INTERVIEW: Death By Denim kick off their 'Year Long Minute' EP tour
From dominating with their west coast synth-rock to winning triple j Unearthed’s competition to play at Falls Fremantle 2020, Death By Denim is a musical force to be reckoned with.
Comprised of four members – Nik, Pallé, George and Hamish – the band has just kicked off their national Year Long Minute EP tour with a round of hometown shows. With big things ahead, we just had to squeeze in a chat before they jet off around Australia!
Congratulations on just having had ‘Wiggy’ added to triple j’s rotation! Great stuff, with your national tour happening soon too. How excited are you?
Thank you very much! It’s been quite surreal to see all the support and love for that track. We simply can’t wait to head back on tour. I think since we started doing the rounds over east last year we’ve all got quite a taste for it. As soon as one tour ends, the next tour is all that is in mind for us all. It’s our biggest national tour so far so we are all a bit jittery to get started!
What are you looking forward to most when touring? Any particular city you’re keen to explore?
The gigs are always the highlight, last tour we had such a good time playing in Brisbane and were blown away by the fan support. We’ll be playing in a few new places this time around as well (Adelaide, Byron Bay, Sunshine Coast) so we are keen to make some connections there.
George has booked us a nice secluded stay for a few days in Byron at a house with no TV, so that will be a nice time to zen out and regroup – and Pallé will be leading the band yoga. It’s always a good time exploring around Melbourne as Hamish is practically our tour guide and knows all the places to be.
How did you enjoy WAMFest? Was it the first time you’ve played there?
WAMFest was a great night as always, hopping between places to catch our favourite acts. We had played at The Bird last year which was quite a rowdy time. The set this year was interesting as we were playing in an outdoor courtyard and did happen to get a bit of rain coming down for our last couple of songs. Happy to report all electronics still appear to be intact.
Your band name Death by Denim just rolls off the tongue. A cliche question, but how did it come about?
Pallé was studying a law degree before the band and was channelling an 80s Bon Jovi era look with a huge mullet and double denim day to day. Someone called him out saying he was wearing enough denim to kill someone – and there came the name.
What would you say have been the highlights of your journey, such as Southbound Festival? Or perhaps any funny stories?
Southbound was definitely an amazing experience, being backstage with some of our favourite bands and playing on the big stage. I think at that time it was within our first 6 months of being in a band so I’m not sure we fully embraced how cool it was. Selling out shows across Australia in 2019 has been a big highlight too!
Has making music your career always seemed natural to each of you?
I’d say the journey as a band has felt very natural and everyone has been really committed since the get-go. As it’s progressed, we’ve all gravitated towards making it our main focus. There’s been quite a few highs and lows, but I think it’s that collective drive that is responsible for all the success we’ve experienced.
Do you have any favourite Perth venues that you’ve played?
So many cool venues in Perth. The Indian Ocean Hotel (Indi Bar) has become basically our home ground and have really refined our live performances there over the past couple of years. Mojo’s and Rosemount Hotel are both very iconic and always fun to play at. Hamish also loves Badlands, has an awesome vibe about it.
The music video for ’Drone’ is actual perfection. Talk us through the direction of it all. More importantly, how long did you have to stand in that pool for?
Haha, ah yes the pool. Nik had to be in there for about an hour. He’s not the greatest of swimmers either so that was quite a funny time for the others watching. The video came along relatively out of the blue. We decided we should try to whip something up with basically no budget so George took it upon himself to come up with a concept. He directed it, filmed it and edited all on his own and we were all stoked with how it turned out.
You’ve just given away Nik’s guitar – now what are some generous things fans have done for you instead?
Coming to our shows, listening to our tunes is the most generous thing fans could do for us! One time in Sydney we had a few people help carry all of our gear back to our hotel, that was very generous of them.
What personal favourites from your discography would you recommend to new listeners?
I think the songs from the Year Long Minute EP are definitely some of our favourites. ‘Wiggy’, ‘Cigarettes and Honey’, ‘Plane From Amsterdam’ and ‘Drone’ really highlight our current sound. Older stuff like ‘Ocean Lines’, ‘Smoke Screen’ and ‘Take Me Far Away Sometime’ highlight our sound from when we first started. ‘Tattoo’ was probably the song that led us to this current direction. I just listed a lot haha, so ALL OF THEM!
On an ending note, what lies ahead for Death by Denim in 2020?
2019 has been a year of significant momentum with every release and tour that we’ve done so we are hoping that 2020 sees a lot of that growth continue. We will be releasing a follow-up EP next year and will be heading off on many more tours, hopefully with our first international shows too.
We also just got announced as the triple j Unearthed winner for the Falls Festival slot in January, which is an absolute dream!