Australian Band
Australian Band
Australian Band
Left to right: Chris Cheney, Andy Strachan, Scott Owen (Leipzig, Germany 19.11.2009)
The Living End are an Australian rock band from Melbourne, Victoria, formed in 1994. The current lineup consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals) and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in the late 1990s after the release of their double A-side single, Second Solution / Prisoner of Society. They have released five studio albums and one singles compilation in Australia; three of which have reached the #1 spot on the Australian Albums Chart. They have also gained notable success in the United States and Europe. The band are annually adding to their collection of Jack Awards, consistently winning awards for Best Drummer, Best Male Performer, and Best Band.
Contents
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1 History o 1.1 Beginnings (19941996) o 1.2 Breakout (19971998) o 1.3 The Living End (19981999) o 1.4 Roll On (20002001) o 1.5 The Longnecks (2002) o 1.6 Modern ARTillery (20022004) o 1.7 From Here on In (20042005) o 1.8 State of Emergency (20052007) o 1.9 White Noise (20082009) o 1.10 The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating (2010present) 2 Musical style and influences 3 Collaborations 4 Members o 4.1 Current o 4.2 Former 5 Discography o 5.1 Studio albums 6 Awards and nominations o 6.1 APRA Awards 7 Video games 8 References 9 External links
[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings (19941996)
The Living End were formed in 1994 by Chris Cheney and Scott Owen, who met through their older sisters while attending Wheelers Hill Secondary College in Melbourne. Cheney was a big fan of rockabilly group Stray Cats and this prompted Scott Owen, who originally played
piano, to switch to double bass. He was taught by Maddie O'Reiden, a classical upright bass tutor. The pair formed a cover band, Runaway Boys, named after a song from the Stray Cats' debut album.[3] The band played in Melbourne's rockabilly music scene. While Cheney and Owen persevered, the band went through several drummers while still in school.[4] However, by 1994 Chris and Scott were writing their own material and they decided to change their name to The Living End, a reference to the film Rock Around the Clock.[5] The group went through a procession of drummers, including Alex Sarris, before settling on Joe Piripitzi. Sarris played for several months, but was unable to remain in the band, as a result of irreconsilible creative differences with frontman Cheney. However, Cheney considered Joe an ideal drummer because of his charismatic appearance.[3] The Living End got their first big break in 1995 when, after sending a tshirt and a demo tape to Billie Joe Armstrong, they landed a support slot in Green Day's upcoming Australian tour. After the tour, the group went into the studio to record their debut EP Hellbound which received moderate support from community radio stations. In November 1995, the band went back into the studio to record their second EP It's For Your Own Good which they released several months later. This recording yielded their first major radio airplay with the song "From Here On In", which was placed on high rotation on the youth radio network Triple J. Shortly after the release of the second EP, drummer Joe Piripitzi was fired as his lifestyle choices were said to be holding back the band,[3] being replaced with Travis Demsey. Demsey was soon playing with the band at major festivals such as Pushover and the Falls Festival, and was considered to drum very much in the style of Keith Moon. After a year touring Australia, The Living End again headed into the studio to record something new to sell at their live shows. The result was the Second Solution / Prisoner of Society double A-side single.
Second Solution / Prisoner of Society quickly became a national hit, with the double A-side becoming the highest selling Australian single of the 1990s and peaking for several weeks at No.4 and receiving the 1998 ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single. It lasted a record-breaking 47 weeks on the ARIA Top 50 singles charts. It was later featured in the game Guitar Hero World Tour.
The album included "Carry me Home", which was included in the Guitar Hero II soundtrack. However, singles and success for Roll On was limited because of a twist of fate. In 2001, the band hit a quiet period after Chris Cheney was in a car accident on the Great Ocean Road, rendering him unable to play for a significant period of time. He had been on the road to the house of a member of fellow Australian band Bodyjar.
was certainly of a different style to the 'punkabilly' of the self-titled album, and the jazzy rockabilly of Hellbound and It's For Your Own Good. Instead, punk pop, computer-generated sounds, country music, and 1960s style rock'n'roll had their share on Modern ARTillery, among other styles. Because of the quiet period, their return was initially received with much hype compared to Roll On, with "One Said To the Other" becoming a top 20 hit, the album debuting at #3, and the promotion of three singles and one radio release. However, the long run saw their stylistic change to be less popular, with overall sales of albums and singles being comparatively less than that of the self-titled album and Roll On.
