DMA'S: NEW ALBUM, NEW SOUND
Elisha had a chat with songwriter and guitarist Johnny Took of the Australian rockers, DMA’s, about their upcoming record and their change in sound.
After initial trouble gaining connection and a failed call, I finally got to sit down with Johnny Took, songwriter and guitarist of the ever growing DMA’s.
THE GLOW is DMA’s upcoming album, scheduled for release July 10th. The band have already released two singles, ‘Silver’ and ‘Life is a Game of Changing’, which showcase the way they’ve switched up their sound and taken a more synth-based approach to the new record. Talking on the motivation behind this, Johnny said “it came naturally, our love for production is how the band started. When we first started getting into guitars and pedals and all that stuff, it’s just kind of grown into drum machines and synthesisers and whatnot... I still think the core of the song writing is still there, it still has that DMA’s essence in the songwriting, but we’ve definitely tried to push that aspect of the production more.”
The band worked with three-time Grammy winner Stuart Price for the duration of the making of the album, who has worked with the likes of New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna and The Killers. “Working with Stuart was incredible; I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him. He would entertain every idea, no matter how big or small or seemingly silly. Even though you’re like, ‘wow, Stuart Price, award winning wizard,’ he wasn’t like that and that’s probably why he’s such a good producer.”
Johnny doesn’t shy away from showing his admiration and appreciation for Price, which is lovely to hear as it makes it so evident just how grateful they all are for the opportunity. “We were sitting there in West Hollywood or RAK Studios surrounded by amazing gear and stuff, he set up the room so it wasn’t like two separate rooms like a normal studio, he set up the live room with the computers and speakers in it and so basically we were just sat on the couch there, and Tommy would get up and do a little vocal and we’d do a little drum take, I’ve never recorded like that before and I’d definitely do it again. It kind of reminded me of us making our first record, a lot of the creative stuff we did on that in my bedroom.”
The album was produced and recorded in different locations across the world; West Hollywood, London and Australia. “We did ‘Silver’ and ‘Round and Around’ with Scott Horscroft who’s a good friend of ours and he did a brilliant job on that, particularly with ‘Round and Around’. I think we tried to put that song on every single release we’ve done to date and it just hasn’t been right and I guess that’s the job of a producer, to kind of help you get to that end point where we’re really proud of it. That was done in his studio called The Grove which is probably my favourite studio in Australia.”
He told me they recorded those two songs there, three tracks in RAK Studios (London) and finished off the rest of the record in Westlake Studios (Hollywood). “It was kind of surreal, we hadn’t spent much time in LA or America in general and if we have we’ve been playing gigs and been in and out, so to spend a couple of weeks there was really cool. Stuart really likes it there, he lives there now [as he’s originally from London] and the whole experience was pretty damn wonderful. Stuart got us into sequencing and sampling, we’ve still got those guitar tunes on there, it almost feels like the album jumps as it moves along but we’re really stoked with it.”
““we always take a moment just to celebrate these things, if you don’t take time to stop and smell the roses it can go past you pretty quickly.”
”
The new stuff has already made a huge impact on music fans and ‘Silver’ has been proven to be their most successful single to date, racking up 4 million Spotify streams within the first week of its release. When I asked if they’d noticed a difference in the reception of it, I got a definitive ‘yes’ straight away. “We did, it was crazy actually. It felt a little bit Delete 2.0 for us, but you know obviously higher production. Hats off to Scott Horscroft ‘cause he did such a great job on that.”
It felt almost as though Johnny and the rest of the band didn’t want to give themselves any credit, so I essentially forced him into acknowledging the fact it was just as much their doing as it was the producers, which made him laugh. “It’s funny actually, that was an old folky kind of song [‘Silver’] and it wasn’t until Tommy had a voice note of the chorus (“How do I redefine / All my love for you”) section and that was actually the part that really made the song and tied things together for me, being able to incorporate Tommy’s melody into that.”
Being from Sydney means they’re being received incredibly well literally across the other side of the world here in the UK. They’re continuously on the rise, selling out Brixton Academy and securing their biggest headline show to date at Alexandra Palace in London. Johnny called London their “second home,” which is no surprise as both him and Tommy’s dads are originally from England themselves, but said spending 250 hours on a plane back and forth between the countries last year wasn’t great, “we’re not exactly going first class.”
Once again, he made a point of saying how grateful they all were and they’ve never taken it for granted. “We’ve appreciated all the support from the off, from back when we played Deaf Institute or sold out Brixton Electric, it’s been a journey for us since the first EP. Brixton the other day was probably one of the most special gigs we’ve played. We always take a moment just to celebrate these things, if you don’t take time to stop and smell the roses it can go past you pretty quickly.”
This opened us up to the conversation about a potential new dance song/album the band could be recording with Liam Fray, which again made him laugh and you could hear the excitement in his voice. “We were all having a laugh about it, we were talking about production and all that kind of stuff and we’ve never kind of got it together, like we’ve spoke about it a bit but haven’t had time to sit in a room and do a session, but it’s definitely on the cards.”
What an exciting bit of information for all DMA’s and The Courteeners fans! “Liam’s championed us since the start, our first ever gig was at Brixton Academy in London supporting them, you know? That’s another reason why it was so cool coming back and selling it out ourselves this time.”
Going back to talk about the album, I asked if it was nerve-wracking putting out something so different to their previous work. “I don’t think you’re ever 100% sure which is a good thing, that was something Stuart actually said, he said “If you’re going to release something that’s truly great and there isn’t a moment where you doubt it then chances are it’s probably not that great.”
Johnny’s admiration for Price arises again, “he’s said a lot of cool things old Stuart, I could quote him all day... “A record’s never finished, it’s just handed in.” Things like that, which as a creative person it does ease things up a little bit. Stuart’s winning Grammy’s with stuff like that so it’s cool.”
We finished off our chat with an update on what the band are up whilst gearing towards the release of the album, which included recording Live Lounge covers, appearing on Soccer AM and flying back home to Australia. It’s clear that they’re working tirelessly and earned every bit of their success, with the best yet to come.