Gang of Youths are an Australian alternative rock band from Sydney, New South Wales, which formed in 2012. The band was founded by chief songwriter and lead vocalist David Le'aupepe; he has been joined by Jung Kim on guitar and keyboards since the band's inception, as well as Donnie Borzestowski on drums since 2014 and Tom Hobden on violin, rhythm guitar and keyboards since 2020. The band's debut studio album The Positions (2015) received multiple ARIA Award nominations and peaked at number five on the Australian albums chart. It provided the single "Magnolia", which has been described as their breakthrough hit and was certified platinum in 2018.
In 2017 Gang of Youths released their second studio album, Go Farther in Lightness, which was preceded by their first Australian top 50 single, "Let Me Down Easy". The album debuted at number one in Australia and was nominated for eight awards at the 2017 ARIA Music Awards, winning four – Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album and Producer of the Year (for the group and Adrian Breakspear). For the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2017, the band's songs were listed at three positions in the top 10, a feat only achieved twice before. The group's 2018 Say Yes to Life Tour in support of Go Farther in Lightness, broke several records in Australia.
Their third studio album, Angel in Realtime, was released in 2022 and debuted at number one in Australia and number 10 in the United Kingdom. It was nominated in three categories at the 2022 ARIA Awards; while at the 2022 J Awards it won Album of the Year. Its lead single, "The Angel of 8th Ave.", is their second Australian top 50 hit. An accompanying extended play, Immolation Tape, followed in May 2022 featuring acoustic renditions of the parent album's tracks.
History 2012–2013: Formation to debut single
Gang of Youths were formed in Sydney in 2012 by Max Dunn on bass guitar, David Le'aupepe on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and piano, Jung Kim on guitar and keyboards, Joji Malani on lead guitar and Sam O'Donnell on drums. Le'aupepe and Malani met in 2002, both aged 10, attending Hillsong, an evangelical church in northern Sydney. Later they befriended O'Donnell and Chicago-born Kim at the church's youth group. Although Le'aupepe described himself during this time as a "loner", and stated that while "I still align myself with Jesus," he was "just not a great poster-boy for it." In 2008, after leaving his previous school, Le'aupepe attended Mosman High School, where he continued performing his own songs at school concerts, along with Harley Streten (later known as Flume). Le'aupepe on vocals and Streten on saxophone covered Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up", when they were about 16-years-old. Also, at Mosman High was New Zealand-born Max Dunn, who befriended Le'aupepe during their final year of secondary education, 2009.
Gang of Youths' first gig was at Sydney's Hibernian House on 21 June 2012, supporting local band Tigertown. Tigertown's drummer Kurt Bailey was so impressed with the show that he dropped his own performance career to become their manager. They also became friends with co-leader of Tigertown, Kurt's sister Charlie Collins, and in 2022 (after Tigertown had broken up) she played as their support act both in the UK and Australia.
For the next five months, the band practised and recorded demos until their next gig in late December of that year. They started playing regular support slots in small Sydney venues and local community radio station FBi Radio began playing some of their tracks, including "A Sudden Light" and "Strange Diseases". Word spread of their impressive live show and on 27 February 2013, they played their first headline show, at the re-opening of nightclub Candy's Apartment.
The band released their first single, "Evangelists", on 16 August 2013 and were featured on national youth radio Triple J's Unearthed segment. They then embarked on a national tour, supporting alternative rockers Cloud Control. Madeleine Laing of The Music caught their show at The Tivoli, Brisbane in August, but was disappointed, as "No one speaks to, or makes any effort to connect with, the crowd through the entire set." Whereas AAA Backstages reviewer, at the same gig, found they were "making an outstandingly melancholy noise as I enter" with "their lead singer possessing one of the most wonderfully rich voices I have heard in recent months."
2013–2016: The Positions and Let Me Be Clear
They started work on their debut album, The Positions, in 2013. In September that year, initial tracks were recorded at New York's Marcarta Recording studio with Kevin McMahon (Real Estate, Titus Andronicus). By June 2014 they were finishing tracks at the Sony Music Australia recording studios, Sydney. Drums on the album were shared between O'Donnell, Novacastrian Dom "Donnie" Borzestowski and session drummer Joel van Gastel (of Jenny Broke the Window). In October 2014 O'Donnell left the band and was replaced on drums by Borzestowski. Le'aupepe is the album's sole songwriter and his lyrics on The Positions describe his relationship with his former wife, her melanoma diagnosis and treatment for the cancer, their separation and his substance abuse, depression and suicide attempts.
The band performed at South by Southwest festival, Austin, Texas, in March 2014. The Positions was issued in April 2015 and peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA albums chart in May. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015, Gang of Youths received five nominations: Breakthrough Artist – Release, Best Rock Album, Best Cover Artist (by Nathan Johnson) for The Positions, Engineer of the Year (Adrian Breakspear, Peter Holz) for "Radioface", and Best Australian Live Act for the Gang of Youths National Tour.ARIA Music Awards for Gang of Youths: Search Results 'Gang of Youths': 2015 nominations: 2015 winners: In December, they were recognised as the Live Act of the Year of 2015 and Best Domestic Tour by Renne Woollams for The AU Review. Their single "Magnolia" came in at No. 21 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2015.
