With a name like Gang of Youths, you might expect this Sydney band to comprise of a bunch of acne-scarred adolescents – instead what you'll get is five fully grown gents, making raucous tunes that'll get your toes a-tapping.

Though the pack recently relocated Stateside, they took some time to jump back on Australian soil for the release of their latest single, "Poison Drum". There's a wee bit longer to wait until their debut album comes clanging down the airwaves, but in the meantime, here's a chinwag we had with the group's lead singer.

What was the inspiration behind the band name? I liked the duality between the hopeful exuberance, and, I guess, the recalcitrance of 'youth' with the menacing, tribal connotations of gang life. Also, I grew up in a neighbourhood in the inner-city infested with gangs, so there was a great deal of infatuation with the associated subcultures.

How did the band form? Some proper heavy shit began to happen in my wife and my world, so I started writing and recording demos as a means of dealing with it; all lo-fidelity, shaggs style, with zero-to-fucking-no intention of it ever being heard. I enlisted the help of four of my best friends to come and play the instruments I needed to record, and the party kicked off from there.

What are your earliest musical memories? My older sister used to scoop me out of bed late on Saturday nights when I was perhaps three or four, and we'd fall asleep in front of the TV watching late night Rage.

Gangs need a clubhouse - where do you find you hang out and make music the most? In my bedroom, alone, the blinds shut and the door locked. It's not so much a clubhouse, but a stinking, swarthy, bear cave - a fairly isolated, autocratic process because I'm a lone wolf and control freak by nature.

You've opened for a lot of cool bands. Who is on your wishlist? Roxy Music or The Replacements maybe. I also think opening for U2 would be hilarious and fun. Bruce Springsteen would probably be on that list too, however the idea of playing a stadium makes me feel like a giant shithead.

Who is your biggest musical influence? David Byrne probably. You probably won't hear it in anything we do, but I've spent my entire life trying to better that brilliant motherfucker, with little-to-no success.

Has the greatest thing about moving to America been the food portions? No, it's that I don't have to be up at 3am to watch a fucking baseball game. The food portions are terrific, however.

What have you missed the most about Australia while overseas? Public transportation, and people who swear a lot.

What's the band's before-stage ritual? The first rule of fight club is not talking about fight club.

Where is your dream place to perform? Some shit-stained, dank alleyway in a lowly part of town to an eclectic crowd replete with homeless people, hipsters, junkies and yuppies, probably.

What was the last band fight and the last band cuddle about? The former? Sports. Tthe latter? Sports.