Relays ready to slay on East Coast tour

DYNAMIC Bendigo punk upstarts Relays’ first East Coast tour kicks off tonight at Bendigo Records off the back of the release of their self-titled debut album on 2 October.

They’re also set to perform at Handlebar tomorrow night with The Chans.

The band, featuring frontman and guitarist Shann Lions, drummer Mik Weird and bassist El Wellard, will play 24 dates up and down the coast as well as Canberra and Tasmania.

Lions said the band originally got together in 2023 to “try and give a voice to the common person.”

“We’re very much a voice for middle-to-low income Australia and suburbia, (telling) suburban stories and challenging what the expectations of society are on some level,” he said.

While the band has gained a fair amount of attention via its raucous live shows, Lions said it’s been largely avoided by the mainstream.

“I think there’s a lot of different (people) that are a little bit scared of us,” he said. “The music we’re making is lyrically too challenging for them and they don’t want to rock the boat somewhat.

“They probably view us as unpredictable and unhinged, but that’s not a deterrent, it just makes me want to work harder.

“It is what it is. I’ve always been a firm believer that if you make your own destiny, you just keep doing what you do regardless of whether you get support from commercial entities or not.”

Keep up to date with the tour at facebook.com/relayspunk.