The leader of the Gang of Youths reveals his late father in a new record

Gang of Youths members pose in an undisclosed location in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on February 24, 2022. Ed Cooke / Warner Records / Handout via REUTERS

February 25, 2022

LONDON (Reuters) – While writing a new album, Gang of Youths frontman Dave Le’aupepe discovered some secrets about his late father.

His grief and some of that revelation spilled over into “Angel in Realtime” – the third record by his Australian rock band, which comes out on Friday.

Le’aupepe said he started writing the record in 2017 when he moved to London.

Le’aupepe told Reuters: “I knew I was going to write about my father because I think I had this innate feeling that my father was going to die, because he was sick and getting old.

After his father, Teleso “Tattersall” Le’aupepe, died the following year, revelations began to flow.

He discovered that Le’aupepe senior was born in Samoa, not New Zealand as he was told.

“It’s not a story unique to Indigenous or black families… It’s a common problem in all families… people turn their backs on what they had to be to become what they were. they want to be. And that’s my dad,” Le’aupepe said.

His father is also 10 years older than the male singer and has two other sons whose father is thought to have died many years earlier.

One of the record’s tracks, “The Man Himself” includes Le’aupepe’s thoughts on raising a fatherless family and “merging with revelations”.

In addition to paying tribute to his father, Le’aupepe also said he wanted to “talk a little bit about my cultural heritage”.

The recording uses samples from composer David Fanshawe’s native Pasifika music recordings as well as sessions recorded in New Zealand with the Auckland Gospel Choir.

Le’aupepe hopes people will “call their parents” after listening to the album and “be a little more gentle with each other, less judgmental, like my dad”.

Gang of Youths is set to go on tour, with dates in the UK in March and from April in North America.

(Reporting by Sarah Mills; Editing by Andrew Heavens)