The Living End

The Living End were formed in 1994 by Chris Cheney and Scott Owen, who had met years earlier in primary school through their older sisters and began performing together from 1990 while attending Wheelers Hill Secondary College in Melbourne.[1][2] Cheney and Owen had their first public gig at The Rob Roy in Melbourne in 1991. Cheney was a fan of rockabilly group Stray Cats and this prompted Owen, who originally played piano, to switch to double bass.[1] The pair formed a cover band, The Runaway Boys, which performed Stray Cats and The Clash material.[1][3] That group were named after a track, of the same name, from the Stray Cats self-titled debut album (February 1981).[1][4] The Runaway Boys initially played in the local rockabilly music scene but expanded their audience by performing in regional towns and backing popular Melbourne cover band Mercury Blue at the Wheelers Hill Hotel/Pub.[1][2] Cheney later recalled "[w]e played to all the jivers and rock 'n' rollers ... And we slowly drifted into Melbourne's rockabilly scene".[2] As Cheney and Owen persevered, the band went through several drummers, while they were still attending school.[5]

By 1994, Cheney and Owen were writing their own material and decided to change the band's name to The Living End – a reference to the film, Rock Around the Clock (1956).[6] According to Cheney "It's an old '50s term, meaning 'far out', 'the greatest' ... We were still into the whole '50s thing, but we wanted a neutral name, one that didn't suggest any one style of music".[2] With Cheney on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Owen on double bass and backing vocals, the group settled on Joe Piripitzi as their drummer.[1][3][7] Cheney considered Piripitzi to be ideal due to his charismatic appearance.[4]

During that year they recorded a track, "Headlines", which had been co-written by Cheney and Owen.[8][9] The group sent a T-shirt and demo tape to Green Day guitarist and lead vocalist, Billie Joe Armstrong, and landed a support slot for Green Day's 1995 Australian tour. After that tour, The Living End recorded additional tracks for their debut extended play, Hellbound, which received moderate support from community radio stations.[9] It was produced by the group and included "Headlines" from the previous year.[7] Ed Nimmervoll, an Australian musicologist, described the EP's sound: "they turned their back on '50s rock revivalism and adapted that instrumentation to original songs steeped in UK punk".

In November 1995, the trio recorded their second EP, It's for Your Own Good, which appeared in the following June.[1][3] The six-track EP was co-produced by Lindsay Gravina (Underground Lovers, Cosmic Psychos), Mike Alonso (Jericho) and The Living End for the Rapido label.[7] It included their first radio airplay hit, "From Here on In",[3] which was placed on high rotation by national youth radio network, Triple J.[1] Shortly after, Piripitzi was fired as his lifestyle choices were holding back the band.[4] He was replaced on drums by Travis Demsey (later in The Knockout Drops).[7] With Demsey the group appeared at major festivals: Pushover and the Falls Festival. Demsey's drum style was compared with The Who's Keith Moon. "From Here on In" was used on the soundtrack for the 1998 film, Occasional Course Language.[3]

The Living End toured Australia for a year, then in August 1997 they recorded new material to sell at their live shows.[1][3] Their double A-sided single, "Second Solution" / "Prisoner of Society", was issued in January the following year. Also that month they had supported The Offspring on the Australian leg of their tour.[3] "Second Solution" / "Prisoner of Society" peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Singles Chart,[10] and was certified double-platinum by ARIA for shipment of 140,000 copies.[3][11] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998 it won the Highest Selling Single category;[12][13] and eventually became the highest selling Australian single of the 1990s.[1] It lasted a record-breaking 47 weeks in the Top 50.[10]

In October 1998 it peaked at No. 28 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.[14] It was later featured in the game, Guitar Hero World Tour. "Second Solution" was used in the soundtrack for the 2002 movie, Cheats, which starred Trevor Fehrman, Matthew Lawrence, and Mary Tyler Moore. Early in 1998 "Prisoner of Society" was issued as a separate single in the United Kingdom and, the following year, in the US. The single appeared in the top 200 of the UK Singles Chart,[15] and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard's Alternative Songs Chart.[16]

The band signed with Modular Recordings for the release of their debut self-titled album, which appeared on 12 October 1998, and was co-produced by Gravina with the trio.[3][7] It peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart,[17] became the then-second highest-selling debut rock album in Australian music history and, by 1999, was certified 4x Platinum for shipment of 280,000 units.[18] Their next Australian single, "Save the Day", was issued in September 1998, a month ahead of the album. It made the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[17] It became their highest charting hit on the New Zealand Singles Chart, where it reached No. 10.[19] From the album, a total of six singles were released including a live cover version of "Tainted Love", which was issued as a radio-only single on Triple J. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1999, The Living End won two more awards: Best Group and Breakthrough Artist – Album.[20][21] At the ceremony they were also nominated for Album of the Year and Highest Selling Album.[20] In October 2010 their debut album was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.[22]

