On Sept. 20, The Last Gastby, an emo/pop-punk band based in Salt Lake City, posted an announcement with the header: “We’re Back.”
The Last Gatsby returned with a new single titled, "Life Lessons" which was released on Oct.18 after an eight year hiatus.
During their break, Josh Paul, the lead singer of The Last Gatsby, was diagnosed with brain cancer. What started as a project meant to close the book turned into the start of a new chapter.
At the beginning of this year Paul called the band's drummer, Jonathan Hoopes, challenging him to release a song they had written nine years prior. Paul had been showing the song to friends and family and the question kept coming up. Why hadn’t they released it?
“I was driving home one day from Eden to Salt Lake City and decided that enough was enough. We had to release this song. I called Jon right away and told him we needed to release it even in its current form,” Paul stated. “I felt a strong desire to give it to the world.”
Hoopes explained he and Paul met in the missionary training center while they were serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France.
“Both him and I had a hard time kind of disconnecting from the music because that was like our world before,” Hoopes stated. “We ended up serving a transfer together and during that transfer we would write music together and do stuff like in between appointments or if we were waiting for people.”
Hoopes said he joined the band after seeing Paul post on Facebook that his band was in need of a drummer. Hoopes remembered that even on that first show he played with Paul they had instant chemistry.
Lead guitarist Garret Samuelson was the next to join the band. Samuelson was unsure about joining the band at first, but after a jam session that turned into him writing a song called "Thoughts of a Mind Reader,” they knew he needed to be a part of the band. The song would later be featured on their first album "Hearts and Machines."
Chase Gerber joined the band in 2015 covering bass and guitar, as well as backing up vocals. Hoopes explained that Paul was moving away from playing guitar and bass and wanted to focus exclusively on vocals.
“It's interesting cause in retrospect, the reason he was doing that is because it was getting hard for him to play and he thought it was because the songs were getting more complicated,” Hoopes said. "In retrospect, knowing about it, it's all about the tumor.”
In 2016 The Last Gatsby released their EP "The Art of Recovery."
“We pushed so hard to get this EP out, we were grinding and doing all these things,” Hoopes said. "It was constant shows, it was constant practice — it was a lot.”
During this time, The Last Gatsby was making waves in the Salt Lake City music scene. Hoopes said the band's hiatus started after a show was canceled due to weather issues.
“After that we just didn't play anymore,” Hoopes said. “It wasn't like any of us verbally said we should take a break. The break extended from 2016 to 2017, then in 2018 when Paul was diagnosed."
“I remember the night — it was a late phone call," Hoopes recalled. "His dad called me at like 10 o'clock. He's like, ‘Yo, Josh has brain cancer.’”
According an Instagram post by The Last Gatsby, the type of brain cancer that Paul has is called oligodendroglioma and is “a rare tumor where protective nerve cells grow abnormally causing tumors.”
The same post announcing The Last Gatsby’s return stated, “After the two rounds of treatment, the cancer was gone, and we all thought that the fight was over. But this summer, we learned that the cancer had returned.”
Hooped said they had already recorded "Life Lessons" before finding out the cancer had returned.
Gerber explained this reasoning for why realizing "Life Lessons" is so important stating, “Everybody's time is finite, you know, and I think it's important to embrace that time that we have and maximize it.”
“Life's chances are slim, not always the best. But you give what you've got 'til you got nothing left,” Josh Paul sings in "Life Lessons."
The Last Gatsby explained on their Instagram that the single “dives deep into themes of resilience, growth and embracing life's challenges.”
Gerber said "Life Lessons" was supposed to be a chance to close the book. “We thought that it was a good idea to kind of give some closure to the band and kind of put it to rest,” Gerber stated.
But that's not what happened.
“We got together and shot that video,” Gerber said. "We ended up jamming a little bit and kind of rekindled the friendship and I guess the passion for what we had started so many years ago.”
Paul said before the band hiatus, he and Hoopes were the most active during the creative process but the "Life Lessons" music video was much more of a collaborative effort.
Paul explained what is different about his approach to music this time around. “With everything that has happened to me over the last six years, I don’t want to write catchy but ultimately meaningless songs anymore. I want to — and we now are — writing songs that have a lot more substance to the meaning behind them,” Paul stated.
"Life Lessons" is no longer a bookend. Hoopes said the band has several things in the works and that they are planning on getting back to the studio in the coming months.
“After the hiatus started I became a much darker person, pessimistic and directionless. Much of that was due to the tumor but I believe that the band no longer being a part of my life was a huge factor too,” Paul reflected. "So I guess it pulled me back from the ledge and regrounded me in a better place.”
Along with the release of "Life Lessons" and its music video, the Last Gatsby has also released merchandise and a portion of every purchase is donated to Huntsman Cancer Research Institute.
Hoopes said Paul started chemotherapy treatments.
“Our prayers are with him so he can get past this and we can start looking forward to the next thing,” Hoopes stated.