Well now that was a holy fucking shit moment for Discovery Music. Our wee Dundee based blog got the chance to interview Johnny Took from Australian indie/brit-pop trio DMA'S on their second day at Glasgow's famous Barrowlands. Myself and Martin had a great time chatting to Johnny and you'll find us pure cheesing in the lovely photos taken by Discovery's own photographer Cameron Adie.
Martin: So how would you sum up your 2018?
Johnny: 'It's been great! I guess releasing a 2nd record is a pretty big thing, I've never been in a band before where we've made it to a 2nd record. I always like this period where it's like 6-8 months after release because people have had time with the album and know the songs better so respond better than when that album was out for 3 days. We've toured pretty hard but it feels like a nice mix, it's hard to get the balance of touring an d staying at home right and I'm now living in Edinburgh.'
Jo: So it's around 6 years you've been together now, did you ever think it would get to his point? or was it more of a happy accident?
Johnny: 'I dunno, I just kinda roll with the punches man. Aim for a future that doesn't make any sense I like to believe, so you're not really in too much of a shock if anything comes in. We've been coming here for 4/5 years now since the ep and we've gone to so many little towns around the UK over the years I guess it kinda feels like the names really getting out there and because we don't get a lot of radio play it feels like the fans that we have are really loyal and solid. That's the kind of demographic I like.'
Martin: You've had 2 albums now, what are the lyrics of your songs based on? For example, 'Emily Whyte' is one of my favourite songs off the 2nd album so is she a real person?
Johnny: 'It's different every time dude. I didn't write that song but Emily Whyte is a real person. Some people like lyrics for different reasons, I kinda like lyrics aren't necessarily like 'the guy walks down the street.' I prefer to have lots of different lines that can engage the listener to make up their own mind about what the song is about. I know some people get frustrated with that but it's a poetic license.'
Jo: How does that then feel to of seen a song start out from nothing then having a crowd sing it back to you? Especially if it's about something personal.
Johnny: 'It's beautiful! Like 'Step Up the Morphine' was about my grandmother passing away essentially, that was the concept behind it, but it was more a celebration of life rather than a mourning. Playing 'The End' last night was really special hearing everyone sing that back because we've been playing that acoustic.'
Martin: So you recently played MTV Unplugged in Australia, what was that like playing everything stripped back?
Johnny: 'It was good. It was way too much work cause we had to rearrange a lot and out mate Jenny was playing the fiddle, she's amazing I felt like everyone else in the room stepped up because of her caliber of musicianship. Lots of the songs were written acoustically in that environment so they kinda lend themselves to it.'
Jo: So you're up here in Scotland for the UK tour and you've been here before a few times, how does a Scottish crowd compare to everywhere else?
Johnny: 'The Glaswegians are the best in the world! The further north you go the more passionate they get.'
[Controversial as I'm from Fife and Martin Dundee, but it's Johnny fucking Took, we'll let him off.]
Martin: You said earlier you're staying in Edinburgh, what Scottish bands do you listen to?
Johnny: 'We've played with 'Neon Waltz' a few times and I really like their new single, Jordan's become a good mate of mine. I've been hanging out with these guys 'Voodoos' they're cool, and 'Baby Strange.' There's a really strong scene here in Scotland and a nice comradery.'
Jo: Who is your music guilty pleasure? Someone you shouldny like but do.
Johnny: 'Aqua - Turn Back Time.'
[Enter the biblical moment I told Johnny Took from DMA'S 'I'd kick someone's cunt in' for previously answering that question with Kate Bush. Totally justified.]
Jo: What are your expectations for tonight's gig at the Barrowlands?
Johnny: 'It's gonna be fucking mad! Doing 2 gigs at the same venue in a row is pretty damn chilled cause everything is already fucking set up and when you're as useless ( hungover to fuck) as I am today it's good to not do as much work.'
Jo: We're coming to the end of 2018, what can we expect from DMA'S in 2019?
Johnny: 'We're gonna make a 3rd record, I'd like to release something before the end of next year but at the same time I don't want to rush it.'
Martin: Will these be a mixture of new songs and the backlog of songs from the last 2 albums?
Johnny: A mixture yeah. There's a fair few new ones and hopefully some that haven't been written yet. There's always some old ideas that you have floating around that you haven't solidified into a song yet. We're going back to Australia for summer over there so just need to see what we come up with.'
Thanks again to the amazing press and tour team behind DMA'S for helping us organize the interview and thanks to Johnny for taking time out of his hangover to chat to us and not telling us to fuck off. Much appreciated and we can't wait to see what the boys bring us in 2019.
LINKS N STUFF:
Check out Cameron's review of DMA'S at the Barrowlands 9/12/18 HERE!
DMA'S Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/DMAS
DMA'S Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DMASDMAS/
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