Dom Dolla’s Counting the Beats
How was the crowd in Barcelona and London?
Dom Dolla— I think it's really exciting. The shows are selling out really fast. I feel like this tour has been a real tipping point. The energy's crazy. We're doing really big rooms and venues and yeah, it feels amazing. Arriving in Europe — coming off the energy of the big American shows — it was a big contrast. Now, not so much. It's almost like the preparation and energy that I put into every single one of my shows is being rewarded across the board and rewarding for me personally. It’s fun because I get to play a slightly different style in Europe than I would in the United States.
How does your style shift when you're playing European shows?
I think stylistically, there's more of a heritage based around house and techno here, so I know people often come to my shows to hear the records that I've written, but I think you get to be a bit more adventurous and people are open to a bit more sort of — I don't know, there are a lot of like crate diggers in the crowd similar to me as a DJ. You see people like shazaming stuff and not to say that doesn't happen in America. It’s really exciting. As well, like the drums in UK and European shows have to be more constant, you can’t really have big breaks. They don’t translate as well. I like to keep people constantly moving, whereas in the US, there’s a lot more space for big euphoric breakdowns… people singing their hearts out, maybe that’s something to do with language barriers as well.
What keeps you energized?
For me, it's all about contrast, so if I've been playing a bunch of shows that are in one style for a couple of weeks, I'm like, Oh, I can't wait to do something a little different. So, you know, darting from America to perform in a different environment in Europe is really refreshing.That keeps it exciting for me as a performer and keeps the narrative exciting for people following online through social media. If you’re doing the same thing and playing the same shows in the same cities all the time, people will find it boring.
You've also had a great year with singles. How are you feeling after dropping “Saving Up”?
I'm very excited. I think for me, it's a bit different to what I’ve normally been writing recently. I can get bored in the studio quite easily and for this record, I drew from more of a Euro disco influence. It’s got this Euro offbeat baseline, the sort of heritage of old school disco sound, which I've never done before. So I'm just over the moon that everyone's still connecting to it on the same level to my other tracks.
I feel like it still sounds like me — my hooks and melodies always kind of shine through — but I was honestly quite nervous. I finished the record probably 12 months ago, and my record label was like, “Why aren't you playing it in your sets?” And I'm like, “Oh, it's hard to work in because I don't know whether it's something that people are necessarily expecting from me.” So, I'm just honestly feeling part elation and part relief.
Did you end up popping it into your set out in London?
I did, I did and the best thing was that the audience sang along to every word. It was amazing.
That’s great. You wrote it in the UK last year, right?
I did, yeah. I wrote it down in Brighton. I went there with some friends and the studio was in front of where Fat Boy Slim threw that Brighton Beach rave 20 odd years ago. I've watched that video of him throwing that rave 100 times. I walked out of the studio, looked at the beach and was like, “Oh my God, I've got to write something with an influence that I feel has that UK heritage to it.” I love writing records on my own, but I recorded “Saving Up” with Clementine Douglas, Caitlin Stubbs, and Toby Scott. We were honestly just sitting in the studio drinking coffees, then that became beers and I started singing them ad libs then we all started spitballing ideas. It was a lot of fun. I don’t normally collaborate in that way for club music. It was a fun way to do it.
Do you ever see yourself releasing a bigger project?
Yeah, well I’ve never done an album. I’ve only ever really done singles and if I have done anything bigger than a single, it's just been like a remix pack. I'd love to work on an album but I'm really enjoying doing it single by single. I feel like it allows the opportunity for people to focus on the records that you want them to focus on because in this day and age, it's very easy for people to expect more very quickly and then at that point you’re competing with all of Spotify.
I’d rather be like, Here, I want you guys to listen to this one. If it bombs then all right, cool, Here’s another one.
Do you feel like you have more freedom to experiment when you’re not trying to fit 15 songs into one project?
Definitely. I'm not so concerned about everything being cohesive. I feel like my favorite albums are ones that you can set and forget that you put them on, almost like an aesthetic or mood. Whereas, with a dance album, I’d want that sonic cohesion; something like an LP that you could put on a record player, press play and be like, Yep, this is the move.
