GOING BACK TO THEIR ROOTS, NUMBER ONE’S AND THE GUITAR REVIVAL

INTERVIEW | JOHNNY TOOK – DMA’S by Gracie Erskine

Fresh off the high of their No.1 ARIA-charting self-titled record, DMA’s hit The Wardrobe in Leeds for an intimate out-store performance with Crash Records. Ahead of the show, guitar whisperer Johnny Took talked to Northern Exposure about the makings of the album, going back to their roots and how it feels to be top dogs in their homeland.

The latest album DMA’S has been about just over a week now, how’s it treating you?

Amazing, it’s been really cool. We found out yesterday we got our first number one record in Australia, which is cool.

How is it being top dogs in your homeland?

It’s really special. On How Many Dreams? we got second, and The Glow we got a number two record in Australia as well, so to get that top spot it’s a bucket list moment. It’s not the most important thing, but it’s nice to have little rewards like that.

The new album feels very distinctly DMAs, almost like you’ve gone back to your roots a little bit in a way. Was that the particular vision going into it?

Well, that’s funny because that was the vision going into it. On The Glow and How Many Dreams? we were experimenting with more electronic sounds, and it felt really authentic at the time because that’s what we were listening to. And then there was like a natural arc where we did that kind of sound and experimented with that for a couple of records, and that was enough for us. But then we felt a calling to come back to guitars.

We almost used Hills End as the inspiration for this record. Not completely. We didn’t want to recreate Hills End, but we wanted the aesthetic and sentiment of our first record. It was funny because we went over to San Francisco when we started recording to try and work with a producer. It didn’t quite work out, and by then we had spent quite a lot of our album budget. It kind of worked out nicely because we came back home, and we were thinking we’ve spent half our budget; how are we going to save this? Because we wanted the aesthetic to be more like Hills End, which was recorded in my apartment, in a more DIY, self-produced vibe, we decided to do a version of that in our own studio in Sydney.

Did the 10-year anniversary for Hills End help lay the groundwork for going into the new record?

There’s definitely a bit of that; it was nice. I think it also prepped the fans a bit. I also kind of feel like the zeitgeist, just in general, has kind of leaned back into guitars. Maybe like five or six years ago, you couldn’t even hear a guitar in the top 40, but now guitars are back again, which is really nice because that’s what we do. It’s nice to hear.

You’ve got quite an influence now; you’ve been in the game 10 years. This is album number five. Are you hearing bands coming up now and thinking, hold on a minute, that’s us?

A little bit here and there. We run into people on the street, particularly in the UK, more than in Australia, and they say things like “Oh this album was massive for me or that made us start a band” or something like that. So that’s always really nice to hear.

And as far as influence goes, do you feel like you’ve had more influence on the music world or on how many people wear caps? Because as a band, you’ve always got a bloody good cap on.

We’ve got new hats in our merch, and they’re super dope. The red ones look pretty cool. Go check them out on the store. But yes, I guess, a bit of both.

You’re so well loved in the UK. Why do you think you’ve kind of resonated so well over time?

We feel super blessed every time we come over here; we never take it for granted. Just the fact that you guys have taken us under your wings is huge for us. As for why, I don’t know; maybe it’s naivety that we didn’t grow up here. We don’t maybe know the scene as well; we’re kind of looking at it from the outside looking in. Maybe we’re reading it wrong, but our version of it maybe resonates with people.

Do you know this is the 17th show that you’ll have played in Leeds?

Wow, I didn’t know that. That’s cool. I think I remember our first show in Leeds. It was maybe Live at Leeds.

And it is an acoustic, intimate set tonight. And going back to the infamous acoustic Triple J ‘Believe’cover that’s now become a staple in the set. As it’s been a few years, do you think you can finally say that you think your version is better than OG Cher?

I don’t think so. Like a lot of things in life, it’s not necessarily better or worse. It depends what mood you’re in or what you’re into, you know.

DMA’s kick off their 2027 UK and IE tour in February, and remaining tickets can be found here.