The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Don Broco’s return to Australia! The hyped UK band released an incredible album, Amazing Things, in 2021, and in May you can see them live for the first time in five years.
We called up frontman Rob Damiani for an excited chat about their return to Australia, their experience playing with an orchestra and choir at the Royal Albert Hall, and how they cultivated a huge international fan base.
You’re finally coming back to Australia! You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this for the last five years, so that was the best valentine’s gift ever. THANK YOU!
Rob: [Laughs] It's quite nice finding a day where you can do something a little bit different with the announcements. So we were pleased when got the idea through for Valentine's Day.
You’ve honestly played so many live shows since Amazing Things came out in 2021, and you have so many hits on that album too. Do you have a sneaky favourite to play?
It's tough. There are a few that we’re into, like we kind of wrote a lot of the songs on the album for the live show. That was one thing we learned from our previous record Technology. It was the first time we'd really kind of thought about that and we wanted to do that again and really just create songs that we were gonna have fun playing the crowd, and were gonna go nuts to.
So we kind of had an inkling that ‘Gum Shield’ would go down like crazy. But I think probably my favourite is ‘Bruce Willis’. Mm-hmm. We would just get really, really hyped for that song, which is fun.
Tell me that playing at the Royal Albert Hall for 2022 Teenage Cancer Trust with an orchestra and a choir was one of your favourite things to do live.
Oh yeah, I mean that was amazing. That was one of the best things we've ever done as a band. It was just incredible just walking out on that stage. I mean, just the history of the venue alone, even if we hadn't had the orchestra, it was just massively just humbling and exciting and nuts.
But the orchestra was so good. It was after that we were like we need to do this every album, or just write an album with an orchestra. That'd be cool. Yeah, bands have done that. Biffy Clyro, they're one of our favourite bands, and they wrote pretty much most tracks basically since Puzzle with orchestra parts, and they have these kind of interweaving parts that just sound so good. I mean, it really kind of elevates the songs, especially the emotion behind any song where there's a heartfelt message and you put some soaring string arrangement in and you feel it in like a new way.
So yeah, that was super cool for us doing that one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbzz-jjLbY
I know here in Australia we’re so far away and it’s a huge effort to get out here, and I understand that Japan is such a cool country so you had to go there first, but did COVID interrupt any potential Aus tours? Did you want to come back here earlier?
Yeah, definitely. One of the things actually, I'll say it cause because plans changed. But actually talking of Biffy Clyro, who are like, have been one of our favourite bands since we were kids, we were in talks with them to come out and play with them when they were in Australia. That was just before COVID hit. I don't think the tour ever got announced, or you know, I think that just got completely shelved in the end. But that was something we were secretly really hoping would come off.
Not only do we love the band, obviously we were just so gassed to come back to Australia. You know, we've only been once before. And they were just tiny little shows, but so, so amazing. You know, we, we loved it. You know, Brits love Australia. That's why you have so many Brits in Australia.
There's that affinity with you, we're so similar and we get on so well. So the rowdiness of the shows, sense of humour, and we turned it into a bit of a holiday at the end where we stayed a few more days in Sydney and just had a great time.
So we were really excited to do it. We had some plans over COVID and then after, and then it didn't work out and so when we finally got this together, we were just so stoked because we haven't obviously been over and played any of the new songs. You know, the last time we were there, it was just before we released our previous album Technology. So it's going to be great getting to do the new one here.
I don’t know much about how to cultivate a fan base in other countries, and for Australian bands you have to get out there and tour to gather a following. Are you ever surprised at how many people love your music in a country you haven’t been to for six years?
Yeah, definitely. I mean it was kind of the same for us in the UK. You know, we've always traditionally built our fan base in the classic model of just touring the hell out of somewhere. People have been to see you and then want to see you again, and then they bring their mates to a show.
It’s quite the old school approach, and it’s what's always worked for us in the UK. So to play to countries where we haven't been able to do that, the power of the internet has allowed people to discover us. That’s a really cool thing.
So it'll be interesting to see when we come and play the shows. I'd love to find people who had come and seen us on the previous tour as well, and knew us before that. Yeah, that would be, that would be fun to find out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXoYJu6_JRo
So you have three shows: Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane and they’re going to go off. You guys have such a huge sound and are very high energy on stage, what is your signature stage move?
I mean, I wouldn't say it's a signature move, people have labelled it a dad dance, like a little strut. Yeah, like an aggressive dad dance is probably the best way of describing it.
I'm just kind of like strutting on the spot, just feeling the vibes, you know. I don’t know if it's got a name, I'd love to know if anyone's seen it and they've got a name, but a few people have started like replicating it and I'm like, do I really look like that? I look mental. But apparently I do just get the mosh going.
We could get everyone to do it at the same time for sure! Now, you guys are pros at touring, so how do you back up shows night after night? What’s your secret?
We do burn out occasionally, but we try not to. I mean, you've gotta put the work in and you've gotta build the hype for the tour. And that's part of the job these days is kind of, you know, like being on it all the time and doing enough self-promotion, whether it's running your Instagram or whatever. And sometimes the last thing you want to do is pick up your phone and record some lame TikTok that your label told you would be a good idea, but we try and do all those things because you want the shows to be insane. For us, it's all about the gigs.
But once you're on the tour, I think that's the time where you just don't want to burn out. You want to be on tour and have a good time. For us, being on the road is the most important thing. It's when we get that connection with the fans when all that effort you've put into making a record actually materialises into just incredible vibes between people and connecting people between you and the crowd and the crowd with each other.
So, it's enjoying those moments and kind of not burning out on the road I think is the most important thing. You know, if you can do that and play your music to people and get a reaction, it's like the best thing ever. So it's really like making the most out of the tours and enjoying it and not getting too stressed out when you're on the tour, I think.
Well we are so looking forward to seeing you in May, I can’t wait, thank you for your time!
Thanks for having me.
Interview by Ebony Story @ebonyrose.s
Tickets on sale now via ThePhoenix.au
Don Broco – Aussie East Coast Tour
May 4 @ 170 Russell, Melb
May 6 @ The Metro, Sydney
May 7 @ The Triffid, Bris
