By Rhona Murphy. Pictures: Roman Jody.
Australian band DMA’S will be releasing their fifth studio album simply called ‘ DMA’S ’ on 21 August 2026. In Common Southampton spoke to Johnny Took on all things DMA’S ahead of the release and the UK tour which is scheduled for February 2027 with the first date in Southampton.
I started by thanking Johnny for his time and asked him how the media promo interviews were going so far.
JT: It’s always exciting to talk about it (DMA’S new self-titled album) and the main thing for us these days is to play the new songs live, which is cool.
RM: I find that when listening to an album for the first time sometimes tracks resonate for me straight away but generally the ones that really sit with me aren’t the ones I grab straight onto. They’re the ones that evolve over time, particularly when I’ve seen them played live. Then it takes it to a whole new dimension for me. The most recent track from the new album ‘Killing Time’ is one just like that. I listened to it loads of times because to me it didn’t sound like Tommy (Tommy O’Dell lead singer) and I wasn’t sure if it was Tommy or maybe yourself on vocals. And now I can really imagine that song played live, it’s really going to go off when you play that on tour.
JT: I can’t wait to play that one live! We’ve already kinda got plans on how to incorporate it into the set so that’ll be fun.
RM: I suppose you’ve got such an extensive back catalogue now that it’s not that easy to come up with the setlist?
JT: It’s a hard one to decide how many of the big singles and the big singalong crowd favourites you want to put in and you can curate the set like that but you also don’t just want to play the same set every time so it’s also important to put in a few obscure B side ones and also if it’s a tour that is for that album it’s appropriate to play a certain amount of songs from that album – like when we did the ‘How Many Dreams’ tour we played heaps of songs off that record live but since we’ve had a break we haven’t played them. We took a couple of songs from that which we keep in the set but a lot of them we haven’t played live for a while and also because we just did the ‘Hill’s End’ anniversary tour we probably won’t play all the tracks off ‘Hills End’ because we just did a massive tour of playing that whole album.
RM: When you’re touring because you’ve got a new album out or you’re touring for an album anniversary then the crowd expects to hear most of that new album in the set. I think that when big bands get to festivals and start to play newer songs that people haven’t heard very much it generally doesn’t get well received. I always think that’s not the time to do that, it’s the time to bring out songs like ‘Delete’ and you play the songs people have come to see you for rather than for them to go home a bit aggrieved that their favourites weren’t in the set. I understand that a band might find the whole festival set a little predictable and there isn’t the same element of choice whereas on your own tour you can really do what you like as long as you spread around a few big tunes. People know the words to your songs the moment they come out don’t they?
JT: Yes particularly at out own shows we’re super lucky we’ve got such an amazing core fanbase. We played a couple more ‘Hills End’ shows a couple of months ago and we did two at Rock City (Nottingham) and one in Norwich and everyone was singing the words to ‘My Baby’s Place’ and to ‘Heatin Park’ too (both from the new album) which was amazing.
RM: How does that make you feel when you get that connection with your fans because you do have an incredible fanbase?
JT: Oh they’re amazing, it’s really special, it’s one thing that gives the best feeling when you do release new music and it makes your live shows better when everyone’s singing along, because I’m the kind of person who wants to have as many feel good singalong moments in the set as possible because I think that’s what people like, that’s what makes a great show. All of a sudden if we’re playing for example ‘My Baby’s Place’ which is a great singalong song that people are getting into and singing along to that chorus, it’s very catchy and that song’s great because it’s a medium tempo singalong song which is hard to find because you can’t just do fast song, fast song, fast song, fast song. When you’ve got a few medium tempo singalongs that’s kinda good because you can do ‘Feels Like 37’, ‘Play It Out’ and ‘Lay Down’ but then you can throw in a ‘My Baby’s Place’ or a ‘Silver’ and it breaks it up a little bit.
RM: And am I correct in saying that ‘My Baby’s Place’ is a self-produced/self-recorded song by you guys?
