Le Shiv: Taking the roof off
Most bands begin once. Le Shiv has done it three times — each restart somehow leaving them stronger than the last.
The result is an imposing, melodic blend of noisy alternative and rough-edged indie rock, delivered live with a stage presence magnetic as the music itself. With more than a decade together across two groups, the band has truly mastered the art of cohesive chaos.
Their 2024 single “I Wish I Never Loved You” has garnered over a million streams on Spotify. Almost eight years in the making, Le Shiv’s debut album arrives Oct. 16, and they’ve endured more to get here than any band ever should. But every scar comes with a story.
Photo by @corporategiant
Prior to the band’s formation, its core members were classmates at a high school near Sydney. Singer and guitarist Jake “Pencil” Voroshine, lead guitarist Jake “Mossy” Mossop, bassist Jarleth Gilmore and original drummer Teddy Brennan were in the same music class — and the four of them bonded over a shared taste in bands and affinity for mayhem.
After graduating high school, they began playing together constantly, launching headfirst into “an infectious, nonstop creative period,” and it was not long before they started a band and booked their first gig as the Ruminaters.
“It was a very meant-to-be moment in an un-cliche way,” Mossy explained.
“I was just excited because they were like my new best friends,” said Pencil, “and we were all making good music together.”
The Ruminaters quickly garnered a local reputation for their indelible performance style — “we were always like the drunkest kids at the bar when we played,” said Pencil — and by the end of 2014, they had released their first album.
Soon after the new year, Pencil and Mossy visited the U.S., setting out to travel the country by van. In Los Angeles they met James Marcus Haney, who was at the time an up-and-coming filmmaker and music photographer.
“They went on their road trip and came back and stayed at my house for a long, long time,” said Haney. “I was a big fan of them as people — they’re now some of my dearest friends — and I was also a big fan of their band.”
After releasing their 2016 EP, the Ruminaters traveled to London’s RAK Studios to record their second album — “a full career highlight” for the band, as Brennan later recalled.
Upon returning from London, however, Brennan started having second thoughts. “You realize how hard it is to be a musician when you’re not fully in love with it,” he said.
Brennan eventually decided to step away from music entirely. “It was kind of like breaking up with your girlfriend, except it was three of them,” he joked. But the rest of the band was understanding, and the split was amicable.
From left, Jarleth, Pencil, Mossy and Teddy Brennan in London, January 2017. The Ruminaters were recording their final album, “Welcome To Flight: S.U.N 91,” at RAK Studios. (Photo by Bree Hart)
The Ruminaters would lean on session drummers for the time being, but they needed a new manager to fill Brennan’s other critical role. So the remaining members turned to Haney and his wealth of industry knowledge.
Though he initially refused, joking that he didn’t want “the worst job in the music industry,” Haney eventually agreed to manage — on one condition: the Ruminaters had to move to America.
“The idea of an Australian band being able to even get to America — let alone play legitimate shows — is wild,” said Brennan.
There was opportunity for the band in America. By then, the Ruminaters were writing music that meant more to them, but they felt stuck in Australia’s garage and surf rock scenes. “We just wanted to take the roof off of whatever we had with the Ruminaters and be able to go wherever we wanted,” said Pencil.
In May 2018, Pencil, Mossy and Jarleth accepted Haney’s terms and moved to Los Angeles to start from scratch.
From left, Mossy, Pencil and Jarleth in 2018. The Ruminaters moved to the U.S. to pursue music full-time under Haney’s management. (Photo by Jack Shepherd)
Not long after their arrival in the U.S., a friend gave them access to a house in Sonoma, California, a historic town in the heart of the state’s scenic wine country. They holed up there for days, writing music and drinking wine, only sleeping sporadically.
“Some of their best writing to this day came from that session,” Haney recalled. “It was equal parts them working and recording and equal parts absolute mayhem fun.”
The band left Sonoma armed with new music and a clear vision for the future. They weren’t the same kids from Sydney anymore. They were Le Shiv.
All they needed then was a permanent drummer. Between writing, rehearsals and day jobs, the band frequented Tony’s Saloon, a billiards bar in the Arts District of Los Angeles. One night in spring 2019, they ran into Chris Gaylor — best known as drummer for the All-American Rejects, one of the biggest names of the 2000s emo pop craze. But Le Shiv didn’t know that yet.
Gaylor was there playing pool with his girlfriend, and once the band found out he was a drummer — but nothing more — a wager formed.
“One of the guys said, ‘If we beat you in pool, you gotta come and drum for us,’” recalled Mossy.
