Australia, for all its cosmopolitan progress, is still a country ruled by the land. A place of tough, gnarled bush and wave-crushed coastlines. We still have a freshness about the air here, and the music. When I first heard the DMA’s it wasn’t their nod to the motherland England that made me listen in and take note, but there was a certain something in a watery guitar riff that felt like home. One third of the band, Matt Mason lays down the law on their unruly sound sprawl and why creature comforts like hitting the snooze button are taking them to the zenith. These lads aren’t just reviving a beat but hopefully reminding us of that native ‘no bullshit’ ethos that can only be found in this great southern land.
What does DMA’s stand for?
When we put our first video clip up online before our manager and label got in contact with us, well we were called the Dirty Ma’s. Often in songs we’d call out D-Ma’s. Then people would think that it was Dirty Mars, like the fucking planet. We didn’t like that — kinda sounded chat.
So like ‘Ma’ as in ‘Mum’ — Dirty Mum?
Yeah. We’d just gone to D-Ma’s and then our manager thought, what about DMA’s? It doesn’t even really mean anything, we just like the letters.
I get that, crushing on how words look.
100 percent. The other day we thought it might actually stand for ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’.
And really, you want your name to transcend into your music.
Yeah totally. We were watching an interview with REM on David Letterman and he asked the guitarist what REM stands for, if it stands for Rapid Eye Movement? And he said ‘no, it doesn’t stand for anything’ they just liked the letters. People can put their own meaning towards it.
What’s one word to describe the Tommy and Johnny, the other guys in the band with you?
The first word that comes to mind is ‘offensive’ and I wouldn’t want them to know that.
What’s your creative process like?
Usually Johnny and I will come up with a chorus. And then someone will just go ‘oh I’ve got this other part I wrote a couple of weeks ago that we can splice into that’. Tommy doesn’t really play guitar but he sings into his iPhone and we use some of that. Really just splicing a lot of different parts together.
Do the words come first or the music?
It’s always the music with us. Just melodies. Also at the same time when you are writing the melodies — I think Mick Jagger called it the vowel movement — words automatically come into your head and sometimes you end up using that. Sometimes you write the words and the melodies at the exact same time. But predominantly melodies first.
What are you reading at the moment?
Johnny bought a bunch of fucking poetry books when we were in London and we’ve been sitting around the studio reading those.
How was your tour? You did the UK and US double…
Yeah it was cool, it was mad. We didn’t really think it was going to be that much of a big deal. We just thought we’d be playing in front of raids of empty rooms — it was always packed, it was crazy.
What did you miss most about home?
I guess just not doing anything really. When we got back I didn’t do anything for a week. I mean here [in Sydney], this time of year everyone gets excited and there’s heaps of house parties. Whereas over there everyone was getting ready to hibernate.
Growing up, what music were you exposed to?
Usual parent stuff. Early on I got into ‘guitar-y’ 90s bands like Pavement, Sleater Kinney, and Sonic Youth and stuff as my main inspiration. When I really started liking music, that’s what it was. I guess this band’s quite different to that.
What do you like now?
Just the same stuff. 90s guitar bands. Cool late 80s. Noisy riffy guitar bands. I heard the new Love of Diagrams song this morning on the radio which sounded good.
Can you tell me about a music video that you love?
Lost Animal’s clip for ‘Lose the Baby’ is great. It’s the same vibe that we always do – a camera in a room and the band just sings at the camera. I really like that idea.
Connects with the audience…
Yeah there’s no plot and no one is trying to act. It’s just doing the live show into a camera.
I know musicians hate to be labelled and journalists love to label. People have said a lot of things about you guys in relation to the Britpop category – how do you feel when you’re likened to Oasis?
Nah I don’t mind. Obviously they’re a huge inspiration to us but what kind of annoys us is we’re inspired by heaps of other bands as much and I think you can hear that in the music but no one ever talks about those bands.
Did the English have a different perspective because that genre is so close to home?
They were saying the exact same thing. We were worried because we thought that it might really piss people off in England. There aren’t a lot of bands that sound like us doing that era of music in England — it’s like an untouched genre. But it was fine, it was cool.
What sounds have you have been experimenting with?
We’ve bought heaps of bass pedals and there’s a big drum loopy ‘electronic-y’ vibe going to go down as well but yeah, all these new effects pedals that we are going to try and get some weird sounds from. When you called me I was just tuning this instrument called the Guzheng. My friend bought it at an antique market a couple of years ago, it’s called a Chinese piano.
Can you remember a dream you had recently?
We’ve been getting up early to come to the studio so I’ve been hitting the snooze button and having dreams in that state where you’re kind of only half awake. In my dream this morning our band could fucking just, like glide — if we jumped off a hill or a building we could just glide around — not fly so much as just glide.
Like those flying foxes?
Yeah totally, just like a paper aeroplane.
If it was your last day on earth, what would be the final song you listened to?
#9 Dream by John Lennon.
Who would you rate as a total legend?
Do you know De Rucci? He makes beds — look up De Rucci, he’s an old guy with a beard.
Why do you love him?
Because he makes amazing beds.
Credits
Text Olivia Drake
Photography Britt McCamey and Felicity Byrne