A Celebration, Not a Farewell Letlive On Their Final Tour

Renowned for their genre-defying sound and electrifying high-energy live performances, letlive. is set to triumphantly return to stages one more time, reuniting with fans and reigniting the fire that defined a generation of alternative music. The trailblazing progressive soul punk band from Los Angeles will bring their chaotic yet cathartic stage presence to Europe, Australia, and the United States. The “sincerely yours” tour kicked off in June, featuring headlining shows and appearances at major festivals including When We Were Young, Vans Warped Tour, Louder Than Life, Jera Open Air, and 2000 Trees and heading to Australia in September.

The band’s 2025 lineup features founding members Jason Aalon Butler (vocals), Jeff Sahyoun (guitar), and Jean Nascimento (guitar), joined by Sage Webber (Point North) on drums and Skyler Acord (Issues) on bass. Fans can expect a setlist that spans their celebrated discography. Jeff Sahyoun talks to Hi Fi Way about touring one last time.

One last tour, it must of been a really hard decision to make to say that’s going to be it?
Yeah, hard and exciting at the same time. The dichotomy between both is challenging at times, and kind of a mind fuck, to be honest, but I’m grateful and thankful to be able to be doing it.

The press release it says that this is out of necessity. Is that more about the right sort of a send-off for the fans, and being able to celebrate the band in each city that you’re playing at one last time?
I think it’s exactly that. Nothing more to say about it, nothing less to say about that. I think those are very strong points. It’s exactly what it is.

Is every night on this tour feel like an emotional experience?
We just came off of a European UK tour, and some nights were definitely difficult to digest. There’s a lot of emotions, a lot of energy in the space, and the comedown is very challenging sometimes. I would not be an honest man in front of you today if I said otherwise. But that’s just human. I think mentally and even emotionally, it’s very important to reflect on just the event that we got to be a part of, and the art that we got to share, and the night that we got to be a part of, and the memories, the stories and reflective aspects of it that we get to hold dear to our hearts for the rest of our lives is unmatched. I think just being able to possess that, show great gratitude and thanks to be able to do that, we are very, very lucky.

I try, personally, to show face and sway my weight onto aspects of that versus crying backstage and saying, this was my last show, I live in the city, what the fuck am I gonna do, oh my god, life is over. Because that wouldn’t be very fun. For me, I’m treating most of this in a very delicate manner, to not kind of portray or deliver any sort of negative impact or sad emotions when I think this should be viewed as more of a celebration than a sad departure.

That also must be the ultimate reward when you look out to the crowd to see the power and the impact that your music’s had on them, whether it’s smiles, tears, and joy?
So sick and so surreal, because we, you know, we were just five misfits, hanging around the South Bay out here in Los Angeles, just playing loud, aggressive music that nobody ever understood. Then watching that transcend into thousands of people across on the other side of the globe is such a surreal feeling that will probably never make sense to any of us, and I can speak for everybody else on that as well. But again, we are so grateful and lucky, to be doing what we do and the experiences that we’ve had in this life and in this world.

Is that a tough challenge curating the set list and trying to make sure that you put something together that is the best reflection of the career of the band?
So challenging, especially when we’re revisiting for the last time. It’s what mark do we want to leave, what songs do we want to share, and we have a vast amount of… our catalog is huge, and so trying to sit there and determine what to play and what not to play, and then there’s different opinions in our camp. It’s like, well, I want to play this, and I want to play this, and I love this, and I love this as long, but every night, it’s been changing. We don’t have a static set list, per se, in every city. It’s whatever we’re feeling, and sometimes backstage, it’s ten minutes before we hit the stage, where we look at each other and we’re like, fuck it, let’s play this song. They’re like, alright, sick, let’s do it. I think it kind of depends on the energy in the room as well, because it’s not only about us, sometimes it’s reading the room, or sometimes we might run into somebody who is going through something, or whatever… whatever reasoning behind that could be, Jay or myself, or Jean might walk backstage and say, hey, it’s important for us to play this song tonight, let’s do that and we do, but it’s very, very challenging. Probably more challenging to determine what songs to play every night than it was putting the whole tour together.

Has the tour exceeded your expectations almost to the point where you would reconsider to decision to finish?
Yeah, super hard. I think it’s managing the rush of adrenaline and hype. I think the expectation that we have now as a unit is appreciating and being fully dialed into the chain of events that we have lined up right now in this current era of our lives. I think that’s most important at the moment. It’s very, very hard to do, of course it is. I think it’s important for us to just stay focused in today and not try to shed light or focus on so much of what could be later, because we also don’t want to take away from the energy that we have right now. I do think if we did have a planned future, or we sat here and said, oh, the band gets back together, or let’s do this again, or let’s get in the studio to write a new record, it would maybe take away, in a sense, of… today, you know? I think when we get on stage, it’s just an adrenaline rush. Barricade of just pure music, energy, and soul, and we’re very protective of that right now, I don’t really think we want to take away from it at the moment.

Does that moment of reflection come once the dust has settled having played your last show before moving on to whatever might be next?
I don’t think I have a proper answer. I haven’t even thought about that. I quit my job and left this entire life that I’ve built for myself in the last six plus something years without even a thought behind it just because I knew that I needed to do this right now. I might subjectively sound like a pure idiot, I haven’t even thought about that at all. I’ve just been so swarmed with massive amounts of excitement with this European tour, and I know I have a U.S. tour run to look forward to as well over here. I don’t know if I even want to think about that right now.

From touring here in Australia, what are the memories and tour stories that stick out most for you?Soundwave was unmatched. Being on the same flights, on the same buses, in the same hotel and whatnot as your favorite bands growing up. Everybody was in one collective location, and it was amazing. I think that was a huge positive stamp for us. Nothing ever matched the experiences that we ever had on that side of the world, especially just the interactions that we had with other humans there and our fans. People were at the airports the minute that we landed. That was like, who the hell are we to be so deserving of this, and so much love, and then we set the bar so, so high. I always say this, whenever I return home from a tour in Australia, there is such a long period of the comedown. Like, was that even real? Did that even happen? That is just a paradise that exists on this globe that does not exist anywhere else and not to mention how sweet and kind everybody is. That’s very hard to replicate that anywhere else in the world. We’re so excited to be there again, I can’t even find the words to really justify what I actually feel about us being able to come out there and do it again, because of the way you treated us, and the levels of respect, love and support. Undeniably, it exceeds anywhere else, nothing compares to it. It’s wild, it’s just one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Is there much opportunity to soak up the sights when you arrive here in Australia?
Not so much, we have to fly to every city and we have a very tight, unforgiving schedule out in Australia, but there’s always a time you have before and after the shows. Honestly though, nothing matches the energy of the shows themselves and after giving one hundred and fifty percent on stage every night, we’re exhausted. For us, it’s about good food, good people, and enjoying the culture while we’re there.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch letlive. on the following dates, tickets from: https://thephoenix.au/