Blood is thicker than water, as the old saying goes.
Musical siblings have long been a novel theme: the Van Halens, the Stones, the Jacksons… there’s plenty of much-loved acts that hinge on a familial connection.
And there’s probably something to be said for that, if local outfit Yomi Ship are anything to go by.
The sound of the Cannington three-piece revolves around lush post-rock instrumentation, replete with time changes and a keen sense of organic composition, and is influenced heavily by the upbringing of brothers Nick and Jarred Osborne – not to take away form the superb bass skills of Jade Champion, an obvious necessity in a band of their style.
That upbringing came with its own unique environment, since the brother’s father is Mal Osborne, of B Movie Heroes and Hells’ Bells fame.
“We started very young,” Jarred said when the family connection is broached. “Nick actually used to play drums as a replacement when… how old were we?”
“I was ten,” Nick said.
“I played my first gig filling in for the drums when I was ten years old, with dad’s band B Movie Heroes. I think it was the Rosemount, or maybe Hyde Park.
“It was an old stage, I remember that.
“So I’ve been in the live scene since then, but it was really in high school that we started really getting into it, but we’ve always been around music. I’ve always played the drums, Jarred’s always played the guitar.”
While those two facts have been constant, not much else has. The trio have been through a multitude of bands in the lead-up to Yomi Ship, and continue to work in projects apart from the band.
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Yomi Ship is, then, a result of their respective musical journeys. In a very real sense, the almost orchestral and nuanced nature of their music is a culmination of their skills and experiences – a way of becoming an adult band, as opposed to the “kid bands” of the past.
“I think towards the end of the other bands, and when we were first thinking of Yomi Ship, our song writing style had really morphed into something more progressive,” Nick said.
“I think we really wanted to push ourselves, and try something that was harder. We’ve always been into a whole lot of things that are kind of out there – weird time signatures, chord structures, things like that.
“And what we wanted to do with the music, it really kind of ended up that way. We love messing about, trying out new things and just seeing how different bits fit together. I think with Yomi Ship we’ve really let ourselves do that, and kind of put it into this form where we can have a sense of freedom when we’re performing and recording.”
The three-piece have already established themselves as a well-oiled machine, picking up strong support spots for a number of high-calibre bands and picking up a raft of new fans in the process.
“It’s been really fun to play with these bands that we’re fans of,” Nick said.
“There’s a really strong sense of support here, so we’re basically just happy to be playing and having people get into what we’re doing.”
