Welcome to TLEROCK.COM - A tribute to The Living End.
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History The Living End are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia. They are influenced by a variety of styles including punk, ska and rockabilly. They are a three piece band consisting of Chris Cheney on vocals and guitar, Scott Owen on backing vocals and double bass, and Travis Demsey on drums.
The Early Years The early beginnings of The Living End as we know it today can be traced back to Chris and Scott's high school days. Chris and Scott met at Wheeler's Hill High School, in Victoria Australia. Chris had been playing guitar since he was about six and Scott wasn't bad on the piano. Their friendship strengthend by their interest in "different" music, such as the Stray Cats, they formed a band. Being heavily influenced by the Stray Cats, they decided they needed a double bass player. The two decided it would be easier to find a drummer than a double bassist, so Scott quit the piano and bought his first bass, which he describes as a "czechoslovakian piece of crap". Meanwhile, Trav was spending his school years in trouble, often spending time in the "time-out room". It was in this room that he first learned to play the drums. Chris and Scott found a drummer, namely Joey Piripitsi and they formed The Runaway Boys after a Stray Cats song. They played rockabilly covers at gigs, weddings and parties around Melbourne and recorded a few demos. Chris and Scott began writing songs and in 1995 the band recorded Hellbound. They followed this up with It's For Your Own Good in 1996, before Joey left the band. Trav was working in a drum store at the time, he auditioned for the band and and joined up. The band gained its first steps to fame when they toured with The Offspring and Blink 182. They returned home and recorded the "Second Solution/Prisoner of Society" EP as something to sell whilst they toured. However, it flew up the charts and reached #1 on the alternative charts and got to #4 on the mainstream charts. The EP earnt the guys an ARIA award for Highest Selling Single in 1998.
	The Self Titled Era The debut album was recorded at Sing Sing Studios, Melbourne in February 1998. The album was mixed in the U.S. and Save the Day- the first single from the album was released in Australia on September 21. The album was released on October 12 and took three days to go gold. Since then it has gone platinum four times. It debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts. In October 1998 they also picked up their ARIA Award for Second Solution/Prisoner of Society and they played Second Solution at the ARIA awards ceremony in Sydney. In early 1999 they set out on a long touring schedule. First the toured the U.S. with The Offspring, before travelling with the Warped Tour. They picked up 5 awards at the Music Industry Critic Awards- Best Debut Single (Independent), Best Single(Independent), Best Debut Album (Independent), Best Album (Independent) and Best New Talent. They continued their tour, playing their own shows throughout Europe, they also played a few shows with Silverchair. They returned to Australia in September to play 33 dates on the "Riot Tour". They picked up more ARIA Awards in 1999 for Best Group and Best New Artist(Album). The guys then took a long earned recovery, and wrote some material for their second album.
The Roll On Era The second album, Roll On was recorded early in 2000 and was released on November 20, 2000 in Australia. The first single Pictures in the Mirror did reasonably well in the charts and was released on October 16. After the release of Roll On, the band did a short tour of Austrlia and did a round of media appearances. As well as headlining Homebake, they held a number of instores, appeared on Rove Live, featured on a Cold Live at the Chaple, took part in a number of radio interviews and recorded a Live at the Wireless set. Following this stretch at home, they played sold out shows across America and Europe, playing with the likes of Green Day and the Warped Tour. They also appeared on the David Letterman Show, where they wowed the audience with a blistering version of Roll On. Back home, Chris won guitarist of the year, before returning home in June 2001 to play the Carry Me Home Tour. The lads released Carry Me Home as a radio single in Australia before leaving to play a number of festivals in Europe. In late Septmeber 2001, Chris was involved in a car accident and broke his femur. He is to be off his feet for a few months. Meanwhile, Dirty Man is to be released in Australia on October 29, and the band is having a well-deserved rest!