The Living End's second album, Roll On, was recorded during July 2000 with Nick Launay (Midnight Oil, Models, Silverchair) producing and appeared in November that year.[7] It peaked at No. 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart and reached the top 40 in New Zealand.[17][19] Although Roll On was a more creative work, Nimmervoll mentioned that they had "broadened their musical scope while keeping in tact [sic] what made them unique - the instrumentation and the socially-aware lyrics".[1] The album did not achieve the status of their earlier album as it was certified platinum for shipment of 70,000 copies.[23] Despite this, fans consider it to be as strong as the self-titled album; "[it's] an absolute scorcher! That's what years of live honing can do for a band that was already white-hot".[24]

Cheney later stated that he was trying to prove to critics that The Living End were not a band simply defined by their hit, "Prisoner of Society", and the album showed this by displaying other influences, as well as their traditional fast-paced rockabilly music. Rolling Stone' Jenny Eiscu compared it to The Clash's creative breakthrough, London Calling (December 1979), as they "stomp all over the boundaries between punk, reggae, rockabilly and plain old rock & roll – and it still sounds like a revelation, twenty-two years after [T]he Clash did it. The pupils don't quite outpace the masters here ... But the band is obviously having such a riotously good time that you'd be a sucker not to stomp your foot and join the party".[25] Much of the style was comparable to 1980s hard rock and pub rock, as well as many tracks being obscure mixes of many ideas, resulting in 'procrastinating' structures. This defined the album's creativity.

The album's first two singles, "Pictures in the Mirror" and the title track, peaked into the top 20 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[17] "Pictures in the Mirror" also reached the top 20 in New Zealand,[19] while "Roll On" peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart,[16] and appeared in the top 150 of the UK Singles Chart.[15] In March 2001 Billboard's review of Roll On described their sound as "Aussie punkabilly", while the group's lyrics show a "socially progressive attitude, discussing prejudice, racism, and political conflict".[26] The trio received US-wide coverage by playing on both Conan O'Brien's and David Letterman's late-night variety shows. The album included "Carry me Home", which appeared on the Guitar Hero II soundtrack. However, touring in support of Roll On and the related singles was halted after Cheney had a car accident on the Great Ocean Road, rendering him unable to play for a significant period of time: he was "hospitalised for 2 months".[24] He had been on travelling to the house of a member of fellow Australian band and tour mates, Bodyjar.

Chris Cheney performing in 2009. He founded the band in 1994 as their singer-songwriter and lead guitarist.[3] In September 2001, he had been injured in a car accident and was hospitalised for two months.[24] In October 2006, he told other group members that he wanted to quit as he had writer's block; however, he returned to songwriting and performing with the band by April 2007.[27]

In February 2002, The Living End's line up changed as Demsey left and was replaced on drums in April by Andy Strachan (ex-Pollyanna).[1][7] Dempsey wanted to spend more time with his family, and had a dislike of heavy touring;[28] in August that year he joined Fez Perez,[1] and later joined a punk, folk rock group, The Currency. The Living End developed a side project, The Longnecks, to test out Strachan and new material for their third album, Modern ARTillery, without attracting wide public attention.[1] The name is a reference to longneck beer bottles. The Longnecks name was re-used by the band to try out potential material for later albums. They have also played under other names: Glen Waverley & The Mentones, The Dovetones, Roller Toasters, Doncaster & The Dandenongs and Redwings; at various venues in regional Victoria.

In mid-2002 The Living End recorded four tracks, including "One Said to the Other", which were released as an EP in January the following year and reached the top 20 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[17] Two of its tracks were re-recorded in Los Angeles with Mark Trombino (Blink-182, Jebediah) producing, together with new material for Modern ARTillery, which appeared on 28 October 2003.[1][7] It peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart,[17] top 50 in New Zealand,[19] and top 40 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart.[29] "Who's Gonna Save Us?" was issued a month earlier, as the lead single, which reached top 40 in Australia,[17] top 30 in New Zealand and on Billboard's Alternative Songs Chart.[16][19] They followed with heavy touring (including Big Day Out) promoting their releases.

