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R2RB Podcast - Women Entrepreneurs and Indie Artists Series
Where Indie Artists and Women Entrepreneurs share their journeys.
We sit down with indie musicians from diverse genres, shedding light on their personal and professional experiences. From the euphoria of their first gigs to the challenges of carving a niche in the industry, R2RB Podcast is your backstage pass to these rising stars' raw and unfiltered narratives.
We also embark on a journey of Women Entrepreneurs and share their inspiration, amplifying the voices and stories of remarkable women entrepreneurs. Join us as we delve into the worlds of visionary leaders, innovators, and trailblazers who are rewriting the rules and reshaping industries.
We look forward to sharing your journey!
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R2RB Podcast - Women Entrepreneurs and Indie Artists Series
Music, Friendship, and Innovation with DINKY
Ever wondered how a serendipitous meeting can ignite a musical journey? Join us for an inspiring episode featuring Gav and Adam from the UK’s indie sensation Dinky. This episode promises to take you through their heartfelt and humorous experiences, from the early days of Gav's lifelong involvement in the arts to Adam's return to music after years away. Together, they recount how their bandmate Danny joined and how the group solidified around 2013, emphasizing the enduring joy and camaraderie they find in making music together.
Get an insider's look at the making of Dinky's new album "Ghost," featuring 15 unique tracks that showcase the band's musical evolution. Gav and Adam provide insights into their collaborative songwriting process, discussing how blending their individual styles has created a richer musical experience for their listeners. From strategic single releases to embracing collaboration, they share the behind-the-scenes efforts that bring their music to life and amplify their promotional strategies.
The excitement doesn't stop there! Dive into the creative process behind their unique music video concept and innovative strategy of hosting secret shows to test new music. Listen as they recount the thrill of smashing instruments in a paint-filled room and the joy of gauging live audience reactions at these clandestine gigs. This episode is packed with valuable advice for indie artists, highlighting the importance of passion, perseverance, and creative collaboration in achieving longevity in the music industry. Don’t miss this engaging and enlightening conversation with Gav and Adam from Dinky!
https://linktr.ee/deblamotta
Hi and welcome to the R2RB podcast series. It is the Indie Music Artist Day, and today I have with me Dinky and I have Gav and Adam with me. Hey guys, how are you? Danny is off doing his thing today. That's all right, I won't hold it against him.
Speaker 2:He's a hard man to track down, don't he?
Speaker 1:There you go. So you are over in the UK in the West Midlands, is that correct?
Speaker 2:That's correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah, awesome, I have no idea where exactly that is, but I should have looked it up. But I sound good. So who are you and what did you do before Dinky, and how did you all come together?
Speaker 2:Okay, well, I'm Gav, so I'm the singer, guitarist and bass player of the band. What did I do before Dinky? You know, I've been doing it so long I can't I don't actually know what my life was before this band. I mean, musically, I obviously just, you know, when I was at school, just met some friends and we just started bands and things like that, and Dinky was something that started like years and years and years ago with different people. It was just a name that we had for this, you know, you know just a collection of musicians, but then I think it was around about 2011. That's when we started to sort of make it like a proper, a proper band, and that's the.
Speaker 2:You know, adam joined then and Danny shortly afterwards, and obviously we've been together ever since. Really, um, so, yeah, I was, I was always, I've always worked in the arts. So, you know, like, outside of music, I work in the art sector, uh, you know works for theatres and you know supporting music in schools and all the kinds of stuff like that. Um, but yeah, dinky's been like just is just a huge part of my life and what I do on the day to day.
Speaker 3:Adam, I joined around about 12 years ago.
Speaker 3:13 years ago Before that same old thing. You start when you're young, 16, 17. You get with a group of mates at school. You think you're going to change the world, and then suddenly you disappear off to university. And then other things happen. And then you sell your bass, like I did for a tumble dryer, and suddenly music takes a bit of a back burner as far as life's concerned. Then I started to learn how to play guitar again, got together with a guitarist who was teaching at the school where I was working, and then from that, uh, I then got to know Gav. Gav threw in a mutual friend who was playing bass at the time and we've not looked back since then, have we?
Speaker 2:We never have.
Speaker 3:no, We've not looked back since then and it's grown as a mutual respect. Musicianships developed, songwriting, friendship, yeah, friendship, yeah, we were talking about that when we were driving back on Wednesday. It's good. It's good you think these sorts of things are over as soon as you make those life choices. So to everybody out there, don't think, or because you used to do it then, you can't do it now.
Speaker 1:Exactly, absolutely. And I was just well, a few things that happened this past week and one of the things that I had thought about is that music doesn't discriminate against anything. You can stop the music, go back to the music. You can start it when you're young and go back to it when you're older, and music just is the universal language as well. So I agree, if you don't think you can't go back to something that you had you know way back when coming forward, just because you're gonna miss out if you don't right.
Speaker 1:You would have missed with, with dinky and with gavin, and then and then, when did danny come into play?
Speaker 2:a couple years after, yeah, after I joined.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a couple of years after I joined. I think it was we. I think it's about 2013. Um, I'm currently looking through lots of old photographs at the moment because we're putting some artwork together for something for next year and I found the first ever photo of the the band. Um, all four of us, because it used to be a four piece and I think it was around about 2013. So, yeah, so danny's been with us for a good 10 years as well now. So we've been through quite a lot over the last 10 years and, like I said, we've we're still in a really good place. You make your music and you know having fun and it's it's, it's kind of better now than it was it's ever been really so again going back to that point about.
