Destroy Boys Make Their Australian Tour Debut At Good Things

Punk rock might have been the force that brought Destroy Boys together, but it’s far from the only touchstone for their music. From their first record through the beginnings of their fourth, they have continued to write and sing about what they know. School drama and elitist cliques encountered in their teens have given way to the pain of relationships and the inherent feelings of misunderstanding and isolation that is all too common for young people navigating a hybrid of physical and digital worlds.

Having played festivals such Coachella, Slam Dunk Fest in Ireland, Roskilde, SBAM! and Sziget as well as playing headline shows in UK and Europe it is now Australia’s turn making their tour debut playing Good Things Festivals as well as their own headline shows with Alex Lahey playing tunes from their new album Funeral Soundtrack #4. Rob Lyon talks to Violet Mayugba about their debut Australian tour.

First time touring Australia and playing Good Things, are you excited?
Yeah, I cannot wait. We’ve never been over there, so it’s going to be such a great run of shows. We’re so lucky. We’re really excited.

Is that even more exciting hitting a new region such as Australia for the very first time as well?
Yeah, I mean it’s such a different part of the world compared to where we’re from in California, you know, the US, we’re thrilled for real!

Have you heard much about Australia and Australian fans and what you might expect when you get here?
I heard they’re super rowdy, which is exactly our style, so we’re stoked for that.

Are there any bands on the bill that really excite you?
Korn! I love Korn! That’s going to be awesome.

Do you approach playing festivals any differently than your own club shows, or you just go hammer and tong anyway?
We always try to make every show that we play the best show that we have ever played. Obviously, circumstances at festivals are a lot different than the ones that our headline shows, but when we go in we try to play the quote unquote hits, get in there, get out. So, just leave the people that haven’t seen us before with the best possible impression of us.

Touring with the awesome Alex Lahey will be great, do you know her well?
Uh, no. We’re actually going to be meeting her for the first time at these shows, but we’re huge fans of her music, so it works out perfectly and we’re just so lucky to be able to be doing shows with her down under there.

Are you focusing mostly on the new album Funeral Soundtrack #4 on this Australian run or are you looking to sort of take fans back through the back catalogue as well?
We’re definitely doing a range of everything. You know, like it’d be fun, of course, like every band always wants to play like the whole new record, but we know that our fans would appreciate more of a range in discography, so we’re going to play everything and no matter what we play, it’s fun no matter what.

Have you been really stoked with how the album has been received by fans?
The album has been received super well. I think we have a really great fan base in the way that they’re open to new things and we definitely went in different direction and they were super receptive to that, so we’re very lucky in that respect.

How did the collaboration with Mannequin Pussy and Scowl come about?
Well, we’re friends with both of them. I think our third US tour ever was actually with Mannequin Pussy. Then Scowl, we took them on their first US tour and they’re great friends of ours. So, we were like, why not write a song that demonstrates these problems that we’ve dealt with before, deal with and have dealt with in the past from the perspective of three powerhouses of non-male voices in the music scene right now.

Are there any more collaborations planned for the next album?
Yeah, I mean, obviously we love writing our own songs, but it’s so fun and we had such a good time recording with Missy and Kat that it just made it so much more fun, and we’ll keep doing that in the future for sure.

Do you have anyone in mind or a bucket list for potential collaborations?
We went on tour with Pierce The Veil, so doing something with Vic would be really fun. Doing something with the guys from Blink, the list is endless. I love all the people that we’ve been on tour with all the time, so just doing anything with any of those bands would be amazing.

Was the making of Funeral Soundtrack #4 something that challenged the band?
It took a really long time to make it. I would say that was the biggest like, quote unquote drama, was how long it actually took to create the record. But besides that, it was just a really intensive songwriting process. We focused on every single tiny little portion of each of the songs and really tried to develop it to be the best that it could be. So, it was way more focused I would say.

When you are that invested in these songs was it hard letting them go?
Yeah, I feel like a lot of bands would also say that they never feel like the record is really done. As soon as you send it off to mastering or to the label to get printed, you’re like, oh, I could have done this or taken this out or put this thing in. But you know, that’s the beauty of releasing something is you can just do that on the next one.

Did you enjoy listening to the album start to end for the first time when it was finished or is that difficult to do?
I am really proud of how it came out regardless, so I don’t think it makes it necessarily difficult to listen to the record. I don’t really listen to our own music because I’m really hard on myself, so I try not to listen to it because like you said, I’ll go in and start criticising certain things that I could have done. Playing the songs live is when I get to really listen to the music and I like to appreciate it that way.

Are there any ideas floating around for album number five or is it just too early?
You could say that! You could say that, yeah!

Do you get to go in tourist mode while you are here and are there any Aussie experiences you are keen to have?
I was going to say, I love animals, so I want to do all the Australian animal experiences. I would love to see the water, I would love to see the ocean. I would love to go swimming in the ocean, but I don’t know if that’s the best idea because you guys have some weird stuff going on in there.

Do you mean sharks?
Yeah, sharks, salt water crocs, like no thank you. I’m okay!

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Destroy Boys at Good Things Festivals on the following dates, tickets HERE…

And the following headline shows, tickets HERE…