On the road again: You Am I 's lead single has South Coast ...

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After burning his hi-fi in the sheets of another Covid nightmare, Mr Liquid Lunch, Tim Rogers has never been more active. Among his many other duties, he has been writing and working and getting ready to take You Am I back out on the road for yet another showdown. Celebrating their latest release The Lives of Others, Rogers and Co. will be trucking out their hits and tiding up their rigs for their loyal fans. And perhaps a few hundred more who finally get off their backside and get along to another You Am I show. Because let's face it, they have certainly had a few runs on the board these past 30-plus years. Knocking show after show over the road for six. Next time, they might even play Kuala Lumpur. But for now, at the very least, we have been slated to enjoy the gentle tongue lashing only Rogers knows how to give. Closely backed up by his friends and fellow chiefs, Andy Kent, Davey Lane and drummer Rusty Hopkinson. Discussing the record's lead single The Waterboy, Hopkinson says the song comes from a special place in Roger's heart. Featuring Canberra's Far South Coast neighbours, Milton and Ulladulla, "We go down there individually, and also as a band as well. People might not understand the connection, but there's a connection there," Hopkinson says. Speaking about the important spiritual and free feeling you have when you find your way left of the Kings, "Those places have always been important to Tim," Hopkinson says. "His mum lives around Milton. And his best friend Nick, his family had a holiday house in Ulladulla kind of way. So I think those places always have a spiritual resonance to him. And to us all in a lot of ways." Another casualty-cum-product of last year's first lockdown age, You Am I jammed by email, burning BPMs along the fibre to node highway to give this record the space, and society, required. An alternate world of rock and creative liberation, "For over a year we were never in the same room," Hopkinson says. "Everybody was locked down." Holing up in his old art deco building, "I live in the inner west of Sydney in a big apartment-style thing. I've got a music room, so I got the drum kit and set it up. I asked my neighbours if it was cool to play the drums. And we just started tossing songs around." With things opening up around July, "Eventually I found some time to go and [play] with Andy and we belted out a couple of rhythm tracks to some things that Tim and Davey had recorded." Bouncing ideas around until the album found its shape, "We managed to jam in sort of like a weird, jamming by email kind of way." Which surprisingly retrofitted well into his usual suck-it-and-see, more traditional, backslash freedom to rock kind of philosophy. "It's all live. For better or worse. There is no plan behind rock and roll," he says. "I think we have a very traditional approach that hasn't really changed since the 1940s or '50s. In terms of showmanship and putting your all and trying to be professional. But also pretty loose." While they aren't known for breaking bad on their classic hits, with The Who an obvious influence on Rogers and the group, audiences can see a certain freedom when they show their slacker rock approach while playing up to the crowds, performing songs like their cover of The Who's classic Young Man Blues. "We're not really into turning every song into a ten-minute jam. Most of them are written with a specific purpose. So they don't need to be that long. But it's good to be able to stretch our wings every now and then. And muck around, and feel like we are pushing the boundaries a little bit."

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You Am I are scheduled to perform in Canberra on August 27. Picture: Suppli

After burning his hi-fi in the sheets of another Covid nightmare, Mr Liquid Lunch, Tim Rogers has never been more active. Among his many other duties, he has been writing and working and getting ready to take You Am I back out on the road for yet another showdown.

Celebrating their latest release

The Lives of Others

, Rogers and Co. will be trucking out their hits and tiding up their rigs for their loyal fans. And perhaps a few hundred more who finally get off their backside and get along to another You Am I show. Because let's face it, they have certainly had a few runs on the board these past 30-plus years. Knocking show after show over the road for six.

Next time, they might even play Kuala Lumpur. But for now, at the very least, we have been slated to enjoy the gentle tongue lashing only Rogers knows how to give. Closely backed up by his friends and fellow chiefs, Andy Kent, Davey Lane and drummer Rusty Hopkinson.

Discussing the record's lead single

The Waterboy

, Hopkinson says the song comes from a special place in Roger's heart.

Featuring Canberra's Far South Coast neighbours, Milton and Ulladulla, "We go down there individually, and also as a band as well. People might not understand the connection, but there's a connection there," Hopkinson says.

Speaking about the important spiritual and free feeling you have when you find your way left of the Kings, "Those places have always been important to Tim," Hopkinson says. "His mum lives around Milton. And his best friend Nick, his family had a holiday house in Ulladulla kind of way. So I think those places always have a spiritual resonance to him. And to us all in a lot of ways."

Another casualty-cum-product of last year's first lockdown age, You Am I jammed by email, burning BPMs along the fibre to node highway to give this record the space, and society, required. An alternate world of rock and creative liberation,

"For over a year we were never in the same room," Hopkinson says. "Everybody was locked down."

Holing up in his old art deco building, "I live in the inner west of Sydney in a big apartment-style thing. I've got a music room, so I got the drum kit and set it up. I asked my neighbours if it was cool to play the drums. And we just started tossing songs around."

With things opening up around July, "Eventually I found some time to go and [play] with Andy and we belted out a couple of rhythm tracks to some things that Tim and Davey had recorded."

Bouncing ideas around until the album found its shape, "We managed to jam in sort of like a weird, jamming by email kind of way."

Which surprisingly retrofitted well into his usual suck-it-and-see, more traditional, backslash freedom to rock kind of philosophy. "It's all live. For better or worse. There is no plan behind rock and roll," he says.

"I think we have a very traditional approach that hasn't really changed since the 1940s or '50s. In terms of showmanship and putting your all and trying to be professional. But also pretty loose."

While they aren't known for breaking bad on their classic hits, with The Who an obvious influence on Rogers and the group, audiences can see a certain freedom when they show their slacker rock approach while playing up to the crowds, performing songs like their cover of The Who's classic

Young Man Blues

.

"We're not really into turning every song into a ten-minute jam. Most of them are written with a specific purpose. So they don't need to be that long. But it's good to be able to stretch our wings every now and then. And muck around, and feel like we are pushing the boundaries a little bit."

You Am I will perform at Manning Clark Hall, Kambri Precinct, ANU, on Friday August 27. Tickets from www.moshtix.com.au