Speaker 2:You know it's never too late to pick this back up again if you're, you know, a musician of a certain age or whatever, because it could actually be better in your later years than what you had it when you were younger. And I think for me at the moment, this is the most I've been involved in in a band or music and I'm having the best time. You know, this is just, it's just great, it's just it's wicked, it's awesome.
Speaker 3:I sometimes go. Are we really doing this?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're really doing it. I don't get what anybody else thinks.
Speaker 3:I'm having fun.
Speaker 1:And that, yeah, you're really doing what anybody? Else thinks I'm having fun yeah, and that's all that counts. But you just said something that, yeah, you just said something, right, that kind of hit home. You're still having fun, you're still enjoying it, and it's when that stops. What do you have? So you guys are doing something right, that's the time to leave.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the time to leave, yeah yeah, yeah, absolutely, oh my gosh, so is dinky full-time for all of no, it's like part time, it's it's it's well, it feels like a full time thing.
Speaker 2:I just let you get on with it. It's probably full time for me, but but I mean, I still work as well. But yeah, we just it's just. It's just something that takes up a lot of time really, but it's not not. Not, it's not the only thing that we do. We've all got other hats that we wear and things you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you're so busy, We'll get into all the things that you do. But there's the albums, there's the singles, there's the music videos. It's like, oh my gosh, I don't know how you guys, like you know, do everything else. I have a quick question.
Speaker 2:Is question is there a story behind the name dinky? I mean not, not really, not not a story in such as like where it came from. I think, um, I, I, I came up with the name. We don't think it's a very good name for a band. Personally, we, um, I think we've had it for so long that we it's kind of stuck and it doesn't really mean what it means. But, um, so I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it doesn't mean it can mean one thing today, something else tomorrow it's.
Speaker 2:I don't really have a very, uh, intelligent, articulate, interesting story to say about it. Really, I was obsessed sorry, deborah. Next question I was obsessed with like my like tiny things when I was, when I was like at university, um, so I just I just thought dinky sounded like a cool name for like the band. I just it, just I just thought it sounded cool. And then in later years I already talk about changing it for years ago but yeah, no whole hassle of having to change your social media and your website and spotify and all of that and I just thought you know, I I won't lie I had to go do a little research on the name, because I always ask the question if the name is a little bit, you know, uh, uh, different.
Speaker 2:And so I was reading the definition and the meanings and I was like, well, I don't know what kind of story they're going to come up with this one you know, I think, I think, I think I'm going to have to come up with a really good answer to that question, and next time, next time, I'll be like, oh, there'll be something sensible next time we just yeah, it just it's stuck though.
Speaker 2:It just it's just a name that just stuck with us over the years. Yeah and it has. I mean yeah and it has stuck.
Speaker 1:So if you change it now, they're gonna say who you know, yeah, you say dinky and people know oh yeah, we know them absolutely. Oh my gosh, I like that. Well, yeah, we'll have to figure out more about that one at another time. Oh my gosh, all right, so bring us up to date on everything that's been going on recently. You've had a new album released, correct? You have a new single release coming out from that album, which way does it go?
Speaker 2:so we have a new album coming out. Um, I don't know if the camera will pick it up. Yeah, it's backwards, our end. But hopefully it'll look normal. So this is our. This is our new album. It's called ghost.
Speaker 3:Sorry, I'm blocking adam's face that's all right, my fingers are more important, actually. Sorry just in case you haven't noticed, I'm pointing to it incredibly rude.
Speaker 2:So this is on it. This is our new album, ghost. Um, though this is what we've been working on for the last um, uh, probably year and a half um, it's a 15 track album, all new music. Yeah, we just literally this is part of our promotion for the build-up of the album so that it comes out on the 6th of july, uh, sort of worldwide and and we're just promoting it now.
Speaker 2:So we we have released two singles so far and, um, we're going to be releasing a third single from the album towards the end of July. We're just finalising the music video for that at the moment. So, yeah, we're just very much gearing up towards that. We've got lots of other projects and things connected to the band that we're working on at the moment. Lots of things sort of bubbling away underneath the moment, lots of things sort of bubbling away underneath, uh, but the main main focus for at the moment focus for us as a band at the moment is just kind of getting the album out there and just getting it in people's ears um, but we're really proud of it, it's um it's, um, it's a good, it's a good album we've, we've, uh.
Speaker 2:we spent a lot of time just taking our time making making the album that we wanted to make and, uh, we're just really happy with the overall production of it, the quality of the songwriting on there. It just feels like a real step up for us musically and visually as a band and, yeah, we're thrilled.
Speaker 3:Songwriting as well. Some of them sound very different. There's not one track on there that you go oh right, that sounds like that. Then you get into. Oh right, I understand where. They're very different. There's not one track on there that you go oh right, that sounds like that. Then you get into. Oh right, I understand where they're coming from. We try and mix it up a bit. We have, because of the ages.
Speaker 3:We are, a very varied and eclectic mix of songs and music we listen to and songwriters, and that comes to the mix when we all start to contribute to songwriting and putting together tunes yeah gav has have has his own inimitable style and uh way of uh coming up with lyrics which I I am totally in in admiration for you, the way you you're you're a wordsmith and the way you put together but words and the way they work with the music that we put together. But it's becoming more collaborative as we're going together as a three-piece and that's reflected in what we put down as far in ghosts oh yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:So the songwriting, gav, do you start? Do you start writing the piece, or do you do it together? Or how did? How's your process?
