Australian musical double acts are all the rage right now thanks to Royel Otis, and Adelaide’s TOWNS are hoping to be the next duo to make it big from Down Under. A good first step is playing at BIGSOUND, which TOWNS – made up of Aston and Dan – will do this week, eager to prove why Between You & Me took them around the country on tour.
Stella Bridie will also be at BIGSOUND 2024. She might only be a solo act, but her songs are no less powerful, and her potential no less limitless.
“Stella’s uniquely authentic songwriting compels even the most irony-poisoned among the crowd,” BIGSOUND’s bio reads, which nicely sums up the singer-songwriter’s tender songs.
On the surface TOWNS and Bridie might seem very different, but they enjoyed a fun-filled chat for Tone Deaf ahead of their trip to BIGSOUND.
Read their full conversation below.
Those attending BIGSOUND this week can catch Bridie at The Outpost tonight (September 4th) at 10:15pm local time, while TOWNS play at the same time at Soapbox Beer.
Stella Bridie Meets TOWNS:
Stella (S): Are you guys on the move or are you stationary right now?
Dan (D): Well, we are driving right now, but you don’t have to look at the road the whole time. You kind of just guess.
S: Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.
Aston (A): We’ve been waiting – we landed at like 9 this morning and obviously you can’t check into accommodation until 2, so we’ve just been…
D: Loitering.
A: Loitering.
D: We’re tired. We had Banh Mi.
S: Nice. So, the first thing I was gonna ask is – because I feel like pop-punk kind of sits in both the really earnest and really ironic spaces. So, if zero is earnest and 10 is ironic, where do you think you guys sit?
A: Oh my god.
D: Hey, I’m not gonna lie, I don’t even know.
A: I feel like we have our earnest songs, but I think we’re superbly aware of how, like, ironic… but the annoying thing is, I think we have planned our irony. I think we’re just aware of it. There’s definitely songs where we’re like, a bit more playful and we’re leaning into it a little bit.
D: The label’s been smacked on so many times.
A: I’m gonna say 49% irony and then 51% earnest.
D: That was a great question.
S: Thank you! I’m a big question asker in our friend group so I’ve got them all lined up.
A: Oh, that’s so exciting.
D: Amazing.Our questions are gonna look like doggy doo do now.
S: I’m ready.
D: What’s the last thing that changed your mindset and inspired you?
S: Oh, that’s a great question. This is sort of random but I watched Roman Holiday for the first time a little while ago. And the last five minutes of it is massively devastating.I don’t know if either of you have ever seen it, but it’s a real classic that I’ve just avoided until now. And it’s such a devastatingly anti-romantic choice at the end where… I don’t know, it’s just like a very devastating ending. I guess I was very inspired by the capacity for them to make the choice to not have the easy ending happen and not have the satisfying ending happen. So yeah, I’ve been thinking a lot about not choosing the more satisfying thing and choosing the thing that people might get up in arms about a bit more, like just creatively.
A: That’s really cool.
D: Yeah, that’s sick.
A: I’ve only heard a song called “Roman Holiday” but I haven’t seen a movie.
S: Yeah, classic.
D: I definitely rewatched a few classics that I forgot about growing up or had never watched and they still hit… they’re classics for a reason.
S: Totally. If you got your hands on the aux in the Australian Senate Chamber, what’s the first thing you’re gonna put on?
A: Maybe “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
D: Yeah.
A: I don’t know, a simple message to bring it right back. Get rid of the complications in that room.
D: Yeah.
D: My brain just kept going “Yeah, [Charli XCX song] ‘360.’”
S: Yeah.
D: “360” by Charli XCX. Yeah, put that one on.
A: We’re gonna hit you with question two now.
D: We were just listening to “He Didn’t Mean It” in the car and I love all those big squealing noises. We’re so excited for BIGSOUND. We’re so excited to see you play as well. What is the ‘biggest sound’ you have ever heard in your life?
S: Oh, huge. Ok. So, I have tinnitus. So I’ve heard clearly some real big sounds in my life because something’s gone fucked in here.
A/D: Whoa.
S: One time at a show, someone’s amp, the guitarist’s amp, didn’t split but there was a crack in the back, I guess. And it kind of broke apart and created this horrible shriek at this festival set playing to like four or five people. And I was like right in the front because, I guess, I was a kid and I was super keen to be right up there anyway. And I just remember feeling like I could, like, taste the sound. It was crazy. So, in a literal sense, that’s the biggest sound I’ve ever heard. And now the biggest sound I hear is with me all the time.
A: Damn.
A: That sucks. I know tinnitus, I get the feeling…
S: Chris Martin has it, apparently.
A: I’ve got it but I don’t want to admit it… but I lay in bed some nights and I just hear ringing.
D: There you go then.
A: I think I have it. Yeah, I’ve got it.
D: I actually had it years ago.
A: He gave it to me, actually.
S: So your latest single was “l8tley” – congratulations. Very exciting, and I want to know, if you had to assign it (the song) eldest child, middle child, youngest, or only child status, where do you think it fits?
D: Oh, that’s so good.
A: I think, for me, I would give it [to] middle child.
D: Yeah, same.
A: The reasoning being, we like the song but I don’t think for us it was initially a single that we thought we wanted to put out. I guess the theory is the middle child’s forgotten about, right?
S: Yeah, like the quiet underachiever.
A: Yeah… that’s how I would put it… and I’m an only child so that probably doesn’t help my perception of siblings.
S: No, I think that’s good!
A: Right?!
D: Great question though. That’s what I say.
A: All right. Our next question is probably pretty similar to your question before. But have you been to Fortitude Valley?
S: I actually haven’t. I’ve been to Brisbane but not Fortitude Valley.
A: Ok, all right, let’s make it broader. Obviously, we’re going to BIGSOUND. It’s in the Valley predominantly, and we were gonna ask you to give the Valley a soundtrack because it’s quite a place. But maybe if you could just give Brisbane a soundtrack. Like a theme song.
S: Oh god. Ok. That’s hard but good. I feel like I have to kind of lean in because I’m not a warm weather person. I have to kind of fight my instincts against it.
D: I reckon like The Go-Betweens’ “Streets of Your Town”… I keep getting [that] in my head.
S: Yeah!
A: Powderfinger as well because they’re from here.
S: Well, you know what I was gonna say because massive respect to Brisbane, but my experience of it has always been really lovely in the day and then a bit rowdy at night. So maybe it’s like “If It Wasn’t for the Nights” [by] ABBA, you know? I could handle it if it weren’t for after 3pm.
A: Aw, true!
D: Yeah, nice!
S: That’s my call I reckon.
D: Good choice, well done.
A: That’s a great call, that’s cool.
D: Well done. That’ll be our theme song for tonight.
S: No disrespect, Brisbane. Love you. It’s just, you know, it’s scary.
A: Nah, no disrespect to Brisbane, but you’re too hot and you’re scary at night. That’s it.
S: I don’t know. It is what it is.
A: That’s fair. It’s not their fault. Well, thanks so much for the chat.
S: Yeah, you guys too! Alright. Well, go check in early with old mate.
A: See you in a few weeks.
S: Yeah. See you then!
