After 20-plus years inside the brutal beast that is the Australian music industry, The Superjesus stand tall as one of Australia’s most respected rock outfits.
Life has worn its grooves into The Superjesus, whether it be during the early days when they were previously named Hell's Kitchen or after a massive 36-show Australian 2018 tour, playing two sets per night to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of 'Sumo', an album that remains a staple on Aussie radio.
“It's the biggest tour we've ever done, because we played two sets per night and we were on stage for almost three hours every night,” lead vocalist Sarah McLeod says.
“The first set was 'Sumo' from beginning to end and then the second set would be greatest hits and rarities, so we would do singles from every other album, covers and then interesting album tracks and B-sides.
“The first set was quite dark, heavy and menacing with sort of red lighting, smoke and down-tuned riffs. The second set was really a collective and was a bit lighter, couple of ballads, piano songs; it was really like two completely different bands.
“I personally preferred the second set because it was songs we don't normally play. It was all a bit new to us. We are best known for 'Sumo', but every album we have brought out does sound remarkably different to the album before... We're best known for our heavy stuff, but we do quite a lot of pop stuff.”
The South Australian Music Hall of Famers are now prepping for annual charity event Rockin' 4 The Homeless in SE QLD, which has expanded in both size and prestige this year.
The event supports the volunteer-run organisation The Breakfast Club, who provide support and services for homeless people in the Redcliffe Peninsula region.
“The guys who were organising [Rockin'] were with The Hoodoo Gurus at the Under The Southern Stars 2019 festival in January; they saw us play and spoke to us about the festival, and of course we jumped at it because it’s a great charity and anything we can do to help the homeless, we're there and we love playing, and we love Queensland, so we said 'let’s do it'.”
The group who are originally from Adelaide, have won two ARIA Awards and released three platinum albums: ‘Sumo’, ‘Jet Age’ and ‘Rock Music’. Best known for their hit singles ‘Gravity’, ‘Secret Agent Man’ and ‘Enough To Know’, in 2003 the band took a break to work on separate projects, reformed again in 2013, releasing the EP ‘Love And Violence' in 2016.
2018 then kicked off with the band touring the country alongside Jebediah, Killing Heidi and Grinspoon on the Hotter Than Hell tour. This was closely followed by vocalist Sarah starring in Green Day’s 'American Idiot The Musical', sharing the role of St Jimmy to rave reviews around the country.
The Superjesus will also release a live double album ('Sumo 20 Live') 6 September, which was recorded on their 2018 Sumo tour; the band also band have their own tour that visits Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. With an unstoppable work ethic and a 20-year back catalogue to draw from, this bulletproof band are well worth a visit at Rockin' 4 The Homeless.
Rockin' 4 The Homeless concerts, headlined by The Superjesus and You Am I, take place at Southport RSL (Gold Coast) 30 August and Picnic Hill (Redcliffe) 31 August. Sarah McLeod will play a solo show (joined by Birds Flies High and Amanda Emblem) at Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane) 29 August.
Written by Gyan Rocha
The Superjesus 2019 Tour Dates
Fri 6 Sep - Badlands Bar (Perth)Sat 7 Sep - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 20 Sep - Max Watts (Melbourne)
Sat 21 Sep - Crowbar (Sydney)