Speaker 2:it's a little. It's changed recently, like in the, probably the last year. It's changed a lot. It used to be more led by sort of ideas that I had uh songs or half ideas or finished songs, but, as Adam said, it's it's a lot more collaborative now and I think I see more the benefits of, of being open to collaborations and things. I think I was a little bit more, you know, secular and like I want to go away and do this by myself type of thing because of whatever it is I'm writing about might be personal or something, but for the ghost album we just collaborated a lot more and was there was more sharing of like lyric ideas, music ideas and then conversations around songs and how they should be structured as a, as a band, you know.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, and I think moving that's probably going to be the model that we will work with, because I think it really adds a lot of strength to the relationships in a band if you're collaborating.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:You're sharing each other ideas and you're kind of validating things and you know you're able to find what you like as a band and what doesn't work as a band, and I think through that collaborative process that's kind of really how you discover how to write better songs and how to, kind of you know, present them to an audience.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I think the songwriting process has definitely changed over the years, but I definitely think the collaborative you know the way is the best way, way you know it's just, it's just a good way. I mean, adam plays, you know, like I said, guitar very differently to how I play guitar. So the types of things that Adam will come up with on a guitar is something that I would never come up with, and so yeah, and and that's, and so that's a missed, that's a missed opportunity there.
Speaker 2:There's a song there that's lost because I was too, you know, consumed in my own world to kind of allow that idea to come in.
Speaker 3:What a crazy world that is. What a crazy world, crazy, mad cat world. Dr Seuss would be so pleased.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, absolutely Collaborating is the way forward for us as a band. We want to hear those ideas, you know, and equally, you know. So yeah, absolutely Collaborating is the way forward for us as a band. We want to hear those ideas, you know, and equally, you know.
Speaker 1:I think we're at a point now where we're quite comfortable for people to take the lead, tuned into each other.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've got this idea and I've got it, you know, and we can play those, and if we feel like it doesn't work as a band, then we're not afraid to just leave it or come back to it at another time. Some things happen very instantly, so all of the new music that we're writing at the moment is pretty much a band effort. We all have little nuggets of ideas. We don't try to formulate them into finished things. We do it when we're together, so we're all on the same page. We're making those decisions about the structure and where things go and what feels right and the tempo and the the way the drums are played. Everything's kind of discussed as we go through and we try different methods. So we might try it as a ballad. If it doesn't work, we might try it as a faster song or try and find a middle ground.
Speaker 2:So but, but sometimes equally. You know, adam will write things and send them to me that are more complete, and I will as well, or we'll write together on the new album there's, there's probably about five or six songs that Adam and myself um wrote together right, so so all the songs on this album you definitely have all collaborated on together but most of most of them, yeah, most of them, yeah, yeah and the first single from that album was what?
Speaker 2:uh, it's not about you. Not about you. If you've seen the, if you, if you want, if I don't have you seen the video, deborah, I have I have, oh my god oh, the conversation we had when gab ran me up about I've got a plan, boys, I've got a plan I've got a great idea.
Speaker 1:I've got a great idea. I've got a great idea.
Speaker 3:We're going to go to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, talk about that video because I want yeah, talk about it, because I want to know, like, how the heck did you come up with the idea?
Speaker 2:So we wanted to do a video where we were going to smash all our instruments up. And someone told me in COVID, someone said that there was these places that were opening, called like rage rooms, where you could go, pay some money, you could give you a sledgehammer and you can smash up TVs and glass or anything you want for 30 minutes just to get that. You know, get that energy out, you know. So we, why not After? So we why not after covid, why not? So I said, well, that sounds like the perfect place to make a video where we smash stuff up. So I found this place.
Speaker 2:Um, I went to have a look at, look at the room, but I wasn't very inspired. It was quite. It didn't really like. The aesthetic of it wasn't quite right. But then they showed me a room that they had upstairs which was just covered in paint and I just said I want to make a video in this room. Uh, what, what can we do? And uh, I basically said we want to just bring a camera person in, we want to just cover ourselves in paint and we just want to film making a video. And they said just do whatever you want to do. You can play the music as loud as you want, you can use as much paint as you want, it's nothing. Nothing is off limits. Basically. You just literally do whatever it is you want to do. So we found a camera person which took quite a long time to convince someone to come and do it. Yeah, we just spent a couple of hours having a paint fight just to kind of get ready fantastic, and then we recommend it to everyone.
Speaker 3:And then we filmed it, it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we just filmed we spent about eight hours just throwing paints at each other and filming it, and it was just wonderful and we were just like giggling like little children, weren't we? Yeah?
Speaker 1:I was wondering if you had to sell the idea, but I guess not. You just all went for it. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Deborah. He rang me up from the very room and he just went. I'm standing in a room covered in paint. I've had a change of plan. We're going to, we're going to cover ourselves in paint and do this video and I just it went quiet and I just went. Hell, yes, sounds perfect. Anyway, does Danny? What do you think, danny?
Speaker 1:Oh, Danny will be fine.
Speaker 3:Don't worry, Danny, you'll be fine.
