Introducing #287 - DBA!
Let us introduce you to Liverpool newcomers DBA! - who have just announced their debut EP ' skip! worried', which is due out on the 26th April.
Formed in Merseyside in 2024, DBA! have emerged as an urgent guitar band noted for their unique chemistry and influences such as Eels, Beck, and Elastica. Debut single ‘sinkorswim’ arrived late last year and received strong support on BBC 6 Music, where it scored an impressive 8/10 on Huw Stephen’s Roundtable where the panel had high praise, such as “definitely walking out of here with a new favourite band” - Abbie McCarthy. The track was chosen as Emily Pilbeam’s BBC Introducing Track of the Week, stating “It's a solid debut single which has me itching for more” and was featured on Craig Charles’ daytime show.
Continuing to evolve their sound in their newest offering, ‘Whisky’ showcases the group’s raucous guitar riffs and introspective lyricism, exploring themes of personal struggle and renewal and offering an even more concise and aggressive sound. The single release will also be followed by a string of live dates, before the band head out on a summer festival run following April’s debut EP release.
They took a moment to took a moment to talk to us about the new track and their plans for the future.
Hey there DBA! - how are you? So your track ‘Whisky’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about?
Hey! All good here thanks, hope all is well with you. Yeah our new single Whisky is out now. It’s about addiction, escape and the sick wrongful sort of freedom that comes from wallowing in your own shit. t’s a kinda messy and cathartic amalgamation of emotions I guess and I suppose when I wrote it I was in a much darker place than I am now.
Where are you from and what are your favourite things to do there?
We’re based in Liverpool, we love to hang out at the Kazimier Stockroom, Quarry or Commune - you’re always likely to see a good band playing in those places. Love to play some pool at Rileys.
What are the key influences when it comes to your music?
I find artists who’s work gives you a feeling like you’ve just intruded on something messy and fractured to be the most inspiring. Artists such as Sparklehorse, Silver Jews, Daniel Johnston, The Fall, The Raincoats to name a few. Having said that though, I think the band has quite an eclectic set of influences for each of us, with us kinda loving anything with a raw and honest temperament at the heart of the tune.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
I find this question to be really difficult to answer as I’m sure most artists do. I’d say DBA! sound a bit like a rock and roll band stuck in a cage, emotionally strained, where life is persistently launching guitars and cymbals at us, and we’re just trying to make sense of it all. We are kinda pop traditonalists in the sense that the song revolves around a lyric and a melody, and I suppose there is shades of 90s-esque guitar sounds, sometimes maybe similar to Beck, Blur and Elastica, or maybe you’ll hear a Sonic Youth type energy with a lot of purposeful noise. Yeah I’m not the best at this question, so please do go have a listen and let me know a better way of describing it. I don’t get this genre thing, the kinda post-bedroom-industrial-shoegaze-impressionistic-pop playlists that Spotify throws at you nowadays, I just don’t really understand the categorising of tunes. I mean that from a genuine confusion, not a kinda moody type way of answering things. If someone asks in the pub, I’d say we are a guitar band, rooted in rock and roll. We like the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, that kinda thing.
Now the track is out there - what next for you?
In the immediate future we will be releasing our EP skip! Worried on April 29th, that includes our first two singles and 3 other tracks. We hope to have a string of live dates to announce soon, and to get back stuck into recording an album before the year is out
