End Of Fashion Frontman Feels "Tarnished" By Triple J Comments

Mid-2000s hit-makers End of Fashion recently announced they are set to return for a special reunion tour to celebrate 10 years since the release of their self-titled debut album, which spawned hits like lead single ‘O Yeah’.

‘O Yeah’, which frontman Justin Burford wrote to settle a bet about his songwriting prowess, made it to Number 8 in that year’s triple j Hottest 100, in addition to spending 12 weeks in the ARIA singles chart.

But it was Burford’s comments about triple j that put End of Fashion back in the headlines back in 2014, years after the demise of the group. Taking to Facebook, Burford blasted the national youth broadcaster for killing his band.

“Without mincing words… with many more music industry parties finally coming out and saying their piece about Triple J, I feel comfortable enough to say; Triple J ended the career path of End Of Fashion, no question,” he wrote.

Burford acknowledged triple j’s early support for the band, but claimed that a similar level of support was not there for the band’s sophomore effort, Book of Lies. According to Burford, End of Fashion was “dropped like a sack of hot potatoes”.

But Burford now says that his words were overplayed and were meant to be a mere “Facebook rant”. Speaking recently to The Music, the frontman and songwriter said that simple Facebook rant has followed him around ever since.

“It sucks being tarnished with that. I remember at the time thinking, ‘Jesus, we didn’t get any kind of attention for any of the music we’ve put out on the last two records, that sucks.’ I couldn’t believe that anybody would put that much stock in it or anything I had to say. It’s not pleasant,” he told The Music.

“For me, it was sort of a mountain out of a molehill – just a Facebook rant,” adding, “I should watch what I say.” According to Burford he’s “not anti-triple j” but does believe the station has something of a monopoly and would like to see the power more spread out.

“I think that the problem is that there is literally just one triple j. That’s a very limiting access point for a lot of bands. I guess over the years I’ve seen different industries and how they operate and the Australian creative landscape is pretty abysmal across the board,” he said.

Amongst Burford’s other charges at the time were claims that triple j Music Director Richard Kingsmill “openly derided” the lead single from End of Fashion’s second album and that Goodnights presenter Linda Marigliano introduced a single from their third album by asking listeners “if this band was ‘relevant’ any more”.

Burford wasn’t the only musician at the time (or since) to make claims of ‘sound bias’ against triple j. Fellow Aussie muso Whitley similarly lashed out at the station, as well as several other artists who opted to remain anonymous.