Band rocks ARIA nods
Indie rock group Gang of Youths - led by Jewish frontman David Le'aupepe - has dominated the 2017 ARIA nominee list, up for awards in eight categories this year.
INDIE rock group Gang of Youths has dominated the 2017 ARIA nominee list, up for awards in eight categories this year.
The band, which has moved from Sydney to London, is led by Jewish frontman David Le’aupepe – who is also the group’s principal songwriter, rhythm guitarist and pianist.
Gang of Youths’ latest album Go Farther in Lightness was released in August, debuting at number 1 on the ARIA charts.
It has since been nominated for Album of the Year, Best Rock Album and Best Group, while the band is shortlisted for Best Australian Live Act, and Best Video for their song, The Deepest Sighs, the Frankest Shadows.
The group was also nominated for Best Cover Art, Engineer of the Year and has already received the award for best Producer of the Year.
Le’aupepe spoke to The AJN on the immense privilege in receiving the highest number of ARIA nominations for 2017.
“There is no greater honour to us than to be respected and considered worthy of good repute in our beloved home country,” he said.
“We love Australia, we love the people in it and we’re extraordinarily grateful.”
In an interview with SBS Viceland last year, Le’aupepe revealed that his mother is Austrian-Jewish, while his father is Samoan with a German-Jewish mother.
“I didn’t fit in at school … and had no friends for a lot of my childhood. I needed to figure out a way to turn being an outsider into something I could do for the rest of my life,” Le’aupepe shared.
And so, Gang of Youths was formed in 2012.
ARIA CEO Dan Rosen told The AJN that he is looking forward to the induction of Aussie icon Daryl Braithwaite into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and performances from global stars Harry Styles and Lorde at next week’s ceremony.
But the focus of ARIA is on homegrown talent, with Rosen describing 2017 as “another remarkable year for Australian artists both at home and across the globe”.
“This year’s show will honour those achievements,” he enthused.
The ARIAs will be screened on Channel Nine on November 28 at 7.30pm.
REBECCA DAVIS
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