Having taken their name from a line in the film Hooray For Hollywood, it’s not surprising there is a cinematic quality to Any Young Mechanic’s music. Formerly known as Wake in Fright, the band incorporates intricate scenes, enthralling narratives and unique characters into its lyrics, with a spectrum of moods and emotions stretching through the music. The Adelaide-based five-piece, therefore, brings a fresh language to folk music’s natural propensity to spin a good yarn. “We are trying to make folk music for now,” says frontman Sam Wilson. “Turning it on its head in a new, sometimes uncanny way, because we don't want to just do the old thing again.” In 2024, the band won the Helpmann Academy’s Creative Innovator program to help fund an Australian and international publicity campaign for the release of their 2026 debut album The Modern Shoe Is Ruining the Foot.