Rachael Jakubenko , bassist for nu-wave darlings Young Lovers strides toward me, black bass case in hand and I suspect that if she stood it on end it would be taller than her. What this pocket rocket lacks in stature, however, she more than makes up in presence and energy.
Later that night, in a packed Gershwin Room, the rest of the band ( Luke Carlson, lead vocals and synth; Jake Oliver, guitar; Bill Winder, guitar and Scotty Chalmers, drums) seemed positioned to contain her; to keep her from bouncing off the walls.
Ensconced in a booth in the Espy Kitchen prior to the gig, Rachael – chattering away at breakneck speed – explains the pitfalls of youthful exuberance on stage: ‘Because I jump around like an idiot I nearly fall over… even with no shoes. I just try to accentuate it and pretend it’s one of my moves.’ Back up the truck Betty – no shoes? On stage? Surely that’s an OH&S issue?
‘I’ve had the blackest feet, I’ve cut my feet and I don’t care. I hate shoes. Even now – I could take ‘em off right now. If I could wear nothing, just in general…I’d rather run around in the fields naked.’
Fully clothed she is rock-chic personified – especially as she has to wear sunnies constantly since an unfortunately aimed egg damaged her eye. However, rock wasn’t really Rachael’s thing in her early days on the Peninsula.
‘I wasn’t really in the band scene growing up – I played classical cello, classical piano [and] listened to a lot of classical. At school, I picked up the guitar. I only picked up the bass when the boys needed it.’
Luckily for Rachael the boys had more of an idea of how to rock out.
‘The boys have stories of their influences. How they stole their dad’s records and went down to the cellar to listen to them. I was like, nah – I don’t have any of those cool stories. I grew up listening to boy bands and girl bands. I shouldn’t be admitting it, but um…’
Er, no, you probably shouldn’t…but moving on quickly… They might only seem, ummm, young, but Young Lovers have really been getting around, gigging with 1990s, British India, Youth Group, Children Collide, Dardanelles,67 Special and Jebediah.
It was all about them the day we met. Young Lovers launched their self-titled EP with a tight and frenetic live set that had the Gershwin Room dancing in milliseconds. Whittling their song list down to four proved a bit tedious as they prepared to record the EP. ‘Luke writes most of our songs – he’s awesome – he probably comes up with two or three songs a week. Keep one, one’s not our genre and one might not work… we had to cut down from 70 or 80 songs for the EP. That was our biggest challenge.’
Fans will be glad to hear there’s heaps in the bank for the album then. They might also be glad to find out more about the Young Lovers tatts the band had etched on their bottoms after a particularly messy night of drinking. Rachael throws her head back and laughs, before striking a sombre mood and leaning over the table to me, poised to confess.
‘The boys were on the radio and they were all saying “We don’t know who started that rumour!” And I’m sitting at home going, “Oh my god, oh my god, it’s totally me.” ’ Asked to complete an email interview for a friend, Rachael was assured that the article would never see the light of day. ‘I had nothing to write cos Bill came up with the [band] name. So I just made up this story – I was a few beers in, answering at two in the morning or whatever, and I just wrote it thinking, this is just stupid. Then Jacinta on Triple R asked about it. It’s in, like, two or three magazines… we don’t know how. But then, we have all been that drunk together, so who knows, someone might just have it [the band name tattoo] on their little bum!’
Urban myth dispelled, Rachael reflects on the highlights of the last few months. ‘Our best gigs are when we don’t know anyone and it’s a full room. Everyone’s up the back of the room talking and half way through the set everyone’s up dancing and going crazy. They’re the best gigs for us, cos there’s no mates here, but our music’s gotten across to them and they just wanna get up and have a good time. For me, that’s the best – if people seriously enjoy what you’re playing.’
There were plenty of mates at the Espy for the EP launch. And judging by the dances moves being busted as Young Lovers delivered their punchy, tight and electric tunes, the punters were doing some serious enjoying.