Speaker 1:You all look like you were fine. Oh my gosh, when I first started watching the video, I'm like what, what? And it was like oh that was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Speaker 1:I have never seen anything like it and I think that's what I like about you guys. You do things that you know are a little bit different from other bands, other you know music. So just a little, just a little. So the other thing that I was raised a little, you guys are funny, oh my gosh. So you also do this thing. You're doing this promotion for the new album as well, I believe the Secret Shows.
Speaker 2:Well, the Secret Shows. We haven't done it yet, but it's something we're talking about. The Secret Shows won't be for this album. They'll be for another album next year. We're writing at the moment an EP that we're going to record, maybe at the end of the year or maybe early next year. But it's quite, it's different again. Musically. We've we've gone a little bit harder. I wouldn't. It's rockier, it's not like metal, but it's it's rockier. It's got a bit of a bit more of an edge to it.
Speaker 2:So what we, what we were thinking about doing, was just road testing these songs live, but doing it almost like secretly, so under a different name, so people don't know who it is. So we turn up and we play, but we would still give people the opportunity to come if they wanted to. So we would make an announcement that we're playing on this day in this place, but we wouldn't say who we're billed as, so it wouldn't be common knowledge on flyers, for example. So if people like fans wanted to come, they could still have the opportunity. But it just will be a little bit more of a secret type thing, just for just for the people that wanted to, wanted to really be there and hear those songs in the early stages of development, and that's also part of the songwriting process as well. Deborah is playing them live, because sometimes you play them live and you just get a very different reaction and you think, yeah, maybe we need to revisit that.
Speaker 2:So it's part of the before we go into the studio, we'd like to kind of give them a bit of a road test yeah, yeah, because I even have.
Speaker 1:I've had an indie artist, I've played their song. It's been mastered, and he's like on the phone, quick with me, like take it down, I need to redo it, it's not right, I so right. So even the live doing it, the live. I didn't even thought to think about that as well. It's like, yeah, it's just all different, so all right, but I like that. That's a whole nother marketing. Uh, you know, aspect of getting your music out there and new music and having you know people hear. People hear it not knowing it's you guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it you know it might generate a bit of interest, but another reason for it as well is that we used to be a four piece. Before we made the album, we made a decision to stay as a three piece. Oh okay, so we also want to just work out how we're going to play and what we can play as a three piece band.
Speaker 3:So that that's, that's part of it as well.
Speaker 2:It's just kind of working out very very different way of playing.
Speaker 3:Push you as a musician, because normally you've got somebody there like I used to play. Gab gab played guitar when we played live and sang at the same time. I'd fill in different bits and and it gives you a different sound. Obviously, as soon as you three piece, you've got to think differently about what you play, how you play and how it complements the song and how it drives the song, because you just sometimes don't have that. It's not a crutch but that security blanket of somebody there playing something.
Speaker 2:You're exposed.
Speaker 1:Yes, you're more exposed, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:The pithy answer yes, you're more exposed yeah. We like yeah, yeah, if the, if the answer yes, you're more exposed. Yeah, we like the idea of it. It's going to hopefully make us better musicians, better songwriters, because you have to get to the points a lot quicker yeah, absolutely you have to.
Speaker 2:You have to create a bigger wall of sound. Yeah, with one person, we're doing our best and yeah, yeah, I think you guys are doing something right, just saying it's challenging but, I think, we, I think, because I think, because we get on so well and we've got that history together, it'd be very difficult to bring someone new into the band that we've never met.
Speaker 1:At this point. Because we've got that friendship as well outside of the band and the chemistry yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's the chemistry, there's that kind of click between us, and I know that's not impossible. You know we're nice people.
Speaker 1:We're not going to bite someone's head off or whatever if they join. No, not straight away. Um, but you but you but you're in a rhythm, you're, you know, you balance each other. You, you probably know each other so well at this point that bringing back that fourth person, that would take time to get that person, if, if, that was even the right fit. So staying the three-piece and doing what you're doing now which is just awesome is you know, sounds like you're doing it right absolutely working well as a three-piece yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:That's good. So let me ask you mulatta carmony reviews and that's how we got connected. They are awesome over there and I have uh, I've been doing this now with them for I don't know, it's been a couple of couple of months, and that's how I, you know, I reached out to you and said, because of Melodic Harmony, I would love to interview you. And here we are, and did you submit your music to them or did they reach out to you? You?
Speaker 2:know, I can't remember. To be honest, I think we were on like an indie review show that's run by the EWL band oh yeah and and uh they it went down really well. That particular song went down really well on that show, um, which I was surprised at because the the bands they played before were quite heavy compared to us. So we're quite pop and indie but actually the audience really responded really well to it and I think from that I think that that's when the Melodic Harmony reviews.
Speaker 2:I can't remember if I contacted them I think they might have been watching on the night and they they dropped me a line to say send us, send us some tracks and things. So well, they had this, to be honest, it blows into water.
Speaker 1:I've done quite a few interviews in the last yeah, actually, on the review it says um, they randomly selected an album track so they he must sent maybe whatever, and they went ahead and went through, because I know they had a couple of songs listed and they've had this to say about dinky musical perfection, great vocals, flawless recording quality and pitch-perfect voice from Gavin.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'll take that and I have that written up on a poster.
Speaker 2:And just I don't know if you can pan your camera around. There's no one's holding a gun to your head at the moment. Could you just say my name's, deborah um, this comment was made by my own free will that's it, my own free will.
