When Kisschasy disbanded in 2015, they had no plans for a reunion.
After the success of their debut album 'United Paper People' in 2005 and 'Hymns For The Nonbeliever' in 2007, the cracks were already beginning to show when they went into the studio to record 2009's 'Seizures'."We'd already started moving in different musical directions," vocalist Darren Cordeux says.
"So by the time it came to new music after the third record, it was just like, we're not making our best work so why would we disrespect our legacy and our fans by putting out stuff that's not as good, just because it's easy to do because there's people waiting for it?
"When we broke up I thought 'okay, that's perfect – we have this great legacy and it's there forever and people can access it if they want'.
"I never thought in a million years that after we broke up people would be waiting for us to come back."
However, wait they did – until December last year, when Cordeux returned from Los Angeles to reunite with bandmates Joel Vanderuit (bass), Sean Thomas (lead guitar) and Karl Ammitzboll (drums) for Good Things Festival.
The band had received several offers over the years, but the festival offer was the one they ended up saying yes to.
"I didn't have the confidence in it just being us for this tour after this long – I really didn't think people would care, honestly," Cordeux says, "and that's not me being fake humble or anything; I honestly didn’t."
When the band got together in a Melbourne rehearsal room a day after Cordeux's return, his expectations were low: the four hadn't performed together since 2015, and they had just one day to perfect a set before a secret show that would act as a dress rehearsal for the festival itself.
"Kisschasy obviously had a lot of pop hooks and things like that, but when you hear Karl hit those drums, he's just so primal. . . The way Sean shreds on the guitar and the way even Joel attacks his bass strings, it just felt like real, heavy rock & roll when we got into that room, and I hadn't felt that since that last night we played in 2015.
"It was wild. I don't know if it's a new energy or just an energy that we forgot we had, but it felt special."
It's that energy the band plans to bring to their string of headline shows across the country next month – along with a sense of "pure, unadulterated joy".
"We've missed it, and we've missed those people who who've missed it along with us," Cordeux says. "So I think it's just going to be this great communal celebration of these songs that we are still so proud of."
It was the fans who turned up to support the band's Good Things debut – on a side stage early in the day – that gave Darren confidence in the band's upcoming tour.
"I was like, 'okay, people have to go out of their way to get there early, to see a band who broke up in 2015, hadn't released new music since 2009. . . on some obscure stage where they have to walk through the easily accessible stages to some obscure area of this lot' – I thought we're just going to be playing to no one," he says.
"So when we got up on stage in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and people were there in droves, and when we started playing they were not only singing along to the singles but all the deep cuts on that f...ing album, it was like, 'what the hell is happening? This feels wrong.'"
If you had asked Cordeux a year ago if there might be a chance for a new Kisschasy record, he would have said "probably not", but now it's a prospect that isn't entirely off the table.
"I don't want to make any false promises, but my feeling when I came back to the States after those Good Things Festival shows was promising," he says.
"I feel like my aim this year in general is just to be open to those things, and to be writing a lot more for myself as opposed to other people.
"So if something comes out that I feel like is in line with our legacy and what we do, then we'll definitely make it a thing."
Kisschasy 2023 Tour Dates
Wed 3 May - Crowbar (Sydney)Thu 4 May - The Tivoli (Brisbane)
Fri 5 May - The Gov (Adelaide)*sold out
Sat 6 May - Badlands Bar (Perth)* sold out
Sun 7 May - Badlands Bar (Perth)* sold out
Wed 10 May - UC Hub (Canberra)*sold out
Thu 11 May - UOW Uni Bar (Wollongong)
Fri 12 May - Metro Theatre (Sydney)*sold out
Sat 13 May - Cambridge Hotel (Newcastle)*sold out
Sun 14 May - Drifters (Central Coast)
Wed 17 May - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)* sold out
Thu 18 May - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)* sold out
Fri 19 May - Torquay Hotel (Torquay)*sold out
Sat 20 May - Hobart Uni Bar
Thu 25 May - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