Scott Owen during The Living End's 2007 UK tour. The Living End's fourth album, titled State of Emergency, was recorded in Byron Bay with Nick Launay,[8] following the band's appearance at the Splendour in the Grass festival. The recording and the artwork was completed in mid December 2005, and the album was released on 4 February 2006, debuting at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[9] The Living End again played gigs under the name The Longnecks before recording the album, to test out new material. The album's tracks are even simpler than Modern ARTillery's tracks, but with a more raw sound, so as to assimilate even further with the early releases and the self-titled album; also being aware that they sound best live and raw. Nevertheless, the new styles and other styles experienced in Modern ARTillery remain in State of Emergency to a small extent; arguably most dominantly pop punk, rockabilly now being a less met blend of The Living End's 'punkabilly' style. The single "What's on Your Radio?" was released on 20 November 2005, and debuted at #9 on the ARIA singles chart. The second single, "Wake Up", was released on 19 February and went straight to number #5. The third single from the album, "Long Live the Weekend", was released 20 May, but did not enter the top 20, whilst the other two singles had entered the top 10. The fourth single, "Nothing Lasts
Forever", was released in Australia on 19 August and was not as successful as the first two. Nevertheless, State of Emergency continues to hold onto its position as a generally very successful album, enhanced by the great success of the first two singles. The album was also nominated for the 2006 J Award. The album was released in the United States through Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's Adeline Records along with Eastwest Records on 11 July 2006 and Canada on 18 July 2006. Further releases in support of the album was the DVD Live At Festival Hall on 30 September, which captured a Melbourne performance of the State of Emergency Tour, featuring many songs from the album, and many classics. In 2006 the band took 4 Jack Awards; Best Live Band, Best Live TV Performance, Best Performer (Chris) and Best Drummer (Andy). This means that The Living End has being awarded the most Jack Awards each year and overall so far. During the 2006 State of Emergency tour, the Living End's show in Milwaukee was cancelled, so it was rescheduled on 2 December as a supporting act for +44. On 6 October, Chris Cheney left the band because he felt enormously burnt out, and was sick of the constant touring, as well as experiencing writers block. Chris felt that his life was going nowhere and that he needed to get away from the band, and gain experience in other areas of life. This information was kept confidential until 2008.[10] 2007 saw Chris Cheney isolated from his band mates trying to write the follow up to "State of Emergency". He was disappointed with the results so he took up yoga, spent time painting and being around his baby daughter whilst taking a break from music for the first time in 10 years. During this period the band released a radio-only single, the Cold Chisel cover "Rising Sun", available on the Standing on the Outside Cold Chisel tribute album. After Chris was convinced not to leave the band they played The Great Escape in May and re-started work on their fifth studio album, though they toured the UK in August,
The band launched the album on 19 July 2008, with an in-store appearance at the Virgin Megastore in Sydney. The band spent almost 2 hours signing copies of the album for fans. In support of the album, the band made many television appearances in Australia, including their performance on 5 October at the 2008 NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium. White Noise was awarded the ARIA for Best Rock Album of 2008,[12] over such competition as Gyroscope and Faker. On 25 September 2008, "Moment in the Sun" was released to Australian radio as the second single[13] from White Noise. It was physically and digitally released on 25 October 2008.[13] On 22 December 2008, "Raise the Alarm" was released to Australian radio as the third single from White Noise. A music video has been released containing footage of live performances during the white noise tour and some others. In February 2009, the band made a secret appearance in Melbourne supporting the Stray Cats on their Farewell Tour. On 27 February 2009, tickets were released for the Raise the Alarm Tour which happened in May.
The Living End's new single "The Ending is Just the Beginning Repeating", also the new album's name, was premiered in early June 2011 on radio stations across the country, and can be heard at thelivingend.com. The album will be released on 22 July 2011.[14]
[edit] Collaborations
The Living End have made recordings with many popular bands and artists.
In 1998, just as they were gaining popularity in Australia, they performed at "Tour of Duty" for the peace keepers in East Timor. At this, their first live concert to Australians, they performed two tracks from what was their up coming album, as well as performing with The Angels' frontman Doc Neeson and "Jingle Bell Rock" with Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. In December 1998, supporting the German band Die Toten Hosen they played a cover of Slade's "Merry Christmas" with them on 26 December 1998 in Dsseldorf, as part of Die Toten Hosen's 1998 Christmas tour of Germany. The two bands met on the 1998 inaugural Warped Tour of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Hawaii. In early 2001 The Living End performed as the support act for AC/DC during the Australian leg of their Stiff Upper Lip world tour. The Living End performed alongside Normie Rowe performing two of Normie's hits "Que Sera Sera" and "Shakin' All Over" at the 2005 ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2005, the band recorded a version of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke's "Resurrection Shuffle" with Jimmy Barnes on his duet album Double Happiness. The Living End also appeared on Australian country and western music artist Kasey Chambers' album Barricades & Brickwalls, contributing the music and backing vocals to "Crossfire". Lead singer and guitarist Chris Cheney was also a member of the "super group" The Wrights who released covers of Stevie Wright's songs, "Evie Parts 1, 2 & 3" after performing "Evie Part 1" at the 2004 Australian Music Industry's ARIA Music Awards. Cheney also played guitar and contributed backing vocals to "Private School Kid" on Sarah McLeod's (formerly of The Superjesus) debut solo album. Cheney appeared as a guest guitarist on Stephen Cummings Firecracker album.
On Australian band Jet's live DVD, Right Right Right, Chris Cheney appears at the end of the recorded concert to feature on a cover of Elvis Presley's "That's Alright Mamma". Chris Cheney also played "I Fought the Law" with Green Day at their Melbourne concert on 17 December 2005. Double bassist Scott Owen appeared on Australian legend Paul Kelly's Foggy Highway album, playing bass on "Song of the Old Rake". Scott also appeared in the film clip for the track