Amused by their confidence and charm, Gaylor accepted. Antics ensued — “I had a pool ball chipped at my head,” said Mossy, “and [Gaylor] just thought we were the funniest guys he’d ever met.”
Against all odds, Le Shiv won the bet, and Gaylor became their newest member.
“[It was a] real nice, organic way of coming together,” said Mossy. “He lost a game of pool. I bet you he wishes he won now.”
From left, Gaylor, Mossy, Pencil and Jarleth in Los Angeles, 2019. (Photo by Marcus Haney)
The band soon released their first single and set out to support Skegss on a U.S. tour. They also had plans to hit the studio in early 2020 before their next tour with Grouplove in the spring.
“We had so much good stuff happening,” said Haney. “We were having meetings with labels and huge producers, and tours with really great bands were coming online.”
But the COVID-19 pandemic sent the band back to Australia, forced to leave Haney, Gaylor and dozens of new friends behind.
Le Shiv returned to the U.S. two years later for the East Coast leg of Ocean Alley’s North American tour. After their show in Washington D.C., both bands converged at a bar to continue the night. Pencil seemed to be in a game of musical chairs with himself, sitting down to talk with complete strangers before abruptly standing to find another table, as if determined to make friends with everyone in the bar.
Later, as Pencil and Jarleth sat together, keyboardist Dylan Rayner staggered over and steadied himself on an empty chair. “We’re going to Lincoln,” he declared with a grin. Pencil soon realized he meant the Lincoln Memorial and immediately ordered an Uber.
It was 1:30 a.m. when they entered the chamber at the top of the smooth stone steps. As if on cue, and finding the place nearly deserted, Pencil and Jarleth erupted into Bruce Channel’s “Hey! Baby,” each roaring lyric amplified by 175 tons of Georgia white marble.
The duo barely made it through a single chorus before a large security guard began charging toward them from the entrance. Jay — as his name tag read — addressed them in a hushed but firm voice, like a mother scolding her child in public.
“You guys can’t be doing that kind of stuff in here,” he said through his teeth. “Lincoln was a great man, okay? He freed the slaves.”
“Look, we’re not from here,” interrupted Pencil with a sly conviction. “We’re Australian, and we were just very excited to come to America and see Abe Lincoln. I guess we just got carried away. I’m sorry.”
In a matter of minutes, Pencil’s newest friend was hanging on his every word.
“That was actually my favorite time in America, ever,” Jarleth later said.
“That was really fun,” agreed Pencil. “We ended up charming the policeman and he let us back in again. Guy was a fucking legend.”
Artwork by Zara Gee
The band has often managed to escape peril on charisma alone — but even charisma has its limits.
In September 2022, Gaylor arrived home in Los Angeles on a flight and turned on his phone to multiple text messages from Haney and the band members. Anxiously, he began reading: “our drummer and keyboard player were denied entry into the country.”
Le Shiv had recently arrived in San Francisco to begin the West Coast leg of their tour with Ocean Alley, but a visa issue shrunk the band by two fifths. Desperate for a last-minute sub, they sought out the drummer they knew best — and the timing was perfect.
“I was home for like a day,” said Gaylor. “I got home, did laundry, grabbed my cymbals and some sticks and went [back] to the airport.”
With Gaylor back behind the kit, the band hardly skipped a beat. Pencil might not have had the chance to fast talk TSA into letting them all stay. But Le Shiv prevailed — just as they did when Brennan left, when they moved to America and when circumstances beyond their control forced them away. If starting two bands and moving from the southern hemisphere to the north — and back again — has taught them anything, it’s that they can be a band anywhere.
“They’ve got the music, they’re amazing performers and they’ve got an amazing look,” said Haney. “They’ve got such a magnetic charm. When you meet them in person, you can’t help but love them, because they’re some of the sweetest yet most fun-loving people, and they look out for everyone. Part of it is who they are innately. Part of it is the amount of work they put into the band.”
Le Shiv’s debut album arrives Oct. 16. If there was a way to bottle up the charm, resilience and intensity that define the band, “Yada Yada” would be that bottle.
In hindsight, all the delays were necessary. Le Shiv could have released multiple albums by now, but the records were never the point. It was the struggle that made Le Shiv the band it is today.
From left, Mossy, keyboardist Dylan Rayner, Jarleth, Pencil and drummer Billy O’Key. Le Shiv’s debut album, “Yada Yada,” is out Oct. 16. (Photo by Jillian Bontempo)