Lepers & Crooks

So just who are Lepers & Crooks? Well, now in their early 20s, the band members have been honing their craft for a number of years. “When I first jammed with them in year ten, I didn’t want to do anything else,” says frontman Sam Baker. “I remember sitting as 18-year-olds, coming back from a big night out and waiting for the sun to come up, and deciding, ‘Yeah man, let’s do this.’ I don’t want to go to uni and study, just to work a nine-to-five job. I feel like that would just kill me. Now we’ve just clicked and we’ve got amazing opportunities since we’ve met Chris.”

Dreams of dodging the daily grind and focusing solely on your one true passion are not unusual. But when you’re without an income stream, plenty of simple things become rather difficult. However, Lepers & Crooks are finding a way to make it work, whatever it takes.

“I haven’t had a proper job for a fucking while now, probably about a year and a half,” Baker says. “I’ve just been gypsy-ing around and living on friends’ couches and at different girls’ places for a while now. There’s so much that you need to put into this. If we don’t put all our energy towards it, maybe we’re going to regret it. So we quit our jobs and we’re just touring around, making money off gigs.”

In December, Lepers & Crooks released their debut EP, Her Kiss.The four-song set paints a diverse picture of the band’s stylistic preferences, ranging from the Jeff Buckley atmospherics of ‘Her Kiss’to theriff-rock of ‘This System’ and the folky storytelling piece, ‘Jack’.

“We’ve never wanted to be a band that just pumped out the same sort of songs,” says Baker. “Our musical influence stems from early rock and ’60s/’70s kind of stuff and Pink Floyd and all these albums that took you on a journey. Because we’ve all got different musical backgrounds, we’ve always brought different things to the table. It’s important as an artist to never be boxed. People want to label you so they can understand you, but I think it’s important for artists to constantly reinvent themselves, test their limits and test the audience.”

Diversity is one thing, but there’s a risk of scaring away listeners if your stylistic choices are too scattered. However, Baker isn’t worried about the band’s sound getting twisted beyond comprehension.

“I definitely think Lepers & Crooks has a sound,” he says. “I think you can listen to ‘Jack’and know it’s Lepers & Crooks. We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do, and we love evolving.”

Right now, the band is finishing up a four-month, 50-date EP launch tour. Having performed everywhere else in the country, this weekend Lepers & Crooks will return to Sydney for a headline show at Oxford Art Factory. Baker explains the thinking behind the gargantuan touring jaunt: “We just wanted to soak up as much of the different places and people as we could. Meeting people is just the bomb. Having a few beers afterwards with randoms that you’ve met – you actually meet some fucking really cool people and it just turns into a bit of a party.

“You just learn so much by playing in front of live audiences,” he adds. “It’s about winning fans as well, but it’s also about the work behind it.”

Going on tour is a sure-fire way to test the boundaries of friendship. This has been Lepers & Crooks’ first major tour, and they’ve actually made it through largely unscathed.

“It’s rare for any sort of relationship, especially at our age, to stay together all these years,” Baker says. “As we’ve all matured it’s pretty cool that we’ve all stayed together, and the music helps that. Spending time on the road, doing all this sort of stuff, you learn people’s roles, you see what people take on. Apart from some of my vocal training back in the day, I’ve learned everything from these guys. That’s what I think the thread through Lepers & Crooks is, just how close we are and tight-knit as a brotherhood.”

While the boys are now well on their way to building a solid fan base all across the country, one wonders how Lepers & Crooks managed to get Murphy’s attention in the first place?

“We actually went to the INXS miniseries launch party,” says Baker. “Then we went back to Frankie’s in Sydney and I bought Chris a vodka, because I really wanted to talk to him. I went up to him and said, ‘It’s an honour to meet you. You and Peter Grant – the manager for Led Zeppelin – could sell ice to the Eskimos.’ He was sort of taken aback that I knew who that was, and it just evolved from there.

“Since then, we’ve been working harder than we ever have, but we’re doing what we love. Chris is one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met. He’s got an invaluable amount of knowledge. And he brings you into his home and you drink a lot of red wine. It’s good shit.”