Living On With The Living End

Fri 25th Feb, 2005 in Features

There are no dull moments at a Living End gig. No pauses for breath either. Just rock ‘n’ roll played with an energy and a passion which is a wonder to behold. The Living End is no doubt a band of iconic status – a group whose music has become an essential part of the Australian music scene.

The Living End hit Melbourne next month for the Push Over Festival - an exciting event which is set to showcase some incredible home-grown talent. Always visible a mile away from a stage, the band will once again embrace their fashion-defying torn black jeans and white built-up shoes. Gravity-defying Scott Owen can be seen balancing atop his upright bass for extended periods while drummer Andy Strachan combines deadly surfer-boy charm with precise drumming which is a call-to-arms.

During a break in The Living End’s always hectic touring schedule I catch up with four-string genius Scott Owen to discuss Push Over 2005. I ask Scott about the importance of the festival in today’s music scene – given that many big events seem to be under threat (Livid being cancelled last year and the Melbourne leg of the annual Big Day Out being under threat with proposed venue renovations.)  ”Festivals are essential”, says Owen. “Not only are the festivals advertised widely so they draw big crowds, but people get the opportunity to see people you wouldn’t necessarily go to see. They come wanting to see one band and they leave having seen lots of other bands they may not even have heard of. They give people the opportunity to see a range of music they might not otherwise have been exposed to.”

I ask if people are indeed seeing less live music than they once were – cementing the importance of festivals such as the Push Over festival. “It’s definitely changed”, says Scott. “When we first started fairly strong scene and following of live music in Melbourne – every night of the week. We managed to be able to do gigs on weeknights and still get reasonable crowds. Dance music took over for a while whilst the whole rave scene was happening. Live music seems to be getting a bit of a kick in the arse at the moment but at the same time there are a lot of bands around which makes for a really healthy scene.”

Does this mean there is also less support for bands from other areas of the music scene? “I can’t see anyone bending over backwards”, says Scott. “There’s support for bands at a higher level but for the up-and-coming bands it seems like radio stations and record companies are not taking the sort of risks which they used to. The record companies seem to be getting more behind singer-song writers because maybe they are not so hard to develop. As far as support from the top goes it’s not being spread around that much. I don’t know, maybe people think that bands are a bit more risky.”

The Living End has however always been an outfit which has been welcomed by the music industry as well as their adoring fans. I ask Scott how he would describe the band’s sound. “Well, we’ve always carried the rockabilly label. Rockabilly is where we really started. But over the last six or seven years we’ve developed a really mixed bag. I guess everything is kinda melodic, kinda “rockin’” in a punk sort of way.” I ask Owen whether he feels that the punk genre has been driven so far into the mainstream of late that the genre itself is threatened. “Yeah, I guess that’s a problem for the purists and those who really live by the sword of punk. It’s a shame for those real die-hard fans who got into it before everyone else got into it. But having music out there for everyone to hear is a good thing. Green Day introduced me to punk and years later that’s something I’m really grateful for.”

Indeed, supporting Green Day all those years ago was where The Living End got their real big break. Since then, the band has become a firm favourite with American audiences. “It’s done us no harm being an Australian band overseas”, says Owen. “The only problem has been that everything’s so far away and it’s really difficult to live abroad for months and months while you tour because it costs a truckload. The American public is always very happy to embrace the Australians – we don’t really have any enemies and we are seen I guess as “loveable”!

So, what can Melbournians expect from the well-loved three-piece? “We love doing live shows”, say Scott. “When we record we have everything planned out but when we do a gig we always try and leave a bit of room here and there for spontaneity. That’s something we really like about live performing. We will always leave big blank sections in songs and although sometimes things go wrong it’s really special when it all works out!”
 
Indeed, having witnessed several TLE gigs over the past several years, there is much evidence to support the notion that the band’s taste in crowds is endearingly unrefined. They like the band’s fans straight-up, no-nonsense and full of sweaty passion for rebellion.  Favourites West End Riot and Prisoners Of Society are always mixed in with older staples Roll On, Second Solution and Carry Me Home. The newer magic of songs such as Tabloid Magazine from recent album “Modern Artillery” are always best tasted live.

For those in Melbourne, don’t miss this opportunity to see this legendary band when the Push Over festival hits Luna Park on March 14th.

Push Over 2005 features the hottest bands in Australia plus the Push Start Grand Final with bands competing from all over Victoria. Plus, there’s free Luna Park rides all day, band merch and signings, market stalls and the ever-popular Push Over Raffle. Tickets are $45 + BF.