In 2014, Something for Kate – Paul Dempsey, Clint Hyndman and Stephanie Ashworth – celebrate their 20th year with the biggest and most ambitious shows of the bands career to date; their entire back catalogue reissued on vinyl, deluxe CD and iTunes; the screening of a short film tracing their 20 year evolution; and the release of a book ‘Paper Trail’, a visual history of the bands’ career.
Together these four elements – a July/August national tour, a July 4 catalogue re-issue, film and book release showcase the songs, visuals and aesthetic which have made Something for Kate one of the best and most consistently successful acts Australia has produced.
On July 4, every Something For Kate album will become available on vinyl in a limited edition run for the first time ever. With every LP out of print since having sold out immediately upon their initial release (and Desert Lights never having been issued on vinyl), this is the first time that SFK fans have been given the opportunity to complete their collections in the audiophile’s first choice of format.
In addition, every album will be reissued in a deluxe CD edition, each one coming with a bonus disc covering all B-sides relevant to each individual album. With most of these bonus tracks having been unavailable for years, these discs finally complete the full SFK picture that only the most devoted collector has had access to until now.
The ’20 Year Anniversary Tour’ tour in July/August that accompanies these reissues is Something For Kate’s most ambitious series of performances to date, and the biggest events the band have staged. For the first time in their history, the band will play two sets each night, covering all facets of their decorated career: hits, B-sides, rarities and all points in between. Setting the tone for the evening at the beginning of every show will be a short film by Callum Preston tracing the band’s history from 1994 to the current day, whilst a companion piece, the book ‘Paper Trail’ will be on sale at all shows and through the band’s online store.
At the conclusion of each show, the band will repair to the merch desk to meet fans, and sign the accumulated memories of twenty years. It’s a chance for the band to say thanks and to continue the journey in the same way it started twenty years ago – through a genuine connection between the people who write the songs and the people who listen to them. Perhaps that, more than anything, is the real reason behind a twenty-year career – connection.
It’s a major undertaking celebrating a life that has seen the band grow both artistically and in popularity with every new release, every tour and every year that passes. Across two decades of ever-changing styles, fashions, the death of the fax machines and the rise of social media, Something For Kate have achieved the rare feat of remaining relevant, making intelligent and commercially successful albums, selling out tours and writing songs that have struck a nerve with two generations of Australian music lovers. A constant thread of integrity and devotion has run through the band’s approach, one that has continuously been mirrored back to the band in the devotion of their audience.
And it all began back in 1994, when a young three-piece band bearing an unlikely moniker inspired by the name of the singer’s dog took to the stage of Melbourne’s Punters Club to play their first ever show. Now with over half a million albums sold, countless full-house tours and multiple awards to their name, SFK have become one of this country’s most celebrated, fiercely loved and significant acts of the past two decades.
Something For Kate ’20 Year Anniversary Tour’ Dates 2014
Presented by triple j, SPA, Channel [V], Tone Deaf
• Fri July 4 – Astor, Perth, WA
• Fri July 11 – Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD
• Sat July 12 – Enmore, Sydney, NSW
• Fri July 18 – Forum, Melbourne, VIC
• Fri Aug 15 – HQ, Adelaide, SA
Tickets for all shows go on sale at 9am local time on Friday April 11 from somethingforkate.com
Available July 4 as limited edition vinyl and deluxe CD:
Elsewhere For Eight Minutes
Beautiful Sharks
Echolalia
The Official Fiction
Desert Lights
Leave Your Soul To Science