Q & A: Gang of Youths

Gearing up for the release of their sophomore record, Gang of Youths, you know ’em, you love ’em, are also hitting some of the biggest Australian venues of their career. Before all this, however, we got a chance to have an email questionnaire with the band about the songs and themes on ‘Go Farther In Lightness’.

You have released several singles that will feature on ‘Go Farther In Lightness’, what else can we expect from the album? 

It’s really really long. About as long as a footy test. The singles so far are somewhat indicative of how the overall LP turned out. Although there are four separate sections—or acts I suppose you might call them—separated by these stunning arrangements David’s done. The tracks are super diverse musically and lyrically, but as usual all seem to serve David’s overall evil plan.

‘The Positions’ came from a very dark place. This album is focused on the light in life, did this in some sense feel like a part of your healing process?

Well I know its been a healing process for Dave. I think ‘The Positions’ was a beautiful and vulnerable view on a man’s journey of suffering and hope, whereas ‘Go Farther in Lightness’ is more cosmic. It’s about bravely looking at the uncertain world at it is, demanding meaning, embracing mortality, saying yes to life, choosing people to love the shit out of. Yeah, I think it helped Dave heal and I think it will help other people heal. It has certainly been a beautiful process for me.

Is there any particular track or element of the album that stands out to you or that you’re particularly proud of?

To me, Keep Me in Open is intoxicating. It just happened so easy. From Dave, writing the song and delivering one hell of a vocal performance (even by his standards), to his laden pianos, the weird stuff Joji and Jung did, it just worked. Like a delicious Barcelona possession goal that ends with Messi passing it into the net. That said we’ve probably never made a more balanced and ambitious track than Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane.

Do you think there will be a different crowd atmosphere in live shows with the different themes that are present in the new music?

I’m not really sure what to expect from people. We will work very hard to deliver our best and most challenging shows to date. They will be a pretty fresh journey and hopefully people will get caught up in it and what we are trying to say. All I can promise is that none of the band, or our amazing team will leave anything out there.

The band has been overseas for quite some time now, how has that experience been?

Pretty hilarious. We all live in this big north London flat. We hang out with each other a lot. Our local has Session IPA, Jenga and Quiz nights. I think the living together situation has been really positive. Touring is super accessible to Europe, UK and USA so that’s wonderful. Haven’t had to survive a London winter yet so we’ll see.

With a national tour coming up, what can we expect from this run of shows?

The shows will be more ambitious and memorable than anything we’ve done before. Can’t reveal much more than that.

Scope the full list of dates for Gang of Youths below. Their new record, ‘Go Farther In Lightness’ is released 18 August on Mosy Recordings / Verge via Sony Music.

Gang of Youths Live Dates

THURS 31 AUG
The Tivoli, Brisbane
FRI 1 SEPT
The Tivoli, Brisbane
WED 6 SEPT
Festival Hall, Melbourne
FRI 8 SEPT
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
WED 13 SEPT
Odeon Theatre, Hobart
FRI 15 SEPT
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
SAT 16 SEPT
Metropolis, Fremantle
TICKETS