Melbourne’s MY DISCO return home for the first time in four years.
MY DISCO are the kind of band every band wants to be. Completely free of expectations, from either the fans or the band members themselves, they do whatever they want, whenever they want, and most importantly, however they want.
This freeform approach leads to some pretty interesting artistic experimentation, like their fifth album, Environment, which was largely dictated by the space in Berlin where it was recorded. So much so that even the noisy air vent in the studio became a drone bed for one of the record’s songs.
The band, whilst often always busy, haven’t graced a Melbourne stage in four years, and were somewhat taken aback by an offer from Now or Never to be a part of this year’s festival program.
MY DISCO at Now or Never
- When: 19–30 August 2026
- Where: Various venues across Melbourne
- Tickets here
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As guitarist Ben Andrews explains, “I remember speaking to one of the creative directors, and she said, ‘You can use the organ in the Town Hall, or you can perhaps do a retrospective of your career,’ so we decided we’ll do a set that spans our career of 20-plus years in a way that we’ve never done before.”
For most groups, this would be a pretty simple idea, but MY DISCO are infamous for making albums that sound drastically different to the previous ones, moving on and never really looking back.
“It’s actually exciting and enthralling, but also nerve-wracking to kind of try all that stuff again, because there’s a lot of guitar tunings and a lot of sounds that we’re going to have to remember,” explains Andrews.
“We’re not rehearsing until the week of the show, so that’s scary.
“With MY DISCO, though, it always seems like the more planning that happens, the more things never end up like the plan.
“Basically, we kind of have to trust in ourselves that we’ve been playing together for so long that it eventually just comes through.”
MY DISCO will bring a unique 60-minute setlist to Now or Never that incorporates material from 2003 – 2022, weaving different albums in a way that creates one constant piece.
As Andrews explains, that set-up works well for a MY DISCO show; “We’re not the sort of band that plays a song and then stops and has a drink of water, or talks to the crowd, that’s just not what we do.”
To help set the mood, they will be joined on the bill by longtime collaborator Robin Fox with his new laser performance titled PRESENCE and Jeho Yun + Kyoungjin So, who’ll offer a ritual of traditional Korean percussion, movement, lasers and electronic sound.
“We are actually going to play some random songs from our back catalogue, and perhaps some of them we might not have played for a decade plus,” explains Andrew.
“There are some die-hard fans out there that have wanted the old material for a long time, and sometimes we’ve performed it in other countries, but not in Australia for a long time.”
After this performance, MY DISCO will set off to a new, inspiring and currently undisclosed space in the United States to record their seventh studio album.
For now, however, the only space they are concerned with is the Town Hall, which for Andrews is somewhat of a refresh.
“We played the Town Hall ten years ago, almost exactly to the day of this show, with the Drones at a similar event.
“That was one of the highlights of our career, for sure. It was such a fun show, but the only other time I’ve been in the hall since was to get a COVID injection in the fateful era, so this should be something quite different indeed.”
MY DISCO, Robin Fox, and Jeho Yun + Kyoungjin So play Melbourne Town Hall on Sunday 30 August as part of Now or Never.
Beat is a proud media partner of Now or Never.
