SMH.com.au, 05 July 2004, with Chris Cheney

Article by: Ben Wyld


Back to the future

He is quick to point out he wasn't around then, but for The Living End's Chris Cheney, modern music would not be the same if it weren't for the 1950s. And one man in particular: Elvis Presley.

"They call it the big bang in 1954," Cheney says. "When Elvis walked into Sun Records, the first few things he did, no one had heard anything like it before. It was like Eminem, controversial, confrontational, all the things you like about rock'n'roll. Now I can understand why it happened, and why teenagers back then latched onto it."

But Elvis wasn't alone during that time. Cheney nominates Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochrane as other antagonists in "the music and youth explosion of the 1950s".

"They were the first to mix styles . . . before that we had jazz, blues, country and western, but they turned that into what we now know as rock'n'roll."

Cheney discovered the sound as a teenager, and found the music more appealing than the Seattle grunge sound that dominated the late '80s and early '90s.

Now 29, Cheney says: "I'm still fascinated and look back for inspiration, as did the late '70s punk rock . . . all music stems back to that first rebellious explosion."

But music was just part of the appeal. The musicians had the image to match.
"I always wanted to do that with our band. I guess there's a certain romantic thing. Looking back on old photos of Happy Days, everyone is healthy looking, clean, everyone looks so good. In a sense, that's not reality, but we all have a thing for the '50s for that reason. Kids had money for the first time and were buying cars and getting jobs. I fell in love with the songs and the image of portraying a rebel."