An indie band who've been building their fan base with more than 100 live shows since debuting in 2020 (as a four-piece), Sydney's Dande and The Lion's latest release is the single 'Harder To Breathe'.
Influenced by the likes of The Naked and Famous, Wolf Alice, Metric and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dande and The Lion fuse synth-pop with indie rock, and are fronted by dual front women Abbey Gardner and Natassa Zoe."'Harder To Breathe' is a song about reflecting on a time when you were influenced to a point where you no longer recognised yourself," Abbey says.
"It's acknowledging that this person changed your core, but you're not going to let it happen again because you can see now that their influence wasn't coming from a place of love."
The follow-up to their earlier 2022 single 'Cheap Choice', 'Harder To Breathe' was recorded with ARIA-nominated producer Xavier Dunn (Jack River, GRAACE), and mixed and mastered by Klaus Hill (Masked Wolf).
"I remember having a d&m session with the band about the situation, and having them all hype me up," adds Abbey. "Shortly after, we were jamming on 'Harder To Breathe' and the lyrics just flowed so easily.
"'Harder To Breathe' originally started being created while we were listening to a lot of Tigertown's music, especially 'Lonely Cities'.
"We wanted to try writing a song with an anti-chorus and once we started jamming on the idea, the song wrote itself."
Here, the band's bass player Nick sits down for a chat about their music, being animal lovers and that one time they hired a last-minute replacement drummer as they drove to the show.
Who is... Dande and The Lion is an Australian/ UK indie pop-rock band fronted by dual vocalists Abbey Gardner (synth) and Natassa Zoë (guitar), with Nicholas Shea (bass) and Chris Gabriel (drums).
We sound like... We're not sure who we sound like, but we are hugely influenced by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Jezabels, Wolf Alice, The Naked and Famous.
Our first gig... As a four-piece; The Bridge Hotel in Rozelle amongst the COVID lockdown laws.
When did you settle on the group's name, and was it a unanimous decision... Yes, it was an unanimous decision. There were a few names flying around and Tass was trying some dandelion tea one day and just put it to the band and that was it.
In the studio we usually... Listen to Natassa's recent day events, while Nick snacks on some food, as Abbey tries to find a lead or power cable that works, leaving Chris sitting patiently waiting for the rest of us. At some point we actually pick up our instruments and start playing.
If we could tour with anyone... Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolf Alice, The Naked and Famous, The Cure.
Social media is... A catch-22. Ahh, but how else is one going to hear my music?
My favourite app at the moment is... The calendar. Not only does the phone show the time, but it can also show you the day.
To date, our most embarrassing moment was the time... We were heading to Newcastle from Sydney and found out that Chris wouldn't be able to make it. So while driving up we put an ad out on socials and got a random drummer to meet us at the show.
With no rehearsal or knowledge of the songs or heads up of what the changes were, we dragged this poor guy through a gruelling 40-minute set, and drove back in silence vowing never to do that again. I guess if anyone is going to rightly butcher your own songs, it may as well be you.
Life on the road can be... Epic. Playing your own music and meeting new people. We manage to make the most of whatever situation and it definitely helps that we all get along. Except Chris.
If you'll have us on your bill, all we ask is that our rider contains... Whisky, Seltzers, water, UP&GO for Chris.
The most scary scenario we've found ourselves in, was... All in the same gig. Abbey lost her voice on the first song and had to sing an octave lower for the remainder of the set, Tass was dealing with an outage on the backline amp, Chris's drum pad stopped working mid set, and somehow we managed to get through it.
What celebrity/ famous person would you love to be spokesperson of the band... Woody Harrelson – he'd be entertaining and probably a cool person to hang with. I know for sure that Tass would be game to meet Meryl Streep and Karen O.
If you had to live in a city abroad, where would you choose and why? London. Tass has fam near there and it would be cool to see and tour the rest of the world. LA is also top of the list.
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party... David Bowie, Prince and Robin Williams. No doubt they'd have some entertaining stories and useful information, and being ghosts means we wouldn't have to cater for much.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? Pizza.
When it comes to pets are you a lover or hater of our furry friends? Huge lovers. Abbey has a dog. Chris has a dog. Tass has a dog. Nick is a dog.
No matter the expense, send me a case of... Diablo Shiraz and Japanese whiskey – can we have a mixed case?
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... 2016. . . it was a good year.
What's the one chore you dislike the most? Vacuuming.
Do you have any phobias... I think we're all phobia free. Boring, I know.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? No. Maybe 'Band In A Bubble' and we could just record an album.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? I'd give them a bag of Maltesers without any reason. Random acts of kindness would just mess them up and they'd be wondering why.
Best local takeaway joint for a midnight feed that will leave you with a food coma? Kebabs was the last, drunken-stagger, homeward-bound meal the band had together.
Which fictional character best describes your personality? Obviously Batman.
Last show you binge-watched? 'Ozark'. The acting was fantastic.
Dande and The Lion play La La La's (Wollongong) 22 December.