Speaker 1:Talking to melodic harmony. Um, yeah, no, they were just. Uh, you know they really enjoyed your music and so when I started listening to it it's like, well, absolutely Everything they had said about all of you is true from let's see where did we start at what? Danny on drums produces a flawless percussion section on the track, from the dramatic build into the introduction to the perfectly timed tom work over the verses, adding individuality and emotion to the song, with beautifully placed drum fills and empowered drumming in each chorus. This is a masterclass.
Speaker 2:Nice yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 3:He'd like that, He'd just grin at you actually, yeah he would. He'd just stand there and just grin. Oh my gosh, yeah, Isn't that fine.
Speaker 1:Lovely yeah, watching him in those videos. He is just, he is awesome, Absolutely yeah we love him. Yeah, yeah, Well, you're going to have to tell him I missed him. And then we got Gav on bass works in perfect harmony with his backline partner in crime, Danny, driving the track forward through the verses and operating almost as a solo rhythm section. Enter the chorus and the bass levels out the frequencies perfectly, providing a full body bass line and power.
Speaker 3:Take that Don't lick it up, take it and run like you stole it.
Speaker 1:And we've got Adam. Guitar creates the perfect riff for the intro, which is applied with moderate distortion and chorus effect to give an airy quality whilst maintaining clarity of the higher frequencies In the verses. The rhythm guitar is perfectly palm-muted, with mild distortion before bursting into life with the choruses opening up a full and rich guitar tone. In addition to the rich rhythm guitar and similar to the introduction, we have the return of the tinkling guitar tones completing the layers of this track to create the big sound. This melody gets fixed in your head due to catchiness and is used with precision during the breakdown before preparing us for the song's conclusion. I mean, come on.
Speaker 3:You guys are awesome. I'm not going to turn around and go. Well, I disagree. Yeah, no, I disagree with everything that you just said.
Speaker 2:I thought you were going to say and Adam.
Speaker 3:Maybe not, and Adam played some guitar. And Adam played guitar.
Speaker 2:Tell us about your new album.
Speaker 3:Sorry, Debra you get the vibe anyway, you guys yeah definitely.
Speaker 1:We like this on stage, yeah, but if you didn't have it, there wouldn't be dinky. I mean, you guys have to, you know, be what you are together to, you know, to create what you've, what you do with your music and for goodness sakes, but yeah, shout out to you guys. I mean, you're awesome, so why not? You know, pitch, perfect and, uh, the perfect riff and harmony and flawless percussions. You know, doesn't get better than that. Well, it does not.
Speaker 1:It does get better because then you get interviewed by me so I'm glad you agree with the uh review from a lot of carmony reviews. Oh, it's very nice, it's a very nice review. Yeah, so, between everything you do, how do you balance it all out? Do you? Do you take time off from it all? You've got your music, you've got the videos, you've got other jobs, home life, family life, or don't you have a life?
Speaker 3:bit of a bit of b how do I mean?
Speaker 2:I probably do something towards the band every single day, whether it's just a phone call or an email or something a little bit more. You know meaty, so I don't know. I don't really have any time off from the band.
Speaker 3:We were talking about it. I mean, you have the knowledge of certain things that you know. There's certain things I say, things I say, gab, I have no idea what you're doing. I don't know how you do that. I don't know how you do the stuff about the videos, about some other things he does, about pr and pushing, pushing, uh, some some of the tracks and the album. Now I that that's just a mystery to me, deborah, so I just go, gabby, is there anything I can do that supports it so he doesn't have to think about it?
Speaker 3:So, simple things like look, I'll give people a ring and say, right, I'll organise something we're going to do recently, which we were talking about with the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:And then I'll ring up about rehearsals or I'll sort something out about that. Or if there's something, let's face it, low level, not sort of up there as far as the creative aspects of it, is he listening, but it's listening, it's massively helpful, but not beginning up that sort of thing. So I'll do all the the mundane stuff around that so he can concentrate on the things that I just don't have the knowledge to help and support he can talk to me.
Speaker 2:As you can see, you know it's so, it's all feeding the machine, though it's all. You know those mundane things are are absolutely crucial, um, you know to, to galvanize me sometimes into just, you know, being up for a gig or rehearsal if it's a cold, wet night, or for example. You know what I mean. It's just it's, you know, it's just nice to have those little bits of sort of band admin that just yeah exactly yeah and I'm happy to do the other stuff as well.
Speaker 2:You know, it's, it's not, it's not, it's, it's, it's no bother at all. But yeah, I mean I don't really have any time off from it. But again, I get a lot of enjoyment out of doing, uh, the band because it, as Adam said, I also sort of direct and edit the videos as well. So I'm involved in lots of aspects of it, with the artwork and things like that. So it gives me lots of different ways of flexing those creative muscles and finding new things out, finding new art forms, new artists to connect with. So you know, for me it's, it's and you do very well.
Speaker 2:It's just very exploratory and I, you know, and I enjoy doing so, yeah, what like? Why not? It's not?
Speaker 1:it's not so. It's not a job. It's just part of you know who you are. Yeah, and it's all of you. And yeah, it's, it's, it's. It's not a job, it's just part of you know who you are. Yeah, all of you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's for the band you know it's about doing nice things for the band you know, and having something nice that we can all keep forever.
Speaker 1:Right, absolutely Do. You all live near each other.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, not too far oh that's nice, that makes it convenient Seven or eight mile radius.
