We spoke to the DMA’S Ahead of their Newcastle show at Bar On The Hill.
Currently at the tale end of their biggest Australian tour to date, Sydney-born, globally cherished trio DMA’S are a seamless operation. When the group take the stage in Newcastle there’s a sense that the audience know what they’re about to receive – sing-alongs, flawlessly executed melodies, with a sprinkle of gritty indie rock – and also a feeling that anything could happen.
Of course, we aren’t let down, with the group offering up chunks of their new record How Many Dreams? intertwined with now-classic tunes like ‘Delete’, ‘Tape Deck Sick’, and their legendary ‘Believe’ cover. The crowd raised beers, did their best Tom O’Dell impersonations, and even had a couple of laughs underneath the trees at the outside stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvlYjX2b7c
There was gratitude in the air. DMA’S had never played a headline show in Newy before, with fans who previously would have made the trip down to Sydney to watch them seemingly feeling “seen” – our often overlooked town worthy of a visit from the group.
Busy flying the Aussie flag in their second home of the UK, DMA’S’ conquering of the British festival circuit got us thinking about Newcastle in the UK, which then got us thinking about how well they know that place compared to the Aussie place that shares its name…
We caught up with guitarist and songwriter Johnny Took to ask him all about it… and more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngTnMCfcCB8
These days, you guys now are collectively having babies and getting married, does that make life on the road a little bit more difficult?
Yeah, we definitely have to put more thought into the touring cycle now. One thing we do, is we pretty much try and not go away from more than a month straight. Back in the day, I swear we’d be away for three months, and have two weeks off, and then go away for another two months.
We don’t do that anymore. We have to listen to each other. Obviously, Tommy’s got a kid now, and you don’t want to miss those special moments. So, it’s actually quite good that within the band, I think it’ll be one of those qualities that adds to the longevity of the band.
Playing two nights at The Enmore is insane. Do you guys ever feel pressure these days playing shows?
When we did the Hordern, it was like that. When we did Wembley Arena and stuff, it was a little bit like that. But then also when you know, the sets are a pretty well oiled machine these days. Even if I was to forget a chord or something, I think my hands just naturally go to the next chord now, a muscle memory.
It’s funny, because someone asked the other day, it was like, “Do you get nervous before the show?” And I was like, “Oh, not really.” And Tommy goes, “Well, I do.” I can kind of hide behind the guitar and play chords. He’s got to remember lyrics for an hour and a half. I never really think about that.
Sticking with the live set, you guys didn’t play ‘Believe’ for a long time, kind of notoriously…
This tour, we’ve been playing ‘Believe’ every night, obviously, because all the stuff that the triple j Hottest 100. It just feels like the right thing to do. And to be honest, I think when it first came out, we purposely didn’t play it because we didn’t want it to be an obligation. We didn’t want to just be defined by it. And because we did do that, now, we don’t mind putting it in the set, because it’s always a nice moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn44I1A1vpk
You guys were once known as connoisseurs of Chinese restaurants while on the road. Where are you pulling into these days?
Spicy Joint, which is above Eating World in Chinatown, and it’s probably one of my favourite restaurants in Sydney… We actually hit a really good Szechuan place in Perth as well when we were over there.
So hot and spicy’s on the menu for the band..
Yeah, we’re a big Szechuan band, yeah… But me and Tommy are always fighting over it, because whenever we’re on tour he always wants to go more Cantonese style, and I always want to go more Szechuan style. And so we have to compromise. Mason’s more into the Szechuan, so quite often I win there.
Fuck, that’s a good exclusive for the interview. The band’s infighting based on Cantonese versus Szechuan…
Yeah, that’s our biggest infighting….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlKWLqC6rws
I’ve got a list of 10 tourist attractions that are in either Newcastle UK or Newcastle Australia, and I want you to guess where they are from.
Let’s do it.
St. James’ Park?
Newcastle, UK.
Correct! Fort Scratchley?
Newcastle UK?
Ba-Bammm… King Street McDonald’s?
Oh, AU?
Yep. Gateshead Bridge?
That’s UK.
That’s correct, but there is a Gateshead out in Newcastle as well, so I thought that might trick you up. The Bogey Hole?
Oh, that’s going to be AU, right?
Correct! The Newcastle Castle?
Oh, this is a tricky one. I’m going to say UK, but I feel like I could be wrong.
That’s correct as well.
Oh, what is that? The North Newcastle Castle?
The Newcastle Castle in UK, I have no idea. I just googled these… Nobbys Lighthouse?
Oh, that’s Newcastle AU.
The Biscuit Factory?
Oh, AU?
Nope, that one’s UK.
No, I’m thinking of the Oak factory.
Last one. The Life Science Museum?
UK?
That’s correct. That was eight out of 10!
I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Newcastle UK, so I’m feeling pretty good about that. That’s good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kbD61y6oWU
The other day I was listening to ‘For Now’ (the song) and remembered how much I loved it. Do you ever revisit tracks maybe you haven’t listened to in a while and think, “fuck. that was a good one!” or “we need to pop that one in the set”?
Yeah, we’re constantly looking back on our past material, and thinking of ways to incorporate these into the sets. It’s a funny one, though, because now that we’re four albums in, and we could probably only get 18 songs maybe in the set, which is about an hour and 25 minutes, you obviously can’t get fit all in.
And say, for example, this time round, it’s a How Many Dreams Tour, so you want to play a certain amount of songs for the album you’re touring. But then you also remember that people are falling in love and have life memories with your previous albums, so you want to be able to fit as many as you can can.
I’ll tell you what, we’re loving doing this. This is the biggest Australia tour we’ve ever done, and 20 dates I think it is. We’re loving it, man. And it feels like it was a long time coming.
You’re now in a position to give up and coming bands a leg up in their careers. Do you guys feel like veterans? Do you feel like you’re at a level when you can give advice to young musos?
Well, it’s a funny one, because we’ve been getting played continuously on triple j for 10 years now… It kind of crosses generations, do you know what I mean? There are kids who would’ve finished high school, who had their first Splendour came and saw the band, or something like that, and maybe saw us playing at festivals over the last 10 years. But then there’s also people who were maybe already in their late twenties, or whatever, that discovered it then. So I know what you mean.
It’s nice to be able to give advice when possible and when asked, and it’s nice to be able to give the leg up to lots of bands. And it’s like with the supports, we’ve got seven supports on this tour. And there’s so much good music in Australia, so yeah, we’re happy to be a part of that, I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUXtVwANJFU
So, you’ve got the studio happening in Melbourne… Do you think there’s ever a time when DMA’S will be slowing down, maybe like, “Hey, let’s have a break”, and you’ll step into that kind of producing or maybe songwriting role in the future?
Yeah, I can see something like that happening. I feel like I know that next year I think there’s been talk, we haven’t decided anything yet, but there’s talk about maybe having a little bit of a break, maybe taking the year off. Honestly, we never stop writing as a band.
And now that I’ve got the studio, it could be an idea to get back to our roots and the way we recorded a lot of our first EPs in my bedroom at Buckland, but record it now in the studio in Melbourne, and do it a bit differently. Rather than just going in for three weeks into a studio, maybe just recording it ourselves over six months or something like that, or eight months or something.
But yeah, we’ve all done a bit of writing with some other people as well, so that’s definitely something I’m into. And I’m going to make an album next year with my brother, and I’ve been working with a few other artists as well, which I might be dropping some material with…
So, even though DMAs might just take a little bit of a breather from the public eye, it’s still going to be very busy.
