Sydney rock trio DMA'S hit their stride in 2019 with a run of live shows in the wake of their latest album 'For Now'.
The band dropped 'For Now' last April as the follow-up to their successful 2016 debut album 'Hills End'.
In making their sophomore record, vocalist Tommy O'Dell says that although there was no end vision for the album, the band adopted a more electronic aesthetic compared to 'Hills End'. “We didn’t have any preconceived ideas about what we wanted to write about. That just happens,” Tommy told Mark Millar from XS Noize in March 2018.
“All songs have different meanings as many of them were written at completely different times. I guess we wanted to use more electronic beats, and we were mindful that we didn’t want every song to be saturated with guitar layers, [we] wanted to let songs breathe a bit more.”
Produced by Kim Moyes of The Presets, 'For Now' also saw DMA'S step-up their recording game, working in studios as well as their own homes as they had done for 'Hills End'. “The transition felt seamless, really. We have spent a lot of time in and out of big studios. So can’t say I really noticed it too much at the time,” Tommy told XS Noize.
“We still did vocals and some guitars and synths at home, we didn’t want to completely lose that aspect of recording. We’ll probably always do elements of records at home in our own time.”
Though hailing from Sydney, DMA'S have a sound more akin to having been created in an English basement, largely owing to the heavy influence of Britpop and Madchester bands such as Oasis and Stone Roses on their songcraft.
Perhaps then it's little wonder that last year saw the band break through into the ultra-competitive British market, finding a fan base where Australian bands before them had failed.
“We’ve been coming over here for three or four years, but it really feels like we’re starting to connect over here,” DMA’S guitarist Johnny Took said to Josh Leeson in a December 2018 interview with Newcastle Herald.
“There’s a lot of people in the UK and it takes a while to cut through. They could tell a bunch of Aussies doing Britpop to f... off, you know what I mean? Instead, they’ve embraced it,” he says.
It's a sentiment Took echoes in a Red Bull interview with Ben Madden from April 2018: “We’ve got that British influence that we wear on our sleeves. Being a band from Sydney, it could have been easy for people over there to dismiss it, but they’ve done quite the opposite. It’s humbling, and it makes us want to get over there.”
It's not just England either. Back at home the band are experiencing a continued upward trajectory that saw them pick up three ARIA Award nominations in 2018 for Best Group, Best Independent Release and Best Rock Album.
Took goes on to explain how much more care was taken with writing and producing 'For Now', with a lot more considered thought imbuing the songs with a sense of introspection. “We thought about it a lot more this time around,” he said.
“With 'Hill’s End', we kind of spat it out. That worked for us then, but we’ve taken a bit more care with this one, been a bit more thoughtful, so I hope that a few of the songs come across that way.”
Just how the songs come across live with Australian audiences will be put to the test when DMA'S knock the froth off a coldie or two entertaining crowds at the Beer InCider Experience in both Melbourne and Brisbane. Other artists on the Beer InCider entertainment line-up include Something For Kate, Alex The Astronaut, WAAX, West Thebarton and Loser.
Prior to Beer InCider, DMA'S start their live commitments for this year at Grow Your Own Festival and as part of the entertainment roster for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park before returning to the UK for live shows in June.
As DMA'S approach the year ahead, Took tells Newcastle Herald that the songs for album number three have already been written. “One of the best things we ever did was we wrote a lot of songs before we released anything,” he says.
“It’s really helped us, given touring and all that stuff. We’re ahead of the curve and we don’t feel stressed because we have the songs in the bag.
“The biggest recommendation I’d give to a young band starting out, is bag a whole lot of tunes before you decide to release anything. Because if things do go well, things can get pretty hectic quickly.”
