Two years ago, if you had asked any of the members of Tease whether they would be back playing with their hometown gang, they would say you were dreaming.
And while the boys are not so much back in town, they are reunited.
All it took was a global pandemic for the former Shepparton residents to join forces in the big smoke and form rock group Tease.
Band members Tyler De Jong, Josh Sadkowski and Cameron Canobie all attended the former McGuire College, while Lachie Sargant was at Wanganui Park Secondary College.
In true lockdown style, guitarist Mr De Jong said the band members sent files back and forth, layering and seeing what each other was capable of years down the track.
Although, as COVID-19 restrictions went on, Mr De Jong said not much had come from the mix, until recently when Tease got together to perform in person.
While they had never been in the same bands in Shepparton, he said they all respected each other as musicians, playing similar gigs around town and often performing one after the other.
“It was magic. Obviously being an online project we’d not been in the same room together, the four of us, for probably five or six years realistically, prior to when we finally got it together,” he said.
“It was everything that we thought it would be and more, and that sort of was an affirmation to say, hey, this works, there's something here and we should should keep going.”
The band released its debut single, No Through Road, off the first unreleased album, and to the surprise of the members, the track blew up on YouTube, raking in 20,000 views.
Although three quarters of the band lives in Melbourne, Mr De Jong said they wouldn’t forget their roots, with Yahoo Bar and Casablanca Restaurant performances highlights of playing in Shepparton.
“We’d be keen to come back and play a Shepp show, it’s on the list of things to do,” he said.
To stay updated on the band, follow Tease on Facebook or on YouTube. No Through Road can be heard on all streaming platforms.