On 27 September 2004 the band released a compilation album, From Here on In: The Singles 1997-2004, early versions included a bonus disc, Under the Covers, which had six cover versions of other artist's tracks.[30] The CD featured two new tracks: "I Can't Give You What I Haven't Got" and "Bringing It All Back Home". They also issued a compilation DVD, From Here on In: The DVD 1997–2004, which collated their music video clips and live performances of the groups at festivals: Splendour in the Grass and Big Day Out in Sydney, and from Summer Sonic in Japan.[4] The DVD also documented the band's history by interviews and home footage.[4]

Scott Owen during The Living End's 2007 United Kingdom tour. He co-founded the group with Cheney in 1994 and cites Lee Rocker of Stray Cats as his main influence: Owen mimicked Rocker's right hand movements on the upright bass when he first learned how to play.[31]

The Living End's fourth studio album, State of Emergency, was recorded in Byron Bay with Launay producing,[7][32] following the band's appearance at Splendour in the Grass. The recording and the artwork was completed in mid-December 2005, and the album was released on 4 February the following year.[32] The Living End had again played gigs as The Longnecks, before recording the album, to test out the new material. It peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in its first week,[17] it reached top 40 in New Zealand, and on Billboard's Alternative Songs Chart.[16][19]

The lead single, "What's on Your Radio?", had been issued in November 2005, and reached No. 9 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[17] The second single, "Wake Up", was released in February just after the album and reached No. 5.[17] It became their highest charting single in New Zealand where it peaked at No. 12.[19] The third single, "Long Live the Weekend", was released in May, and appeared in the top 30 in Australia. The fourth single, "Nothing Lasts Forever", was released in August and also reached the top 40.[17] The album was nominated for the 2006 J Award.

The album was issued in the US through Green Day's Armstrong's Adeline Records along with Eastwest Records on 11 July 2006 and in Canada a week later. Another release in support of the album was the DVD, Live at Festival Hall, on 30 September, which captured a Melbourne performance during the State of Emergency Tour, and featured many songs from the album, and earlier tracks.[33] On 20 June 2006 the band received four Jack Awards: Best Live Band, Best Live TV Performance, Best Performer (Cheney) and Best Drummer (Strachan).[34] Thereby the group achieved the most awards in a year and, at eight overall, the most by any artist.[34][35] 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 support act for +44.

On 6 October Cheney left the band because he felt burnt out, he was sick of the constant touring, as well as experiencing writer's block.[27] Cheney felt that he needed to get away from the band and develop other aspects of his life.[27] This information was kept confidential until 2008.[27] Early in 2007 Cheney had isolated himself from his bandmates while trying to write tracks for a 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, a cover version of Cold Chisel's "Rising Sun", available on the Standing on the Outside (March 2007), a Cold Chisel tribute album by various Australian artists.[36] After Cheney overcame his writer's block and was convinced not to leave the band,[27] the group played The Great Escape in April 2007 and restarted work on their fifth studio album. They toured the UK in August that year, releasing State of Emergency there on 13 August through Deck Cheese Records.

Andy Strachan behind his kit in 2008. He joined in April 2002 by replacing previous drummer Travis Demsey. In 2006, Strachan won the Jack Award for Best Drummer.[34] In November 2007, he reflected on the group's ambition, "we have no qualms about going back [overseas] and living on a bus for months at a time ... I think we still have a really good shot of it over there. We just have to get to the next level. It's about having the right song at the right time".[37]

The Living End released their fifth studio album, White Noise, on 19 July 2008.[27][38][39] The trio had performed at The Age's Entertainment Guide's EG Awards in Melbourne in December 2007.[40] Two new songs had been premiered, "Raise the Alarm" and "How Do We Know". During February the following year they played gigs as The Longnecks to test out more new material prior to recording.[27] The gigs were described by Cheney as the most exciting of their career, "there is a heaviness and depth to the new stuff that we simply haven't had before".[41]

Pre-production for the album took place at Studio One in Collingwood, Melbourne with producer Kalju Tonuma. This included various co-writes including the track "Sum of Us". After the sonic blueprint of the album was established, producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady) was engaged to commence recording at Water Music Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey, for their new label, Dew Process,[27][39] on the week beginning 31 March.[38] Cheney felt Agnello "[could] capture the energy and attack we are after".[41] Brendan O'Brien mixed the record at Silent Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.[38][41] The Age's Andrew Murfett declared they "have never been able to convey the energy and power of their live shows on record ... [this album] is fresh, diverse and relatively honest, and TLE suddenly got a lot more interesting".[39] White Noise peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart in its first week,[17] it reached No. 18 in New Zealand – becoming their highest charting album there.[19] In support of the album, they made TV appearances, including a performance on 5 October at the 2008 NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2008, White Noise was awarded the Best Rock Album, over efforts from Gyroscope and Faker.[42]

The first single issued from the album included the title track. Another song, "How Do We Know", was simultaneously released as a radio-only track on Triple J, and was heard on other radio stations, such as Nova 969. The tracks formed a double A-sided single, which was issued both physically and digitally in July 2008. It reached No. 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart,[17] and top 30 in New Zealand.[19] White Noise had almost a year-and-a-half of writing behind it, showing "more of a hard rock influence" and the group declared it's "the best thing we've ever done".[43] In September that year a second single, "Moment in the Sun", was released to Australian radio; it was physically and digitally released a month later.[44][45] In December "Raise the Alarm" was released to radio as the third single. A music video had been issued 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. In May The Living End started the Raise the Alarm Tour.