JT: Yeah so we worked with a mate called Lachlan (Lachy) Bostock who engineered it because we didn’t want to be driving it and doing all the computer stuff and him and Mason (Matt Mason lead guitar/vocals) really took the reins on this album so they did a lot of the producing and engineering kind of stuff. Because we were doing it in our own studio, we were able to record it over a longer period of time rather than just going into a studio somewhere with a producer and trying to get as much done as possible in three or four weeks, so that was really cool and there were a couple of tracks that we wrote with these guys called Jimi Somewhere who are like a producer/song writing duo. They’re Norwegian but they live in LA and we did some writing with them and they came over and did some additional production as well which was kinda fun to add to the songs but a lot of it was done by Mason and Lachy just hunkering down over months in the studio, chipping away at it. I think that giving it that time was a different way of recording it because we did it over a more extended period of time in our own studio.
RM: Now that you’re family men with new babies, (congratulations by the way I know you’re going be a dad soon), I think it can change the way you want to live your lives sometimes, so do you foresee changing the way that you tour, because you’ve toured extensively over many years?
JT: We’re lucky cos we have the UK and Australia as our two main territories so it’s great to go back and forth and because we don’t really go to America too much and we do Europe every now and again but it’s mainly those two territories which gives us some time to be at home with the family. It’s a funny job because Tommy has a couple of kids now and I’ve got one coming soon and Mason also has a new baby so we already incorporated a more lenient touring schedule for Tommy where we try to not go away for much longer than a month but it’s a funny thing because maybe you will go away for a month or so but when you are at home you’re there all the time so you can be super present which is pretty cool. There are so many positives to the job of being a musician and not every job is going to be perfect in all ways but I guess us, as humans, no matter what job we have, you have to do what’s right and nothing’s going to be perfect all the time, but you do your best.
RM: I wanted to ask you about videos for your songs. They’ve always grabbed me because they’re like mini movies. How do you come up with the ideas or is there outside influence on how you approach them?
JT: I think they’re different every time. Sometimes we’ll have a really strong vision for what we want and then sometimes we think that doing something simple is right. For ‘My Baby’s Place’ Mason had the idea that he wanted the lyrics to follow the storyline but then we handed it to our mate Cole (Cole Surrey director/editor) who created the clip. I think what’s fun about doing video clips is the people that you’re choosing to work with are creatives in their own right so I think handing over a little bit of that creative responsibility is a good form of collaboration and they are good at what they do for a reason so whether or not you’re collaborating more intensely together or the fact that you’ve already written the song and that is the collaboration I think either way is kinda cool, but it’s nice to be able to put an emotive visual to a song that we hold so dear.
RM: I know your fans jump onto your videos and clips as soon as they come out I think the time and thought you put into those things is always appreciated. When it comes to playing in Australia or the UK, do you get the same audience responses in both countries?
JT: No it’s a very different experience, we’ve done some really special shows in Australia but in general (I think it must be something to do with the climate as well) Australians are very laid back amazing crowds with good vibes and it’s just a bit different to the UK. There’s a sense of anarchy in the British crowds and vociferous might be the best description, they’re singing every word at the top of their lungs and sometimes you see people after the gig and they can barely talk and we love that.
RM: In the early days I remember seeing you do a small show/tv recording for This Feeling at Nambucca in London do you remember that one?
JT: Oh that show was crazy. Mikey (Mikey Jonns, This Feeling) has always been a big supporter of us for a long time and is a good mate and we’re always very grateful for that.
RM: I know that the three of you song write collaboratively but how does it actually work? What happens if one of you has put the bones together of a song and has it in his mind what he wants it to sound like but the rest of you influence and possibly change that sound. How does that work for you?
