The world has finally woken up to the sweet sounds of these Aussies, a congenial combination of sunshine-tinged Britpop and acoustic ballads.
Once upon a time DMA’s were just another small band from Australia, now they’re about to embark on their biggest UK odyssey. From a three-date special at the infamously raucous Victoria Warehouse to Alexandra Palace, I chat to guitarist Johnny Took about their most ambitious tour to date.
Johnny is fresh from a haircut in Manchester and I’m fresh from one in London as we babble away over the phone. No stranger to the UK, Johnny is rested and calm ahead of the whopping 23-date UK tour beginning in Scotland and finishing in Belfast.
ArrayGrowing up in London, I’m ashamed to say my understanding of Australian music was embarrassingly limited (AC/DC and Peter Andre were about all I knew). However, over the last ten years Australian bands have unexpectedly emerged like a blazing bushfire, from the psychedelic sounds of Tame Impala to rock powerhouse King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard.
Lurking within this deep pool of talent is a three-piece from Sydney made from three rock n’roll sweethearts: Tommy O’Dell, Johnny Took and Matt Mason.
Hey Johnny, I’ve heard you are staying up in Manchester currently, how is the north treating you?
Usually we stay in London but we thought we’d switch it up this time. It’s a little less hectic here and slightly more bearable. We’re keeping it very chilled this time – our younger selves would’ve done it very differently. The gigs are getting bigger so we really can’t fuck around as much as we used to. We are super focused this tour.
Although you’re resting, your live shows are far from chilled. Where are some of the more wild places in the UK you’ve played over the years?
Manchester and Glasgow are definite front runners, man! In Manchester at the Victoria Warehouses people go insane and The Barrowlands in Glasgow is hectic to say the absolute least. For some reason you guys in the UK love doing the whole flare thing. When we played Manchester the owner said we set a new record for the amount of flares going off – there were 26 flares confiscated that night, more than any English band ever! It’s always a shock ’cause you’d never see anything like that in Australia.
For some reason you guys in the UK love doing the whole flare thing.
I’ve being going to football games all my life and never ever seen more than one flare, your fans seem passionate!
Our UK fanbase are so passionate and we’re super proud of you. When we first toured here we gigged everywhere and would return three or four times a year. After three records we’re really grateful for how strong that foundation is now. It’s pretty surreal playing a prestigious venue like Ally Pally and also managing to sell out it.
We’re more focussed and excited than ever and want to prove we’re that band that can play three Victoria Warehouses and Ally Pally. Our first arena dates are here and it’s time for us to step it up.
With so much music adored by your fanbase how do you decide your set list these days?
It’s really quite horrible to be honest with you, but a good problem to have. We just let Tommy do it at the moment. There are a few staples we can’t get rid of of course like ‘Delete’ and one thing I’ve really loved since releasing the album ‘The Glow’ is we include way more electronic influence into our show. There was always room between our bangers, ballads and acoustic tracks to bring in a completely different energy.
I’ve noticed this electronic influence slowly creeping in, how come now?
I didn’t start listening to it until I was 27. I grew up on Bluegrass and Country. Now I love electronic, listening to Soulwax, Underworld and Caribou – every time I listen to it I hear something entirely new.
The process of writing around electronic music is completely new. You know the song is pretty much done then you just need to add the vocals. I’ll write the instrumentals, send them to Tommy, then he’ll get to work on melodies. It takes the pressure off a little rather than being in a room and trying to write songs. With one song recently, Tommy came up with four melodies for just one instrumental. It’s keeping us fresh.
You’ve been together since 2014 and seem like a band devoid of confrontation and ego. How much do you guys still love each other?
Ah mate, it feels like it’s stronger than ever! We’re so lucky because we’re just all mates. Any bands that have gone through the journey of getting bigger react completely differently. If you can get through that initial adaptation and keep your original vibe you’re going to be a lot better off. There’s no ego with the DMA’s, just a calm harmony between us when we’re together.
There’s no ego with the DMA’s, just a calm harmony between us when we’re together.
Whilst you’re endlessly compared to Britpop revival bands your music seems inherently Australian, is this true for the DMA’s?
Our culture most definitely inspires our sound and songwriting. Australian culture’s quite similar to British but most of the time it’s way off. Our influences are wide-ranging, from Sonic Youth to Pavement to US hip-hop. We love our Australian influences too: from The Go Betweens to Paul Kelly – they’re still huge to us. You can hear that influence across a lot of Australian bands.
Whilst Tommy’s voice has a very British feel to it, sometimes it can get wrongly misplaced. There’s a jangle in the guitars though that’s entirely Australian. I’m pretty sure there’s a place in South London where people almost sound Australian haha. When Courtney Barnett starting getting big, people around the world had learnt to accept and understand the accent a little more in music.
Now you’ve got Amyl and Sniffers, The Chats, and King Gizzard who are all popular now in the UK. You start to realise when you play festivals in Australia that the scene isn’t as big as it seems and that everyone gets on. If you’re an arsehole you get found out pretty quickly.
Plans in the UK?
I love Edinburgh so I’m going to climb Arthur’s Seat for a second time. We love our Turkish mixed grills in London and usually stay in Hackney when we’re there. We also try and get to Premier League games, I’m a Chelsea fan and Tommy’s a diehard Everton fan. Everton actually made us a DMA’s jersey last time we were here!
Keep up with the latest DMA’s movements by following them on Instagram: @dmasmusic
