A usual year would see Tasmanian band Luca Brasi rocking out on stages across the state and country - 2020 was going to be no exception.
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When the COVID-19 pandemic started to set in and restrictions came into play, the band members had just returned from an overseas tour.
Singer and bassist Tyler Richardson said the they tried to make the best of the situation they found themselves facing.
"We usually go away, do our international shows and then come home and tour in Australia because you don't make that much overseas," he said.
"It offsets by touring here at home - but when we got back from being overseas that's when everything fell apart, and with cancelled tours we were just wondering what we were going to do."
A SILVER LINING
All four members of the band saw the year as a way to spend valuable time with family and friends here in Tasmania.
"We're so used to doing these cycles of writing albums, travelling and touring, and there's been this big chunk now of us not doing that," Richardson said.
"Two of the guys in the band have really young children, and it was amazing for them to be home and be able to spend that valuable time with their families without any travel."
It also led to the band creating their fifth album, Everything is Tenuous. But even that didn't come without its challenges.
"We had to make an album - but because we couldn't travel, we brought all of the gear and taught ourselves to do it at home" Richardson said.
"We turned it into something really positive - but then Pat [Marshall] was getting some work done on his house, and he came home one day to find someone had broken in and stolen everything we had.
"Luckily, we'd just finished tracking that week, but it was pretty awful. It was hectic and it was only that gear they took - I reckon someone was pretty opportunistic and thought they could make some money from what we had."
EVERYTHING IS TENUOUS
Luca Brasi's new album launches on February 12 via Cooking Vinyl Australia.
Their fourth album, Stay, was described as their breakthrough album, elevating the band up the ARIA charts.
The latest album takes inspiration from their lives, with the theme of reflection running true in their lyrics.
"Looking back on this record, it feels like it's another set of reflection about your life changing and trying to deal with the things that do change," Richardson said.
"The title Everything is Tenuous is all about how things come and go so quickly in life, and it's about trying to decide whether those things are important or need to change.
"Nothing is constant - is this something worth my time, worrying about something that's going to happen anyway.
"It's a way for me to reflect on that, dissect what is important and deal with things."
According to Richardson, writing the album helped the band process their own life situations.
"Music is so important to deal with my own stuff, figure things out - it's an amazing tool to have, and I'm so lucky," he said.
"A lot of the record is about the fragility of life. Everything really is tenuous, and sometimes a lifetime feels like a lifetime, sometimes a lifetime feels like a second."
Richardson said his favourite track off the album is the first, Never the Right Time.
"It feels like to me, the best representation of the record as a whole," he said.
"It's about trying to let people you're close to know what they mean to you, and taking the time to do it for once and that effort to get it out there."
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
One of the big things for the band to tick off in 2021 is performing back on stage. After playing some smaller acoustic shows late last year in a different format, the first cab off the rank was Mona Foma, where they performed at Sessions at Royal Park.
"Mate, it was just awesome," Richardson said.
"To be back on stage, in the place that we love, in our home, and in front of a local crowd was all you could ask for really."
The first show to kick off their new album will be held on February 12 at the Goods Yard in Hobart, supported by fellow Tasmanian artists Kat Edwards and Bec Stevens.
It's the first of many shows planned for Luca Brasi in 2021 and beyond.
"We've got all of these tour dates but we haven't announced any yet because it's just too hard," Tyler said.
"We get to do a live show on our album launch day which is just crazy to me that we get to do it in front of a home crowd."
One set already announced is at Full Tilt festival in Victoria in July.
"We've booked a bunch of festivals, but we need to wait and see what happens," Richardson said.
"Every other day it seems like something changes, and somewhere seems to be going in and out of lockdown - COVID has put thrown spanners in the works left right and centre and it's so hard to predict."
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Some may say the key to the band's decade of success is their friendship and their music. But Richardson said it's the support of their hometown that had allowed them to live their dream.
"We're so lucky to be from Tasmania, and have Tasmanians have our back," he said.
"They're the reason we've been able to do what we do.
"We just want to keep doing what we're doing for as long as we can, and the opportunities we've had we credit to Tasmania and everyone here who loves us and supports us."
Everything is Tenuous launches on Friday, February 12 and will be available for purchase from record stores, and on Spotify to stream.
We're so lucky to be from Tasmania, and have Tasmanians have our back. They're the reason we've been able to do what we do.
- Tyler Richardson