are still coordinated so that the group ultimately arrives around the same time — even if his route looks a bit different.
“Well, they leave a week later, and so we get there at the same time, pretty much,” he said. “But I think at the very end they’re all gonna fly home, and it just so happened, the schedule of the ship, that I have to stay a few days later until my ship leaves to come back. I’ll be in London near some cool s**t… So I’ll be in a cool spot of London with stuff to do, and I think my son will be with me.”
BREAKING BENJAMIN will return to Europe for the first time since 2017, with the June and July run also featuring support from CHEVELLE and RETURN TO DUST. The tour marks a long-awaited comeback to European stages for the band, even if one member’s journey there will be a little less conventional than most.
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.