Back in the day, End Of Fashion were at the top of their game, touring the country and indeed the world with a self-titled debut album that shook the charts and resulted in a multitude of awards.
That’s the key phrase here though – back in the day. It’s been ten years since the band’s lead single ‘O Yeah’ resonated with adolescents by the thousands; ten years fans have felt every moment of.
Well, guess what? End Of Fashion are back. Vocalist Justin Burfod has brought the old gang back together, reforming to celebrate their debut release with music venues across the country ready to give thousands of fans the chance to reminisce and party. Burfod laughs as he explains his activities during the group’s absence. “I’ve discovered rum – it’s amazing. Back in the day I was into Jameson’s. That shit is crazy: it’s like blackout juice.”
Burfod, chatty and jovial, is buzzing with excitement for the impending tour. “I actually got approached to do it,” Burfod says. “I’ve been rattling around town doing acoustic gigs, playing Coco-Blue [Burfod’s solo record] and I was asked if I’d do EOF songs. I said, ‘No, especially not solo acoustic’. So they said, ‘Can you do an EOF set?’ I said, ‘Yeah, if you want the band!’”
It was a fortuitous offer, one that tied in with a stab at a reformation earlier in the year. “I got the band together this year and it just so happened there was a slot open at The Ampy a week later: we only promoted the show for a week and it still sold out,” Burfod says. “It was like, ‘Wow, there still seem to be people that give a shit, so let’s play to more that care.’”
Despite Burfod’s eagerness to tour, life, as ever, temporarily got in the way. “We had to do a bit of juggling. You know: people have lives to live. For the Ampy gig earlier this year, Mal Clark got back on drums, Jay Cortez was on guitar – even though he was originally bassist – and I got Hugh Jennings in, as he played on the record. Mal’s away for the tour so we’ve got a kid called Nathan on drums and Jay’s back on bass. He’s the very original, first-ever bass player.”
Getting the original group back together after such a long break proved somewhat problematic. Laughing, Burfod says, “We’re still trying to suss out the guitarists situation, but I didn’t want to plug the tour as “featuring original members” – I’m not trying to be that guy!”
Time, that old bugger, has affected the band’s performance style too, and Burfod is upfront about the manner in which his body has changed. “I’m probably a lot less fit now,” he chuckles. “It’s the sad truth, but it’ll be just as fun. I got overwhelmed with energy at the Amp show – it’s like wearing a pair of old familiar shoes. It really is fun, and it’s mostly the crowd’s fault: they draw it out of me, so they’ve got no one else to blame but themselves.”
Out of the blue reformations aren’t unusual, of course, but the timing of End Of Fashion’s return does seem a little unusual. What was it about 2016 that made the band break their hiatus? “Break our hiatus? That sounds almost sexual,” he cackles. “We tried to do this last year and we couldn’t organise ourselves out of a back bag: musos just cannot organise things. That’s why they need people to organise for them.”
Back in the day, there was a reason provided for End Of Fashion’s indefinite departure – Burfod has been quoted a few years ago as saying that the end of the band’s relationship with triple j was largely the reason behind their split.
“I do think that losing that relationship hurt the band and that sucked, but what kind of sucked to me about that whole thing was that we were tarnished with an anti-triple j message. I wrote a Facebook rant that made national news. It got more attention than one of our records – it was good to open some dialogue.”
“I think the js do a good job at what they do: it’s not that they’re doing anything wrong, there’s just not enough triple j,” Burfod says, simply. “It sucks they have to move on from bands, though I do understand they have to. We felt it as a band when we lost that relationship – it’s not like I hold a grudge, it’s just like, man, that sucks.”
With a four-city tour fast approaching, the resurfacing of such a coveted Aussie group will surely leave many fans wondering if the tour marks the ultimate end or the beginning of a new chapter. “I’m not sure,” Burfod says simply. “I was kind of saying a few years ago that EOF was never gonna be a thing again and now we’re playing on a tour. I guess I’m trying to learn to never say never and to not talk in absolutes.”
Hesitantly Burfod adds, “I don’t know what EOF feels like anymore. I think others might be more keen than I am. It’s true though, I’ve moved onto other pastures. Whatever. I should stop talking now.”
End Of Fashion play at Newtown Social ClubonThursday September 8.
