Join Surface Tension on Wednesday, November 5th at 12pm when he airs his interview with guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Ed Kuepper, co-founder of Australian proto-punk band The Saints, post-punk outfit Laughing Clowns, and many other projects.
While continually expanding upon a prolific discography of solo and collaborative work, Kuepper released After the Flood (Remote Control / 12XU), an album of boldly reinterpreted career highlights with Jim White (Dirty Three, The Hard Quarter, et al.) in March 2025.
The duo will sneak in a couple of November dates in Los Angeles and New York in the midst of a roughly month-long whirlwind world tour where The Saints ’73-’78 (featuring Kuepper along with original drummer Ivor Hay, The Birthday Party / Bad Seeds multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey, Sunnyboys bassist Peter Oxley, and Mudhoney vocalist Mark Arm) will rock the band’s native Australia, New Zealand, The States (including two nights in San Francisco), Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany.
In its original iteration, The Saints existed from 1973-1978. Self-releasing their debut “(I’m) Stranded” single in September 1976, and in the process pre-dating releases—and the yet-to-be-named “punk” scene—from Sex Pistols, The Damned, Buzzocks, and The Clash. Following the release of their debut album, also titled (I’m) Stranded, in February 1977, The Saints would move first to Sydney and then, in May, to the UK, playing their first show at the London Roundhouse with the Ramones.
The Saints ’73-’78 perform live at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Thursday, November 6th at 8:00pm with Hot Lunch opening and Friday, November 7th at 9:00pm with fellow Aussie band Chimers opening.
Photo: Katelyn Slyer
