Epicure And Dead Salesmen Collab Finally Completed After 15 Years

Juan Alban, who you might remember from the Epicure days, has teamed up with The Dead Salesmen’s Hap Hayward for a new single, Went Down Fighting.

With Hayward on lead vocals on the song they wrote together, Alban reflected with The Music, “Growing up in Ballarat, Hap and The Dead Salesmen were heroes to me, so it's been quite a thrill to do something together.” You can watch the music video below.

Hayward and guitarist Justin Ryda formed The Dead Salesmen in the late eighties and, like their peers in Epicure, showcased the thriving scene of Ballarat, Victoria, throughout the 90s and 2000s.

After forming in 1996, Epicure scored spots on the triple j Hottest 100 (2003 and 2004), opened for Live in 2003, and continued touring and making music until their disbandment in 2010.

On his first-ever collaboration with Alban, Hayward said in a press release, “Juan Alban and Hap Hayward got together on a series of school nights in late 2008 to see if they could write some songs together.

“Having been part of The Bridgey days (Bridge Mall Inn music scene of the 90s) and beyond in Ballarat in their respective bands (Epicure, Dead Salesmen), the two decided to collaborate in the extended wake/aftermath of those heady days. They wrote a smidgeon of half-songs together, with Juan supplying music and Hap the words. The sessions were taped on a small recorder, put in a box, and forgotten about. Kind of.”

Hayward used the most complete song from their sessions, which happened to be Went Down Fighting, in his lyric book Songs About You in 2012. If you fast forward to 2023, we finally get to a place where Alban and Hayward finished off Went Down Fighting.

Together, the pair added more “lyrical, melodic and textural elements under the guidance and skill of producer Cam McKenzie,” Hayward explained. “A frail little acoustic sketch is now a full-blown electrical storm. The song is about loss and standing up for that loss in some way, with certain people no longer around to do so.

“It all seemed a bit tentative and perhaps a little too melancholy at the time (even for these two!), but fifteen years later, it has been given more fire and ‘straight-backed’ urgency. Went Down Fighting was a whispered creation once - a mild little thing in that half-remembered lounge room session - almost apologising for its very existence! Now? Nah. After all this time: Play it loud!”

You can check out Went Down Fighting below.