On Shitty PAs, Re-Forming 99 Reasons Why & Recovering A Box Of Lost CDs

When Scumfest organiser Steve Pitkin got in touch with Sam Vinall to lure '90s South Australian skate-punk heroes 99 Reasons Why onto the festival bill, the guitarist/vocalist recalls, "I was like, 'Yeah, that sounds cool'," and then a couple of days later I realised, 'Holy shit! We're being asked to close the festival over these bands that are current and ridiculously good!'... I freaked out, primarily, but also I was quite humbled."

Facebook wasn't around when 99 Reasons Why disbanded in 2003, but they recently got a band page going and, when fans started liking this page, Vinall shares, "It was really good to see all those names popping up - like, I've recognised probably about 60 to 70%".

The band formed back in 1995 and Vinall tells that 99 Reasons Why grew out of a time "where parties were just everywhere in the south of Adelaide". "We were three young, run-amok fuckin' idiots," he laughs, "so anyone who said, 'Do you wanna play our party?' we'd just pretty much go, 'YEAH!' There was parties every weekend - like, hundreds of people, cops would come and they wouldn't shut 'em down - and that's actually how we started to get recognised. And that was an awesome time... there were just parties everywhere and bands with shitty PAs."

Even though it's been 13 years between gigs, Vinall marvels, "People still pitch in every now and again and sort of say, 'Do you have any CDs?'" Because punters love purchasing merch, particularly mementos from reunion shows, Vinall says 99 Reasons Why "thought outside the box" when it came to merch item ideas for their upcoming show. He confirms there will be 99 Reasons Why USBs available, containing the band's "entire discography including all of the unleased shit [they] could find... something like 50 tracks" and a single, Missed The Moment (from the band's last album This Is Not My Beautiful Life) that includes two unreleased tracks ("one of them's a cover of Billy Bragg's A New England that we used to perform").

Vinall remembers This Is Not My Beautiful Life was "really introspective". "I was a depressed alcoholic so it was all about me," he observes. "I mean, it's probably the album that I like the most."  

Fortunately for 99 Reasons Why fans, "about 150 unsold Careful What You Wish For CDs" that recently turned up will also be available for purchase at Scumfest. When asked how these CDs were recovered, Vinall elaborates, "Years ago Kyle [Weber], our guitarist, said to me - and I remember - he said, 'Sam, I've still got some CDs at my house somewhere.' And I was like, 'Really? That's cool!' and then so for the last - I dunno however many years - let's say 80 [years], I've been saying, 'So... did you find those CDs?' And since then he's been saying, 'No, no, I gave 'em to you.' And the thing is: I am me so I know he hasn't given them to me. And then last night he's messaged everyone on the group Facebook thing... 'Oh, yeah, I just found the box!'"

The current 99 Reasons Why line-up is rounded out by bassist Adam LeRay and drummer Dan Jones, which Vinall describes as "a mixture of all of the different incarnations" of the band.