The Living End performing in Berkshire, England, August 2009.
Owen plays his double bass while Cheney clambers atop. Strachan is behind his drum kit.

During September and October 2010 The Living End performed under another alias, Safety Matches, testing new material, similar to the previous usage of The Longnecks, for their sixth album, The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating.[46] The tracks vetted included "United", "Universe", "Away from the City" (then-titled "Black and White"), the title track, "Resist" and "Heatwave". In the January 2011 edition of The Living End's News, Cheney revealed "[h]aving spent all of 2010 writing album 6 we have amassed something in the vicinity of 40+ songs to choose from... There are some really different ideas kicking around this time but the emphasis has been on creating a cohesive album that is heavy, melodic and overall very anthemic".[47]

The title track was premiered as the lead single in early June 2011 on national radio stations. The album appeared on 22 July that year, it was produced by Nick DiDia (Powderfinger).[46][48] On 17 July Triple J played tracks from the album with further tracks played through the week prior to its release. The Living End also allowed fans on their mailing list a 24-hour stream of the record on 18 July. Fans could listen as many times as they wanted and were able to comment on the stream. In support of the album a live stream of a performance occurred on YouTube on 19 July. This featured an additional guitarist as well as Cheney playing rhythm guitar. From 2011 the band has employed Adrian Lombardi (ex-Mid Youth Crisis, Blueline Medic) on stage as their second guitarist.[49] In July 2012 Cheney announced on Triple J that throughout November and December of that year, as part of The Retrospective Tour, they would perform each of their six studio albums over a week, in each of five Australian state capitals (Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne).[50]

The Living End played in the UK and Germany throughout August and September 2013, and headlined at the Summernats 27 in Canberra in 2014.

The Living End also played at the 2014 Soundwave Festival in Australia as a replacement for Stone Temple Pilots who had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts with the recording of their next album.

The Living End supported Cold Chisel in their One Night Stand tour, with shows at Townsville, Darwin, Perth, Macedon Ranges and Sydney.[51]

The Living End announced they finished their seventh studio album in 2015. On 15 March 2016, the band released a song called "Monkey" as a taste of the album. "Monkey" is not the first official single off the album but was played live at the Decades Music Festival in 2015, along with another track called "Death". On 21 March 2016 the band officially announced the new album, Shift with a release date of 13 May 2016, alongside a national tour and the release of the single, "Keep on Running".[52]

"Staring Down The Barrel", the final single from the album, was released in October 2016. The song was inspired by Cheney's battles with alcohol.[53][54]

On 22 June 2018, The Living End released a new song, "Don't Lose It". The band played two special pub shows in Sydney and Melbourne to launch the new single.[55]

On 10 July 2018, the band officially announced their eighth album, Wunderbar, with a release date of 28 September 2018.[56] Following this announcement, a video was launched for the previously released single "Don't Lose It". The video is a parody of reality talent contests, such as The Voice and Idols, and features cameos from many Australian musicians and personalities, such as Jimmy Barnes, Jane Gazzo, Molly Meldrum, Daryl Braithwaite and Murray Cook.[57]

Wunderbar was recorded over a six-week period in February 2018, in Berlin, Germany, with producer Tobias Kuhn. Kuhn was brought on as producer after being recommended by German punk band, Die Toten Hosen.[58] Wunderbar peaked at #3 on the ARIA charts.[17]

• Chris Cheney – lead guitar, lead vocals (1994–present)
• Scott Owen – double bass, bass guitar, backing vocals (1994–present)
• Andy Strachan – drums, backing vocals (2002–present)

• Adrian Lombardi – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2011–2013, 2017)

• Joe Piripitzi – drums (1994–1996)
• Travis Demsey – drums (1996–2002)

• The Living End (1998)
• Roll On (2000)
• Modern Artillery (2003)
• State of Emergency (2006)
• White Noise (2008)
• The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating (2011)
• Shift (2016)
• Wunderbar (2018)

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[72]

The ARIA Music Awards are an annual series presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) since 1987, which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. The Living End have won a total of six awards from thirty nominations.