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The Living End
In 1998
while Savage Garden's pure pop was conquering the world, Australia was
resonating to the Living End's "punkabilly" , rockabilly with a punk attitude.
 The band has its
beginnings when Chris Cheney and Scott Owen met at primary school, brought
together by their older sisters, and constantly finding themselves the only
kids their age at backyard barbecues. Owen also had an older brother and
through him was gravitating towards the usual Cold Chisel/Midnight Oil
taste in music. Alternatively, Cheney started out enjoying early eighties
pop until he discovered Elvis Presley, and explored everything that flowed
from Elvis until he struck the Stray Cats. That changed everything. When
Cheney played Scott Owen a Stray Cats album, Scott's life was changed too.
He'd been playing some piano, but there and then he decided to get himself
a double bass. In 1990 they formed what was essentially a Stray Cats cover
band, named after that band's signature tune, the Runaway Boys.
They
imagined they were unique and searched hard and wide for gigs, travelling
to surrounding country cities in Cheney's Kingswood, trailing a small PA
behind them on a trailer. For three years they played almost every weekend
to audiences who were always older than they were. In January 1992 they gave their first performance as
the Living End. By now they had also discovered a healthy rockabilly scene
in inner suburban Melbourne. The Living End quickly outgrew that, as they
had the audiences in the country towns. The difference was that they
weren't revivalists at heart. They wanted to play that music with
"attitude". They were starting to write their own songs.
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Top Australian Singles of the
90s
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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Living End
silverchair
Savage Garden
Madison Avenue
CDB
Peter Andre
Euphoria
Divinyls
Daryl Braithwaite
Savage Garden
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Secret Solution/Prisoner of Society
Tomorrow
Truly Madly Deeply
Don't Call Me Baby
Let's Groove
Gimme Little Sign
Love You Right
I Touch Myself
The Horses
To the Moon And Back
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With
1995's EP/mini album 'Hellbound', (still with
original drummer Joe Piripitsi) they turned their
back on '50s rock revivalism and adapted that instrumentation to original
songs steeped in UK punk. Their next EP, 1996's 'It's for Your Own Good',
provided the first breakthrough with the song 'From Here on In' which
received healthy airplay support from the youth radio network Triple J.
During the six months the EP spent on the indie charts, the group changed drummers
for Travis Dempsey, still in rockabilly style, standing up at his kit.
The
group now found themselves in such demand they felt they needed a quick
release to tide themselves over while touring. They recorded new songs,
'Second Solution' and 'Prisoner of Society'; continued the theme with their
version of the theme from a cult Australian TV series 'Prisoner'; and added
live versions of songs from the 'Hellbound' days
their new fans might not have caught up with. The resulting EP was expected
to equal 'From Here On In's 's success on the alternative scene. It did far better.
'Second Solution/Prisoner of Society' was the biggest selling
Australian-made "single" of the entire '90s decade. It spent 37
weeks in the mainstream Top 40. When the Living End released their
self-titled first album in October 1998, it entered the sales charts at
number one and sold platinum. The album is released worldwide on Reprise,
and the Living End have toured extensively
throughout North America.
In July
2000 Living End set about recording their second album, taking another step
away from their rockabilly roots by listening to classic rock by Cold
Chisel and Midnight Oil as part of the album's process. With 'Roll On'
Living End broadened their musical scope while keeping in
tact what made them unique - the instrumentation and the
socially-aware lyrics. 'Roll On' received significant attention in the US
and led to extensive touring. The band was beginning to think about their
obviously important third album when in September 2001 Chris Cheney was
involved in a near fatal car accident. The resulting forced layoff produced
unexpected consequences. Cheney was given the time to reconsider the
direction that third album might take. However drummer Travis Demsey reconsidered his future and his departure was
announced in February.
Andy
Strachan of Pollyanna had been first to apply to be Dempsy's
replacement, even before auditions were held. He met Chris and Scott over a
beer, clicked, and the next day joined them in a jam. While he fulfilled
commitments Cheney and Owen auditioned more drummers, with their favourable
impression of Andy Strachan as the bench mark. In April 2002 The Living End
announced Andy as their new drummer. Travis Dempsy
joined Fez Perez in August.
When the
Living End returned to the studio to record a new album, there were plenty
of songs to choose from. Chris Cheney is prolific at the best of times, and that and the layoff meant that there were 70
new songs to consider. The band also chose that moment to broaden their
musical outlook again for the heavier, rocker 'Modern Artillery' recorded
in Los Angeles to record Modern Artillery with Mark Trombino
(Jimmy Eat World/Blink 182). That behind them the Living End put the focus
on their punkabilly style for 2007's 'State Of
Emergency', reunited with 'Roll On' producer Nick Launay.
It was
meant to be the beginning of an exciting new era for the band, but was
almost the end. Chris Cheney found himself going through a personal and
creative crisis. One day on stage he decided he didn't want to be up there any more. He pulled the plug on the band's ongoing
plans, questioning whether he wanted to play or record any more. To their
credit the other members stood back patiently while he resolved his
dilemma. At one stage the band came back together but Chris needed more
time. For the first time he was now also experiencing writer's block. When
the songs started coming again the band tested them out on stage with
performances as the Long Necks.
In March
2008 sessions began towards The Living End's fifth studio album at Water
Music Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey, producer is John Agnello,
known with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jnr and The Hold
Steady. 'White Noise' was released in July.
2011’s ‘The
Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating’ once again saw Cheney searching for
ways on not repeating himself. Taking the advice of ‘White Noise’ producer Agnello The Living End’s leader look himself and his
family to New York, partly to try writing songs with others. Only one final collaboration resulted, the album title
track written with Craig Finn of the Hold Steady, but Chris was invigorated
by the process of writing with others. Then, after demoing songs at
Melbourne's Red Door Sounds studio, which Cheney
part-owns, and putting songs to the test with secret gigs, The Living End
headed to Byron Bay to whittle down the more than 30 songs with producer
Nick DiDia, best known for his work with Powderfinger.
Chris
Cheney has found time for two solo recordings apart from his work with The
Living End, a cover of Crowded House song, "Distant Sun" on
tribute album 'He Will Have His Way: The Songs of Tim and Neil Finn', and a Christmas song called "Street
Parade" written for Myer's 'The Spirit of Christmas 2010' album.
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