Speaker 1:Yeah, easy to meet up. Yeah, a stone's throw, that's nothing in America is it? No Generating, all right. No, no, no. Oh, my goodness gracious, just around the corner. First full-length studio album was Falling Satellites, which was what year? 2015. 15.
Speaker 2:And then sophomore record was Open Letters 2019 that came out 19, 29. Okay, and then your third album will be Ghosts.
Speaker 2:Yes. So obviously it's taken a couple of years because of the whole COVID stuff, you know. So it took a little bit of time just to kind of get through that and get to a place where we could rehearse on a regular basis. But what was nice was, you know, I think we'd been writing lots of music during the pandemic. So when we actually came together we just had so many riffs and things and you know, I've got this and I've got that, and we just threw it all together and said let's make an album. So we spent about two years making this. But that that was sort of on and off, really going in and recording bits and then coming out and then trying other stuff so you go, you go into the studio, you go in the studio to do all your recording yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we worked with a producer, owen davis. Uh, loud noises production uh, owen has worked with us on our first two albums doing like the drum tracking. But uh, we've just worked. Owen's produced. The whole of this album is mixed. It mastered the whole thing. So we only work with the one producer this time around.
Speaker 2:But one of the things that we did was we went to a couple of other studios as we were making the album, to demo songs as well and just try out other things in studios. So, yeah, we, we, just we just spent quite a long period really of just kind of going in and out and trying different things and, like I said, that's how we worked out, how we knew what we wanted from the songs and how they should sit on the album and what was best for it. So, so it was just through that process of doing it really. So it has taken a little bit of time to get to that stage, but it'll be worth the wait. Exactly, I think this was the best thing that we've made as a band. I'm not just saying that as some kind of marketing thing.
Speaker 2:We personally think it is as a personal we think this is the best record we've made and we're thrilled if people could go and feel the same way, check it out, or you know or you know or find something on there that that resonates with them because I'm sure they will 15 pieces of music.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's oh my gosh, all very different it makes a difference.
Speaker 1:You take the time, uh, and time and energy and the thought process and pulling it all together I mean it does make a difference. Um, not that you know others rush through their music, but it there's a there's a difference when you know if you have the time, if you're able to, you know, have put the time and effort into your you know recordings and in the end results you know you're doing again.
Speaker 3:You're doing something right.
Speaker 2:I always said you know, I'm always happy to give my time up to do this because I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. But it always blows my mind how much uh, danny and adam give of their time and and their passion and their creativity. I appreciate that like every single day. I appreciate that you know they come with good positivity, is he? Is he listening?
Speaker 1:is he listening?
Speaker 2:he comes with a you know could they come with in the head it's getting bigger come with a lot of positivity and a lot of you know good ideas and just you know, just a good attitude towards it and there's no ego and it just makes it so much easier just to go and have fun and play music. I think that's the key and if you're having fun and you're all getting along, then exactly all those from that you will make good music, you will write good, you will make good videos and you know, like you said, you've just got to invest a bit of that time just to make something.
Speaker 1:And and after 13 years of being together, that's exactly what you are forging. Is this relationship not only, not only on that personal, but what you both, and all three of you all love to do, and that's your music yeah, and I think for some bands, you know that this album was something that we, we all, wanted to make so you know we like what?
Speaker 2:what's the? You know, after covid, it's like, what do we want to do? And everyone wanted to make an album. So, you know, after 13 years, it's like a marriage, isn't it, and you know? And albums are like our children and and the new album is by far our favorite child- there you go you're not supposed to say that but it is and it wasn't an album that we made to save our marriage. It was. It was an album that we, we planned and we wanted it came from.
Speaker 2:It came from the love of your marriage we sat down and we discussed it together and we felt that it was the right time to start working.
Speaker 1:Something new, so well I'm glad you did many, many evenings we spent.
Speaker 3:All I can say deborah is wow we spent.
Speaker 2:We spent many evenings together making this beautiful too much, too much.
Speaker 3:Next question.
Speaker 1:Next question I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Let me ask this, since we're on talking about good marriages this is why I do this on my own what's the worst that can happen.
Speaker 1:What's the worst?
Speaker 3:deb's got it all on tape good this is what we like.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. So. So, speaking of your great relationship, what's been the most?
Speaker 2:memorable moment of dinky memorable moment moment Favorite, memorable moment Of dinky Making this. Yeah, this has been great.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh, I loved every minute of that. Yeah, didn't mean I didn't enjoy Doing the other albums, but there were, it was just so much fun. Yeah, the tracks just sounded so much better.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:All of them together Do you remember when we sat down and actually wrote out what order, yeah, we were going to go in. We came around here and we just went da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, and both looked and went yep, done. Normally you can spend hours going over what order the tracks are. If we were that in tune and that together, as far as this album's concerned, it just felt right, right, yeah, that's the only way I can describe it. We're just just just on tune all the way on, on, you know, on message all the way through.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's brilliant, it was great my, my favorite moment not necessarily one moment, but it's moments, uh, but it's probably the, the music videos that we've been making over the last eight months. Um, so we've made four, but we haven't released two of them yet okay they're still coming out later in the year, but we have had just just an incredible amount of fun making videos and just doing some really experimental stuff.
Speaker 2:I've just loved it. I've loved every minute of it. I've loved all of the the organizing, the planning that you know, filming it and then the editing as well.