JT: I think you give the song what the song needs. You have to be mindful that you’re not just trying to put your ideas into a song just because you want to get your ideas in there and if it’s not actually appropriate for what the song needs especially if the core idea is someone’s baby and something they’re really passionate with, in the same way that sometimes it’s better to say less than to say more. It’s like with songwriting, if you can see someone’s onto something and they’re feeling passionate and the momentum’s happening naturally, I think it’s best to stand back and say ‘you’ve got this’. There’s a term called Nashville Rules which happens in songwriting sessions, and basically for anyone that’s in the room you split it (royalties) evenly no matter who contributes what to the song and that stops someone from trying to get their lyric in or their melody in just because they want to get more points and it’s a good way of working because people are truly trying to service the song rather than their own interests.
RM: I guess you guys have been together and been great friends for such a long time that you are all working together for the collective good.
JT: I think that if you want longevity in a band at the end of the day it’s better that everything is split evenly. People go through different things in life sometimes someone is on a purple patch and they’re going crazy and writing heaps of songs and other time people are going through some personal stuff and it’s not coming as naturally to them and I’ve always been grateful that we’ve always lifted each other and helped each other up through different phases of our lives. It’s been a beautiful part of being in the band and I know we have a lot of admiration for each other for those moments where maybe the other person wasn’t feeling 100% up for it and I think that’s important. And when you’ve been in a band for a long time you see the ebbs and flows of that.
RM: That’s the same with other types of creativity. I know that for myself as a photographer I’d take a photo and think ‘oh I’m really pleased with that’ and then a few weeks later I look back and think ‘that’s complete rubbish, what was I thinking!’ We’re always our worst critics ourselves!
JT: Yes and then five years later you look back and go ‘that was the best work I’ve ever done’.
RM: People say to me what’s the best photo you’ve ever taken and my reply is that I haven’t taken it yet.
JT: Yes I like that, it’s a good mindset to be in.
RM: With anything creative you have to have the passion and keep evolving and you have to change which we all do naturally. When I listen to your back catalogue of albums they’re all different with a different vibe but they’re all unmistakably you, so I’m really looking forward to hearing the new album in its entirety.
JT: One thing which I’ve found is that when you release an album it’s very easy for people to say ‘I want you to sound like your first album,’ or ‘I want you to sound like this,’ and I think that in theory that sounds good to them but if you released four albums with exactly the same sound then all of a sudden you’ll get “they’re unoriginal” or “one-trick ponies”. We’re naturally inquisitive people and it was fun for us to drift and change and try to do something different on the albums but what’s also great is this self-titled new record is a kind of return to our roots and has lots of guitars and a little more DIY style production. It’s not the same as ‘Hills End’ by any means but there’s an energy and an aesthetic that is similar but also that wouldn’t feel refreshing unless you went through something like the albums ‘The Glow’ or ‘How Many Dreams’ so you kinda need those things to respectively play off each other.
RM: So the album is out on 21 August and then the UK tour kicks off in February 27. I know you guys have often toured in the UK in the winter so I guess you’ll be ready for the weather?
JT: Yes I quite like it to be honest I’ve got lots of very fond memories touring in the UK rugged up in jackets!
Huge thanks to Johnny for taking the time to speak to In Common Southampton from his home in Australia.
DMA’S are:
Tommy O’Dell – lead vocals
Johnny Took – rhythm guitar
Matt Mason – lead guitar/vocals
Albums/EPs
DMA’s EP (self-titled) – 2014
Hills End – 2016
For Now – 2018
MTV Unplugged Live – 2019
The Glow – 2020
Live At Brixton – 2021
How Many Dreams – 2023
DMA’S (self-titled) – due out 21 August 26
DMA’S UK Tour Dates
FEBRUARY 2027
Mon 01 Southampton O2 Guildhall
Tue 02 Cardiff University Great Hall
Wed 03 Coventry HMV Empire
Fri 05 Manchester Academy
Sat 06 Manchester Academy
Mon 08 Newcastle O2 City Hall
Tue 09 Lincoln Engine Shed
Thu 11 York Barbican
Fri 12 London Eventim Apollo
Sun 14 Liverpool Olympia
Mon 15 Sheffield Octagon Centre
Wed 17 Edinburgh Usher Hall
Thu 18 Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom
Fri 19 Belfast Limelight
Sat 20 Dublin Academy
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