In June 2016 their single, "Strange Diseases", was released, which was followed on 29 July by its associated six-track EP Let Me Be Clear. The five original songs on the EP were written as potential material for The Positions album, whilst the sixth track is a cover version of "Both Sides, Now" by Joni Mitchell. The EP reached No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The band played at Splendour in the Grass in that month.
2017–2018: Go Farther in Lightness
In February 2017, the band finished recording their second album, Go Farther in Lightness, which was issued on 18 August. The band relocated to London amidst issues with the renewal of Kim's Australian Visa. In April and May, the band toured the United Kingdom and continental Europe, followed by a June tour of the United States. An Australian national tour in September followed Go Farther in Lightness, after which the band returned to London for another UK and European tour in October. Three tracks from the album were listed in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2017, taking out second, fifth and tenth positions. Their song "The Heart Is a Muscle" was used by Fox Sports (Australia) to promote the 2018 NRL season. The same year, the band released a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" (1977), which was featured in the trailers for the film Justice League.
On 12 March 2018, the group made their US television debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers, performing their single "What Can I Do If the Fire Goes Out?". In July, the band were the first artists to perform on MTV Unplugged Australia. The concert was recorded at the Cobblestone Pavilion in Melbourne's Metropolitan Meat Market and released on 26 October 2018. On 30 September, they played before the NRL Grand Final in front of a crowd of 82,688 at ANZ Stadium, Sydney.
Gang of Youths toured Australia again from November 2018 on their Say Yes to Life Tour. All 20 shows in the circuit were sold out, with over 33,000 tickets purchased. The band performed for six nights at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney and eight at the Forum, Melbourne; breaking both venue records for most sold-out shows on a single tour. Further, they supported Foo Fighters for seven nights in the US during their Concrete and Gold Tour in October 2018, and Mumford & Sons for 16 nights during the European leg of their Delta Tour in April–May 2019, and the US and Mexican legs in September–October 2019.
2019–2022: Total Serene and Angel in Realtime
In September 2019 Le'aupepe announced that the band's third studio album was expected in 2020. He added that the lyrics will deal with his father Teleso "Tattersall" Le'aupepe's death in 2018. In an interview with a Reuters correspondent, he declared: "[it's] about my father and how he died, and how he lived, and everything I found out about him. That's the only thing I can really write about. It's gonna be about him … and about the people I love".
On 9 October 2019 the band announced that Malani would leave the band; his last gig with Gang of Youths was opening for Mumford & Sons in Oklahoma City on 11 October 2019. Malani returned to Sydney to focus on his family; he later performed as Pei and released a solo single, "Honest", in May 2022. He was replaced in Gang of Youths by multi-instrumentalist Tom Hobden on violin, rhythm guitar and keyboards (ex-Noah and the Whale and ex-touring member of Mumford & Sons). Hobden's first gig with the band was on 17 February 2020 at Omeara, London.
In October 2020 the band posted footage to their social media account of recording their then untitled third album. A self-produced single, "The Angel of 8th Ave" was released on 15 June 2021. In an interview with NME, Le'aupepe said that they had "scrapped 2 versions of the album," and it would be released "at some point in the next year or so". A three-track EP, Total Serene, was released on 16 July 2021. On 1 December the band performed “The Angel of 8th Ave" on American TV programme, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Their third album, Angel in Realtime, was released on 25 February 2022, alongside a world tour and single "Tend the Garden". Josh Leeson of Newcastle Herald rated the album at four-out-of-five stars and observed, "It's essentially a concept album... [but] more than a grief-stricken son losing his father"; the group provided "a cinematic accompaniment that's all strings, and urgent drums and guitar" – they aimed for greatness and "land agonisingly close". It peaked at number one in Australia and top ten on UK and Scottish albums charts.
On 20 May 2022, the band surprise released their third EP Immolation Tape. It contains three early demos of songs on Angel in Realtime – "In the Wake of Your Leave", "Forbearance" and "Spirit Boy", as well as a cover of "Shot in the Arm" by Wilco.
2026-present: Return to Music
In March 2026, following several years of inactivity, the band were announced on the line-up for the All Points East festival at Victoria Park, as curated by Twenty One Pilots. In June 2026, the band announced two homecoming shows at the Sydney Opera House, making their debut in the venue. An accompanying press photo confirmed that co-founding bassist Max Dunn had exited the band, converting the band into a quartet. On 28 July 2026, they announced that they would play on 6 August 2026 at Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul, New South Wales.
On 18 August 2026, the band released "Things Take Time". The band explains that the single, which Le'aupepe said reflects the band's growth, is "not really about anything in particular, other than the endless loop of birth, growth, death and rebirth which encases all matter and energy".
On 18 August, they announced four upcoming shows in November and December, in Amsterdam, Paris, Manchester and London.
Band members Current members David Le'aupepe – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (2012–present) Jung Kim – keyboards, piano (2012–present), lead guitar (2019–present), rhythm guitar (2012–2019)