Speaker 2:It's been wonderful and lots of people have really reacted really positively about the videos and we did an interview a couple of days ago for a radio station in the UK and the guy said that he kind of looks forward to our videos more than the music because it's like like video first and then I can't wait to listen to your music after the video, like the go-to thing first.
Speaker 2:And I just thought that was really interesting because a lot of us just don't really bother with the visual side of it, but I think we spend a lot of time looking after the visual side of it. But it's been amazing. I've loved every minute of doing those videos and we've got those videos to keep forever. So those are moments that you know. We've captured those moments Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And I just think with your videos, you just have a different approach to them from other. I mean, I've watched a lot of music videos and they've all been wonderful in their own right. But watching yours and just thinking about, well, what was that concept behind those videos? Where did you come up with those ideas? Who thought of let's do paintball for this video? Who thought about you know? So I am like really excited and I can't wait for the next two videos. So if there's a chance that I could like sneak peek them, I send them my way.
Speaker 2:I'm sure we could do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so yeah, no, that's a great memory. I like both of those Because the other, just going back to Adam and putting your songs in the order that you wanted to put them in, there's reasons. There's that that there's a flow to any album. You just don't randomly, you know, pick a song and throw it into a slot, right, and I don't. I don't know if everybody knows that. I didn't know that for a long time. I didn't know that for a long time, that you know there's a, there is a whole thought process just for that. Where is this song going to lead from your beginning, your middle and your end? Because it tells a story.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I'm old enough to remember vinyl, so it was very much side one and side two. So you know it. It, it to happen, yeah right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I vaguely remember them.
Speaker 3:but yeah, Of course you do.
Speaker 2:I don't know what you're talking about. Of course you do. Of course you do.
Speaker 3:I'm just talking to anybody sort of above a certain age, of which you two are neither a side A and a side B, and you tend to try and think I still think in that sort of way, whether you think of that sort of way because it's about vinyl and side A and side B, or whether you look at a list of tracks and have that ebb and flow that needs to be accomplished in the way that you arrange the tracks. It's the same sort of process, isn't it really? And it just came so easy.
Speaker 2:I was worried because we had 15 songs and I thought, well, how do you make those 15 songs which are quite different? Because we're a multi-genre band, you know we don't stick to a specific genre, you know. So how do you make all of that fit, you know, make it coherent?
Speaker 3:So with three people with their own ideas.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You're going to have some fallout?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, and I think potentially we thought you're gonna have some fallout yeah, definitely, and I think potentially we thought that it would be really difficult and it actually just was.
Speaker 3:You know, I think it's the first order that we had. Yeah, yeah, adam said it went smoothly. We kept within.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah surprising and it still works. Now you know I still I don't listen back and think, oh, maybe we could have moved that one or something. It feels like it all just fits well somehow.
Speaker 1:I don't know the science but, it's well, for us anyway yeah, well, there you go and that's what you know, that's what works and it has worked well. So one of the questions I had on the list that I'm going to ask but I already know the answer it was is there ever been a time when you just wanted all to uh, throw in the towel and quit the band? But talking to you, you know, before I started the recording and we, prior to you, know, and and during this conversation, there's, there's no way you guys are ever call it quits.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think there was really. There was never, really a time that it's no, just always just done it.
Speaker 3:It's too much fun. It's just been a thing that we've done and, like you said, you know it's all.
Speaker 2:It's accommodating for everyone and we're respectful that obviously people have got lives outside of this as well. So there's no pressure on anyone to to do anything or or be anywhere or or whatever. You know, it's just um, it's just a nice thing that we do and we make the time for it and um so no, I've, I've never really had a period.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've had periods where it's just, you know, I think over Covid, where it was difficult and oh well, yeah, play live, and you can't do this and you can't meet up for anything, and I think that that felt, um, that was frustrating, I think more than more than anything, but I don't know.
Speaker 3:I mean like at the moment we're just yeah and I don't.
Speaker 1:And I haven't gotten that feeling right from the beginning when we first started speaking um, that you know you two are so cohesive and balanced with each other that I don't I yeah, I mean I'm sure we you know you get frustrated as any marriage you get frustrated.
Speaker 1:Well, let me ask you this because you are together for 13 or over 13 years and you do all you know, the three of you balance each other out. What advice would you give to another indie artist, either solo or band, starting out to have this longevity? Don't give up, Don't stop.
Speaker 3:No matter how many times life throws things at you, if you want to do it and it's fun, keep on doing it. Yeah, and if you have a natural talent or not, a talent for just playing guitar, enjoying it, and the tunes will come and eventually it will come good at some point. It's just the tenacity to stick at it. It's easy to say, oh, 100% difficult to accomplish. But I know it's not rocket science, I know it's not a clever thing, but just stick at it, keep going. And whether you do it when you're 17 or when you come back to it, the door's never shut. Once you open that door to music and playing a musical instrument, whether you give it 30 years before you pick it up again, that door is never shut. You've got to keep on going and keep on doing it. Sorry, it's not going to change the world, but that's not what it's all about on occasions with certain things like this, it's a truism, it's it's.
Speaker 2:It's what happened. I think my advice would just be for anyone either starting up or whatever, like you said, or coming back to it just make sure you're in the band with like similar minded people. You know, I think the people people's, for me the people make the band first and then the music comes after. You know, if you're in a rehearsal room and there's there's tensions and there's egos, it's never going to really last. You know, you might have a year or two, but eventually people are going to get bored and want to do something else painful I'd say you know find like-minded people.
