Australia has birthed some iconic bands that will go down in music history amongst critics and fans alike.
Bands like AC/DC, The Angels, Screaming Jets. Bands that music lovers have dug into the trenches with and emerged triumphant to share the spoils of war.
But while bands such as this are revered amongst the public and fans, seldom does a band stand out as national treasures to be put on a pedestal until the time comes that they feel like coming down.
At their own leisure of course.
One such Australian band that immediately springs to mind is Kisschasy.
“Part of the thing that made us us is that we do have separate musical influences, but I think the gap between those was growing as we all grew as people.”
Joel Vanderuit
After forming in the Mornington Peninsula around the turn of the century, Kisschasy soon established themselves as a musical force to be reckoned with, scoring two gold-certified albums (out of three), two gold-certified singles, multiple ARIA nominations plus invitations to perform at some of the countries biggest musical festivals.
But not only were Kisschasy successful, they were also genuinely nice guys with a casual demeanour that refused to be ruffled despite the band’s overwhelming success.
After disbanding in 2015, Kisschasy seemed reluctant to offer any morsels of pleasure for expectant and waiting fans, biding their time and making sure the timing was right for them first and foremost before even contemplating another venture into the musical landscape.
Late last year the band answered the prayers of a nation by announcing an extensive national reunion tour for this May, with the announcement enough to plunge their debut album United Paper People back into the ARIA Top Ten Album Charts 18 years after its initial release.
HEAVY recently sat down with Kisschasy bass player Joel Vanderuit to get the final plans before the tour kicks off in Sydney on May 3.
“It sort of kept on creeping up too,” he replied when we remark on the lengthy nature of the tour. “Luckily a lot of the shows have been selling out, so we’ve been able to increase venue sizes or add an extra show. Darren (Cordeux, vocalist) lives in LA now, and we’ve only got him for a set amount of time, so we thought we’d flog the absolute hell `out of him on tour and make sure he earns his keep (laughs).”
If any vindication for Kisschasy dusting off the touring cobwebs was needed, it was quickly answered by the public response to individual shows with a number selling out within the first few days of going on sale.
“It’s really surreal,” he smiled. “We’re actually onto our third Melbourne show now which is wild. I think half of being away for so long is why we’re able to do this and why we’re able to reconnect with everyone in such an engaging way. If we turned up every year I don’t think it would be quite the same. It’s lucky for us and hopefully everyone’s able to come out and enjoy it.”
In the full interview Joel tells us what to expect from the shows, outlines the steps along the way to announcing this tour, getting mentally and physically ready for such a long tour after 8 years, the early days of Kisschasy and the climate that created them, their early acceptance by music lovers and why he thinks that was, how close the band came to pulling stumps permanently in 2015 and more.
