Following a successful show in Sydney earlier this year, Youth Group have announced a vinyl release of their breakthrough album 'Skeleton Jar' and have reunited to play three shows in June and July.
After taking a hiatus in 2009, Youth Group will be returning to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne for a string of shows to play 'Skeleton Jar' in it’s entirety to celebrate the album’s tenth anniversary. Members: Toby Martin (guitar/ vocals), Danny Allen (drums), Cameron Emerson-Elliott (guitar) and Patrick Matthews (bass), have each been involved in various side projects during their time apart as a band but still remain close friends. “We’ve all known each other for a really long time and there’s an incredibly close bond there. They’re a huge priority for me when I come home and pretty much second to my own family,” explains Danny who has been living overseas for the past few years.
'Skeleton Jar' was originally released in 2004 and was the record that got Youth Group signed to Epitaph Records in the U.S. “It kind of kicked everything off,” says Danny. The band has a special connection to this album because of this, but their fans undoubtedly do as well. “It wasn’t a high selling album but people seem to have a bit more of a stronger connection to it I think. It seems special for a lot of people. Our tenth anniversary came around and we hadn’t played for a long time so it seemed like a good idea.”
The one-off Sydney show in January this year sold out five weeks in advance. Although the band are worried they might not receive the same response in their upcoming shows as they did with their last one, they were certainly encouraged by the response and are looking forward to it. “There are so many options these days. You never really know if people are going to stick around, or how much you mean to them, or if they’ve forgotten. We really didn’t know, but the response of the first [show] was incredible and it sold out really quickly. It’s not the biggest room but that kind of reaction was so encouraging.
“The show was like a huge reunion of old crew members… There are a lot of faces that I haven’t seen in forever and even for the guys living here there were so many people that we hadn’t worked with in so long. Man, it was just like an awesome birthday that everyone happened to have on the same night!”Youth Group have been talking of doing something together for a long time, but their lives took over. It almost didn’t even seem possible for everyone to be able to get together. “We’ve been wanting to do stuff and been talking more about it for quite a while but it just hasn’t had the chance to eventuate. When the tenth anniversary for 'Skeleton Jar' came around we talked about a re-release, that was the first thing, and then we started talking about our personal schedules and whether shows were even possible.
“Everyone has kids now in the band, except for me. So even though everyone’s got their own lives, in a way, it pulls you away from the band and your commitment to music. It also kind of brings you closer as friends because it’s just incredible knowing these guys for so long and then just seeing them have children and the path their lives have taken now. It makes it more special in a way. But it also means that God knows how much time we’re going to have to devote to doing something. It’s really impossible to say.”
The band have been working on their album artwork for a little while now and the decision to re-release 'Skeleton Jar' on vinyl largely came down to presenting that artwork in the best way. “Vinyl is great for artwork and it’s also kind of, ultimately, the best way of listening to an album and you can include the download code and have that format and stuff. It’s a little bit of a collectable thing and a reason to encourage people to buy it, well, re-buy it anyway.”
Getting back together has reminded the band of why they all played in a band in the first place and has been a lot of fun for them. Youth Group haven’t got any plans set in stone, but definitely plan on doing as much as possible together in the future. “We’re definitely going to keep doing as much as we can just for the enjoyment of it and I think that will probably end up being further recording. We’re definitely looking to see what comes after these shows and rehearsing… We’re definitely not going to just decide that we’re going to be a band again. I think we’re just going to have to wait for it to organically happen which is pretty much the way the band has been from the beginning - no expectations and just do it for the love and see what happens.”
'Skeleton Jar' will be release on vinyl 26 June.
Youth Group Tour Dates
Fri 26 June – Newtown Social Club (Sydney)Fri 3 Jule – Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Sat 4 July – Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane)
