AT THE DAKOTA – SINGLE LAUNCH ‘ARROW HOLDER’

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By Steve ‘Habibi’ Kelk

Foldback Magazine caught up with At The Dakota front man Dylan Podsiadly to have a quick chat about the upcoming launch of the band’s new single ‘Arrow Holder’

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FM: Arrow Holder – what’s the story behind the title?

DP: It’s about the little guy in life that is always getting stomped on by the big guy so it’s an ode to the little guy.

FM: So what’s the metaphor behind the title?

DP: The arrow holder is like the squire – he gets to hold the arrows but he never gets to shoot them – he is never recognised, never in the spotlight. He’s always behind the scenes working for the Man. He never gets the chocolates he deserves.

FM: Where did the inspiration for that come from? Is that the way you feel?

DP: Oh, no not really (laughs). I came up with the lyrics but musically it was a group effort as it always is.

FM: I was struck by its effective simplicity but that doesn’t mean it’s a ‘simple’ song. There are some interesting things going on in there musically.

DP: Musically it is the most simple song on the EP but we also found the most fun song, which is why we wanted to put it out there first. We’ve got to come out with a strong song and the next single is going to be a bit more, well not ‘ballady’, but different again.

FM: So do you have all the songs for the EP done or is there more work to do?

DP: All the songs are done. They’ve been recorded, they’re finished. We’ve listened to the final cuts from Ben Allen (Broadwing). He’s done an amazing job with all the different things we’ve done and he’s gone above and beyond just recording and mixing. You know, we’ve had sessions sitting at his house, going through songs and editing. We’ve done numerous edits, we’ve added more things in. We’ve added little sounds like the squashing of chip packets, we’ve done scratching of beer bottles in there. There’s lots of little sounds. In ‘Arrow Holder’ you’ll hear little vocal fun things to put in the background. There are funny little things in the back of the mix that you might not hear at first listen. So things like that where Ben allowed us to have a bit of fun with it.

FM: The bass is trebly in parts, which stands out.  It’s a real driver.

DP: Yeah well we played ‘Arrow Holder’ live for the first time at the Ball Park Music gig and the bass cut out for that song so it didn’t have the same punch to it that we hope it does the next time everyone hears it because there literally was no bass and the bass is a big driving element of the song. It’s simple but it just drives the song along as well.

FM: Is that when Paul (Brandis) had the bass and he broke a string?

DP: Yeah that’s when the E-string broke and he drive’s on it (laughs).

FM: What is the EP called?

DP: The EP is called ‘Melt’.

FM: And the inspiration for that title?

DP: Different things for different people. I guess it could mean the sun and heat in Darwin but for me it’s almost like your brain melting. It’s a bit negative you know, there’s lots of things going on in life sometimes and you kinda feel like you’re having a meltdown or something but at the same you could take it in a positive light as well but it’s up to the interpretation of the listener as well. But for me personally, it’s about your brain melting (laughs).

FM: So the single launch is on the 24^th (February) at the Happy Yess?

DP: Yep. And the video will be playing as well (*Note – since this interview, the band decided to release the single and video on line early)

The video that we’ve gone out to Litchfield Park to do and that was with Ryan McArthur, Connor Askham and Amy Hetherington all doing some videoing with us and Emma Greaves, my partner, wearing a costume for eight hours so we bought her a few beers after that (laughs). We are being supported by Gaia and Ben Evolent. The EP comes out in April.

Check out At The Dakota when they launch ‘Arrow Holder’ at the Happy Yess, Friday February 24^th. Link to the event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1816062645314959/