myGod,you’rebeautiful!”Heshrugsoff
the compliment, extends his hand, smiles,
andoffersafriendly“Hi,I’mDave.”She
asksforaphoto,heobliges,andthen
he’s off again, bounding up to a nearby
cafétopataGermanShepherd.Itmay
soundlikeLe’aupepe’sstakinghisclaim
for World’s Best Bloke for the benefit of
Rolling Stone,butthereisnothingcal-
culatedabouttheaffectionheshowerson
thispooch.Hisloveofanimalswasthede-
termining factor in his recently giving up
meat.“Ireallymissfish,that’stheonlything
I miss,” he says.
ImentionIhavesomevegetarianfriends
who’ve said they still find the smell of bacon
intoxicating, and he furrows his brow.
“Have you ever hung out with a pig? They’re
fucking adorable.”
A few seconds later he’s off again, strid-
ingupSunsetBoulevard,pasttherow
of shops that share the block with to-
night’s venue, The Echo. A 350-capacity
roomlocatedinanincreas-
ingly hip area of Los An-
geles that, in the Nineties,
wasbetterknownforitspo-
lice corruption and gang vi-
olence, these days its streets
aredottedwithcafés,record
stores and Mexican restau-
rants filled with young fami-
lies. Outside the venue stands
theband’smodeoftrans-
portforthepasttwoweeks,
awhite,15-passengerFord
Transitthat’shadtheback
tworowsofseatsremoved
to make room for all their gear. It looks
crampedandlikeitcoulddowithagood
airing out, but befits Gang of Youths’ pro-
fileinthiscountry.“Noone[here]givesa
fuck,” Le’aupepe smiles. “Some cities yeah,
some cities no. We’re perceived as a lot
more underground and alternative here,
whichisreallyfuckingnice.”
This morning the band – completed by
guitaristJojiMalani,keyboardist-gui-
tarist Jung Kim, bassist Max Dunn and
drummer Dom “Donnie” Borzestowski –
drove six hours from San Francisco, where
they played last night. It was an emotion-
alshowforLe’aupepe,asagoodfriendof
his ex-wife’s was in the audience. The en-
counter was made more poignant by the
fact that his former partner – whose bat-
tlewithcancerinformedsomuchofthe
band’s 2014 debut,The Positions–passed
awaythreeandahalfmonthsago.They
stayed up for hours after the show talking,
which explains why, earlier this afternoon,
the 25-year-old could be found lying face
downonabenchseatintheband’sdress-
ing room, attempting to grab a few min-
utes’ sleep.
This evening’s gig is the last of a 10-date
U.S. tour, and by the sounds, sleep has
beensomethingofararity.Notbecause
of any wild partying – tonight’s rider con-
sistsofcornchips,nuts,muesliandchoc-
olatebarsandasolitarycaseofbeer–but
because of multiple 12-to-14-hour drives
between cities.
Save for their amiable tour manager
Caleb, the quintet aren’t travelling with
any crew, meaning they’re responsible for
luggingalltheirgear,settingitup,break-
ingitdownattheendofthenightand
packingthevanagain.It’sbeenawhile
sincethey’vehadtodothatinAustra-
lia.“It’skindoffunny,’causeAustralia
still feels fake to us,” says Malani, midway
through his pre-show routine of stretches,
which he’ll follow with a shower. (“The best
shower I’ve had in three weeks!”) “Not that
what we’re experiencing [in Australia] isn’t
real,butbecauseithappenedsoquick-
ly it almost feels like it’s a dream. Where-those we care about, for the people who’ve
paid, for the ones we want to make proud- after which a prayer is offered giving
thanks for the tour. And then they’re gone,
down two f lights of stairs and onto the
stage. Before a note is played, Le’aupepe
steps up to the mic and, unable to help
himself, flashes a grin. “We have a nice long
set for you tonight, L.A.,” he quips.
O
n april 18th this year,
Dave Le’aupepe posted the
front cover of The Positions
on his Instagram account
with the caption: “wishing
a happy two year anniver-
sary to this unholy pain in the ass. i love
you and i hate you. thank you for the heal-
ing you gave me, and fuck you for the ca-
lamity you brought upon me also.” Referred
to in shorthand as “the album about can-
cer” – a reference to the fact it documents
Le’aupepe’s relationship with his ex-wife,
whom he met as an 18-year-
old and nursed through her
illness before they divorced
in 2014 – the songs were writ-
ten initially to help her in her
fight, but came to document
a man struggling with the
breakdown of that relation-
ship and the disintegration of
his own mental health. With
its Springsteen-meets-the-
Replacements-via-U2 gran-
deur and heart-on-sleeve lyr-
ical content, The Positions
became a Top 5 hit, catapult-
ing Gang of Youths onto festival bills and
some of the country’s biggest stages less
than three years after this group of friends
came together to help bring Le’aupepe’s
songs to life.
Three hours before showtime, Le’aupepe
is perched atop a milk create on a crum-
bling sidewalk a block from the venue, tuck-
ing into a vegetarian burrito and taco from
the Tacos Ariza! food truck and consider-
ing that Instagram post over the buzz of the
truck’s generator.
“When we released [The Positions] it felt
like a release within myself. [Prior to that] I
was never able to compartmentalise and ex-
press the feelings I had about that relation-
ship with people properly. I used to be very
non-verbal about stuff. Oh,” he smiles, “how
the times have changed.”
And the calamity it brought upon you?
“It brought enormous calamity because
it led to the breakdown of my marriage, it
led to the destruction of my mental health.
Having to tour this thing, write the thing,
record it, go back and forth between Sydney
and Nashville [where his wife was receiving
treatment] and New York [where the band
had relocated], that fucking sucked. And I
was constantly surrounded by alcohol. Con-
stantly. And just the anxiety following re-asthis,it’sabruptandconfrontingalotof
times,butitfeelslikereality.Thisfeelslike
thenaturaltrajectoryofabandlikeours.”
For Le’aupepe, touring America is the re-
alisationofadreamhehadasa10-year-old
growingupnexttoStrathfieldstation,spit-
tingdistancefromthebusyM4freewayin
Sydney’s inner west. “I became intoxicat-
ed with the idea of exploring the iconogra-
phy of America myself. You listen to Bruce
Springsteen,youwanttobewhereheis,you
want to gun it down the Garden State Park-
way. When Hank Williams is talking about
being so lonely, you want to know about the
placehewasgazingoutatwhenhewrote
thatsong,orwhenhesangit.”
By 9.30pm, it’s clear there are people in
LosAngeleswho“giveafuck”,asthenum-
bersinthevenuestarttoswell.L.A.hasn’t
beenahappyhuntinggroundfortheband,
with Le’aupepe still burned by their last
show in town a year ago and the “abhor-
rentmusicindustryarseholes”whoturned
up wanting short songs and a short set and,
upon being presented with neither, left
halfwaythrough.Astheir10.30stagetime
approaches, the band gather in a huddle
in the dressing room. Le’aupepe’s pep talk
basically amounts to one thing – fuck the
industry people out there, let’s do this for48 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com September, 2017
GANG OF YOUTHS
Editor Rod Yates profiled Meg Mac in
RS 789.
“We’re all gonna die,” says
Dave Le’aupepe. “I want to
make sure I spend the time
on this earth being the very
best I can.”