Is there something in particular you’d attribute your success to this year?
I would say I've worked pretty hard. I think I've really found my stride in the studio, in terms of what the Dom Dolla sound stands for stylistically. I feel like that sound also sort of crossed into the zeitgeist of American dance music culture. The whole EDM / Big Room movement has kind of ended and the house techno stuff has risen to the eyeline of the general population.
I've also upped the frequency in which I release music, touring a lot, getting out in front of a lot of audiences. It's such a competitive space these days. You know, I think we live in an attention economy where people can be looking at a million different realities at any given moment and if you want to get people's attention, you've really gotta be making a lot of noise.
Has relevance impacted your career in some way, do you feel more of a pressure to up the ante?
I think it's about consistency. It’s almost like the way people can consume media now, everything’s a TV show. So if they can flick on your TV show on Spotify, on Facebook, on Instagram or whatever, and they know that there's going to be consistent stuff coming their way and you're going to be able to provide value for them consistently, they're more likely to pay attention. I don't think it necessarily has to be loud or it has to be particularly outrageous. People just have to connect with what you’re saying in a way they understand.
I was reading this study about the idea of modern and old school celebrity in the context of the attention economy. It said that back in like the ‘50s and ‘60s up until the ‘00s, everyone knew who you were talking about in the context of, let's say movie stars — like Brad Pitt or George Clooney — because there were new phones so everyone was watching the same movies. Same with music, everyone was listening to the same bands.
Now there’s so much, there are often bands on festival lineups that I’ve never heard of and I go and chase them down and I’m like, Oh my God, this is amazing. And many have such big fan bases. There’s just so much out there and you can pay attention to whatever you choose now. Being consistent with an audience is probably the most important part.
Yeah, that’s a great point. How do you keep your sound unique as more and more people move into and explore making house music?
As being a producer becomes more accessible and easier because of all the tools that exist out there, whether it's Splice or whatever else, I feel like that comes with a sense of, It’s fine, I’ll put it out there and see what happens. Whereas I’m a bit more like, It’s not ready yet. I remain pretty hard on myself, and will keep at it until I feel really good about it.
That makes sense. You’re playing Spilt Milk and Lost Paradise later this year. Is there anything special to you about playing these homebound shows?
I think I can relate the most to the audience — being an Australian having grown up there. I understand my home country the most, you know, and I feel like they relate to me most. Spending the whole year overseas, really flying the Australian flag and being quite proud to represent Australian dance music culture, makes it special. I just did my essential mix for BBC radio last week and tried to fit in as many Australian artists as I possibly could.
When I come home, it's such an amazing reaction, especially in my hometown of Melbourne. I've got some hometown shows coming up in December and I'm so excited for them. It's gonna be quite an emotional event I feel, especially how big the shows are, how quickly they sold and how many friends and relatives that plan on coming out. We'll see how they turn out.
Nice, man. I hope it turns out well. Your next is on the 13th in Scotland right?
Yeah coming up this weekend. My heritage is actually Scottish, my grandparents and such, but I've never been to Scotland before.
Are you prepping anything special?
Honestly. The first time I go to a country it's more about consumption for me and figuring out what makes them tick. In terms of a DJ set, I’m just going to keep an open mind and be ready to switch things up at any given moment so I'll probably prepare a few directions I can take the set just in case things go belly up.
How long does it take before you have a good read on a crowd?
I've been a DJ since I was like 13 or 14 and I’ve learned that you've gotta be ready for anything in the space of like 30 seconds. It’s kind of different now, like when I was just a DJ and didn’t have any of my own music, my job was literally to keep people on the dance floor and if too many people wandered off to grab a drink at the same time, it was like I lost the whole thing.
I'm lucky enough now that a large portion of the audience are there to listen to and enjoy my music. But, the trick is to always have one of the CDJs ready to go at any time. A secret weapon, something that you know is going to translate really well if you start to lose them, but I'm keeping an open mind. You never know they could fucking hate me [laughs].