Speaker 2:You know, start off with your friends. If you're starting off, whatever and and yeah, and like you said, just keep at it, just keep playing, keep writing and just and be happy, just, you know. And if it's not working out for you, then move on to something else. You know, find a, find another group of people to play with, or something, and eventually you'll find the people that you'll click with and then you'll start writing really great songs and you'll have a good time, you know and then and then you'll be making albums with 15 tracks.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you've just got to be smashing things up.
Speaker 2:You've got to build that relationship. I mean, we've joked about it in the past where they said that like the band is like a cult um. So you know, part all these paintings. This is the um, it's just, it's initiation. That's what the paint video is. I didn't like I didn't want to make a video where I had to walk across hot coals whilst I paddled them, you know, yeah, stop, stop, stop.
Speaker 1:Go with the go with the go with the. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:We've nearly got there.
Speaker 1:That's why I can't wait to see these next two music videos. Look at I and I was in them. Oh, my goodness gracious, oh yeah. And now that I've talked to you for a few minutes, just I, just I can't, I really can't wait, because your minds are, just are so creative and a little bit out there which just makes it all that much better, oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:Is that a compliment? Is that a?
Speaker 1:compliment. Oh yes, it was Sorry Good. Note to self. Make sure I say oh my God. Note to self, make sure I say oh my god. So your website. One other thing I wanted to talk about because I think your website is great. You, um, you take the time to inform your fans, um, with news and a blog, and the videos and the music, but you update it consistently.
Speaker 2:it's just not, it's not outdated, because I've been checking it, I've been checking I think, I think I really hate it when you visit websites and they just look old. Even you know when they haven't been. You can see that they haven't been updated and you think you know, every two months, just to write a very quick blog post hey, we've just done this. It doesn't have to be a big thing, it's just checking in with people and if someone's new to the band and they've just discovered you and they go to your website, I like them to get the impression that this is an active place to come to, so I can come back here again. Uh, you know, and I might find something else. Yeah, and so we're talking about building up some of the pages a little bit more to celebrate some of the older music we've done, maybe share more photos or videos and things that'd be awesome, yeah, um, yeah, I just I just like you know you haven't got to spend a lot of time on it.
Speaker 2:You know it's just something that every couple of months, I like to just think, well, have we got anything important or exciting to say or share with people? And um, a couple of sentences, you know, nice relaxed format. I think it's important just to have that on there, you know? Yeah, as I said, I just want people to know that it's um. I think that's why I date the blogs as well, so people can see that it's um. It is. It is, like I said, a page that's updated on a regular basis yeah, it makes a difference.
Speaker 1:I, I try to do it. I'm not as faithful as you um with with the website. Uh, people, especially for you, for musicians, if you have the website, uh, it does make it, make you know what. What were you going to be? What's, what's the music coming up? Can I listen to you and watch one of your wonderful music videos?
Speaker 2:you know so you got all that from your website it's a hub for people to go to rather than giving everybody, everybody all of the the links and social media. It's all on the website. So people go to the website. They can literally navigate to buy our music listen to it. You know it's, that's, that's what it's for really it's designed for that, and there's other things on there that you know behind the scenes videos and things as well that we put on there.
Speaker 1:So yeah, there's loads, loads of stuff, yeah so let everybody know where they can find you social media, the website address, etc.
Speaker 2:Etc so, uh, so website is dinky hyphen musiccouk. We're probably a bit more active on instagram, so we're at dinky music on instagram and at dinky music official on youtube. Obviously, we've spoke a lot about videos. If people are watching and they'd like to find out a bit more, just type in dinky music official into youtube and you'll find us on there. I don't really know how people find us on spotify, but I think if you just did a search for dinky dinky or something, I mean a few things will come up, but we'll probably be on there somewhere as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh no, you are okay, absolutely. Oh, my gosh, is there anything else that I haven't touched on that you'd like to share with everybody?
Speaker 3:um, not not from me not really, I think.
Speaker 2:I mean just to say that you know, if, um, if people are curious about us, I think now's a good time to to kind of get on the dinky train, because we've got a lot of um.
Speaker 2:Uh, we've got a lot, lots of things in the pipeline, including another album next year which is going to be a compilation album of live recordings and demos and things, alternative versions of songs, so there's some really exciting stuff in there. There will be some new music on that that people haven't heard as well. And we're also developing a podcast series for later in the year, which will be a youtube podcast series, uh, which is going to be looking at how we've made our music videos for this album, uh, so we're doing four episodes with the the camera guy who's going to come down, and we're going to be sharing lots of behind the scenes stories and footage from those videos, how they came about, you know, and so that's, that's all to come this year and, as I say, we're working on some new music as well. So you know again, possibility of some secret shows and a new EP, possibly a new album next year. So there's an enormous amount of stuff going on at the moment, so a really good time to kind of get on board.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome. I have to get my passport updated and make a trip to England. Well, my grandmother was from Ireland, so I still have yet to get over there. So one of these years I'm going to pop in Absolutely Adam Gavin, danny, who's not here. Thank you so much for joining me today. I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. As I know all the listeners will enjoy this as well. I wish you all the best and continued success in your band, dinky.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much, Debra Take care You're welcome.
