“We’ve been in bands before and we’ve slogged it out playing the early morning World Bars [Kings Cross] and all those kinds of little gigs around Sydney and we just didn’t want to do that anymore,” explains guitarist and producer Johnny Took. “We thought that most of our energy should be focused on the songs. The way I think about it, it all revolves around the tunes. If there isn’t good songs coming out then there’s nothing, really.”
Judging by the group’s immediate impact, this studious creative preparation has paid off. Thanks to the heart-on-your-sleeve melodic appeal of first single Delete, a fair chunk of hype quickly hit DMA’s. In fact, even before the band’s public launch, the track was enough to seal a deal with selective indie label I OH YOU.
“We were writing for a few years before we released anything or played a gig,” Took says. “Two years ago I had a goal that I didn’t want to play any gigs and just wanted to focus on the tunes and keep writing music. I wanted to have over 100 songs and I wanted to do all the… not the ‘hard work’, because you never stop writing, but to give yourself a bit of a leg-up.”
Took is joined in DMA’s by vocalist Tommy O’Dell and guitarist Matt Mason, all of whom have been active in the Sydney music scene for the past half-decade. Took and O’Dell first came together (playing bass and drums, respectively) in Sydney foursome Underlights, which is where the seed for the pair’s songwriting collaboration was planted.
“The first time I realised Tommy could sing was when we were in an Underlights rehearsal. Tommy was asking about the drum part and he was like, ‘Oh you know in the chorus where it goes…’ He started singing the part and I was just standing there in the rehearsal room going, ‘Fuck, this guy’s voice is crazy’.”
Even though Took (who was working on a folky solo side-project at the time) recognised that O’Dell was more than just a sticksman, he didn’t immediately suggest they write together. Rather, the partnership transpired without much planning.
“About three years ago when I moved into my place in Newtown I used to spend lots of my Friday nights [getting] pissed and [would] just record something. [Tommy] had written some lyrics and he was like, ‘Man, can I put some vocals down for this track?’ He put a vocal down and he’d never heard his voice back before. He was like, ‘Wow, I actually sound like that?’ That really got him into singing and it kind of flourished from there.”
The fact this occurred three years before broadcasting any music underlines the trio’s initial desire to spontaneously give birth to songs, rather than contrive an identity. However, after coming to terms with the idea it was a band, Took did have some stylistic intentions. “The goal for me was always to do noisy guitars with big melodies. I wanted fuckin’ loud-as-shit guitars, heaps of delay, heaps of reverb and catchy hooks.”
DMA’s will conduct a mini EP tour this May, and Took admits they’re eager to seize upon the position they’ve swiftly launched to, but the essential purpose remains firm. “To be honest I just want to keep bettering the songs,” he says. “I get pretty down on myself when I’m not writing songs that I’m feeling completely attached to, so that’s always the focus for me. I’ll just try not to get too excited about anything and get back to the fundamentals, which is songwriting.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
