End Of Fashion On Celebrating The 20th Anniversary Of Their Debut Album

Beloved indie rockers, End of Fashion, are celebrating twenty years since their explosive debut with a very special anniversary vinyl edition and their first national tour in almost a decade. Released in 2005, End of Fashion’s eponymous first album soared up the charts and into the hearts of fans, nationally and beyond. Their lead single O Yeah became an instant classic, earning two ARIA awards and a top 10 spot on Triple J’s Hottest 100. More singles would follow, dominating the airwaves and defining an iconic era of Australian music.

In true End of Fashion style, the twentieth-anniversary edition is a visually striking, high quality double LP, featuring vibrant coloured vinyl, archive artwork, a never-before-released lyric sheet, and a collage of fan-submitted photos. The first disc features the original album, remastered and packed with hits like The Game, She’s Love, Oh Strain (featuring Little Birdy’s Katy Steele), and Rough Diamonds, while the second offers a treasure trove of rare demos, B-sides and unheard gems. Justin Burford talks to Hi Fi Way about the anniversary celebrations.

Congratulations on the twentieth anniversary of your debut album. It’s a bit of a staggering thought. How does it feel reflecting on the milestone now?
You know, thankfully, we’re all still alive and reasonably healthy and we’re stoked that there’s at least enough care out there to warrant these kinds of celebrations. So yeah, very humbling and very, very grateful.

I love the album and I’ve been playing it quite a bit since the announcement, it still sounds as good now as it did in 2005. Does that mean a lot that it continues to resonate with fans?
That’s very nice to hear. Yeah, when you have anything that you’ve created reach out and mean something to people, that in itself is pretty amazing. I think it’s maybe less appreciated nowadays because everything is so open and connected. It’s easy enough these days to open an app and share something with the world and create something. But for something you did as a kid, twenty years younger than you are today, to still hold a place in people’s hearts and memories and formative years… there’s something more special about that.

Did it feel like it is one of those albums that would always be hard to top, given how strong it was and how many killer singles it had?
Yes, actually. We were just talking about this in the interview beforehand. Someone asked about the new singles and I was like, they’re not new, they’re actually demos we found in the archive while putting together the anniversary vinyl edition. We’ve got a second LP, side C and D with demos. One set includes songs that made the album track list, and the other includes tracks that were considered but didn’t make it to the final mix or sessions.

Was it tough to follow up with a second album?
Yeah, we were going through the archives and thinking, “Man, why did we take two and a half, three years to release the follow-up album?” All those songs were brand new, none from that selection of demos. Also, we toured for two years straight before that album and then another two and a half years supporting it. By the end of that cycle, we were utterly exhausted. Then we were told, “Go make another record, quick.” They wanted a new album out in six months, and we were like, “What?” In hindsight, we probably should have just recorded those en unused songs from the first batch.

Was there an abundance of material you uncovered for the reissue, like B-sides or live tracks?
We were just surprised by how much stuff had been archived and kept all these years. Some songs I hadn’t heard since the time they were recorded. Once the first album was done, they were packed away and kind of forgotten. So yeah, it was definitely a trip down memory lane.

Including fan photos in the new vinyl packaging is really cool?
That was a nice little touch. We put a call out across our socials for people to submit photos, whether it was with us or just out at a End Of Fashion show with friends. We got hundreds of submissions and created a collage from that era. I think it adds a meaningful layer.

Did going through those photos make you nostalgic?
Definitely! Honestly, most of that time I’ve forgotten about. Life fills up with other things over a couple of decades. I probably have only a handful of really specific memories. The rest is like a choppy montage of pictures in my head that conjure certain feelings. This process really helped clarify some things, “Oh yeah, we did this,” or “I wore that,” or “I had that haircut, what a sleeping idiot!” I remembered people, places, and random bunk-bed arrangements. It also made me think, “How did we not make the most of this music that was just sitting there ready to go?”

If you had your time over, is there anything you’d do differently?
One hundred percent I’d say, “Let’s release that second album ASAP.” We had most of it ready. Also, this is more on the business side, but we signed a record deal from Australia that covered all territories. I’d go back in time and tell younger me: “Don’t do that.” It’s one of those mistakes you make when you’re young and you’ve got people in your ear with agendas telling you to go in a direction that helps them more than you.

Do you see this anniversary as a launch pad to do more in the future?
Absolutely, one hundred percent. We actually have a new album ready to go. I wanted to release new music as early as January or February this year, but we were told to be patient and focus on the anniversary. Hopefully we get some spotlight and goodwill from that, and it’ll be a good time to introduce the new material. I’ve always been more interested in looking forward than looking back.

Did you consider reuniting the original lineup for this tour?
We did try back in 2016 for the eleventh-year anniversary because we missed the ten-year one! I reached out to some core members from around that album, but everyone was busy. Rod moved on to producing and live mixing, raising a family. Nick Jonnson, our old drummer, same thing. Tom King, the old bass player, all great people, just tied up in other things. So I took it as a chance to bring in fresh players.

Who’s in the band now?
Our guitarist and bassist are both in their twenties, Jarred Osborne and Jade Champion. They’re two-thirds of Yomi Ship, and they’ve brought a really fresh energy. It still feels very much like a band.

Has playing with younger musicians influenced your songwriting?
It’s exciting to bring new songs to them. They come from a different musical background, but our approaches complement each other. They push me to think outside the box, and they’ve also developed an appreciation for strong pop songwriting and good hooks. We both admire the craftsmanship involved in our different genres.

Are you performing the album straight through on tour, or mixing up the order?
That’s something we’re still deciding. My completionist brain says play it in order, but crowd pleasing might mean adjusting a few things, like pulling out O Yeah or saving Rough Diamonds and Seize the Day for later in the set. I couldn’t believe how late in the track list Rough Diamonds was!

Are any songs harder to learn again? I imagine a few might not have been played live much.
Surprisingly, no. Most of them came back instantly, pure muscle memory, even after years. Except Seize the Day. It’s a simple track, not complex at all, but I continually screw it up. Probably because we didn’t play it live often back then.

Have you received the final vinyl pressing yet? Excited for the unboxing?
Not yet. It’s due in a few weeks. In 2019, we did a small pressing and I was a bit disappointed, cheap materials, flimsy card, and not 180g vinyl. This time we’ve gone all out, and I think it’s going to look and sound amazing.

After this run of shows, what comes next?
New music. We’re putting together a release schedule and hoping to book more shows. Festivals might not be what they once were, but I love playing live and recording. If this tour helps keep that going, it would be the best possible outcome.

Are you looking forward to playing here in Adelaide?
I did my first Adelaide Fringe this year with 27 Club and was blown away by how alive the city felt. I joked about moving there! It rivaled Melbourne’s cultural energy. But then locals told me, “No, no, this only happens during Fringe. The rest of the year is dead.” I was surprised by that. I also don’t understand how it goes from being so intensely supported to the opposite, bands struggling to book shows or draw a crowd.

There’s a lot of factors but are appreciative End Of Fashion are coming?
Hopefully that appreciation translates into ticket sales, we really want to play!

Interview By Rob Lyon

Pre-Order End Of Fashion HERE…

Catch End Of Fashion on the following dates, tickets HERE…