DOPAMINE

Writer: Joe Maranta

Photographer: Mia Hoy @mia.hoy

Within the backyard of a Brisbane share house sits a glass table decorated with spilt tobacco, empty cans of lager and loose leaves blown off a towering Lilly Pilly tree. The masterminds behind this suburban art installation surround their work regaling tales of their latest trials and tribulations. 

In the same house but in different worlds some are buzzed from beers, some are baked like a fresh loaf of sourdough, and a few are having the best time of all after enjoying some biscuits of the disco variation. Though their vices are different their goals are the same, to enjoy a Friday night together regardless of the consequences on Saturday morning. 

Putting aside their mortal stressors for an evening, taxis are booked and dealers are placed on standby. The night is no longer in its infancy - they arrive at their favourite venue and what happens next is definitively off-the-record.

This is Dopamine. 

Forming at the Queensland University of Technology like so many great Brisbane bands, the quintet have been releasing accessible yet nuanced indie-pop since 2018, though the coming 18 months may serve as the most pivotal in the band’s time together. 

Packed with healthy servings of brit-pop inspired riffs, emphatic vocal performances and witty songwriting - Dopamine are comprised of Finley Miller (Vocals, Guitar), Harry Wall (Bass), Arran McNamara (Guitar), Oliver Whitaker (Drums) & Tom Collins (Keys, Synths).

JOE: How did the band form to its current iteration, and how has the band changed since your first single in 2018?

FINLEY: It all stemmed from uni which is where we first met each other. 

HARRY: Myself, Finley, Ollie and Arran all started at QUT the same year, we all met each other and just kept running into one another until we were in a band together really. There have been other members in between that time, but gradually people go their own ways - but us five have been mates for a long time now. 

FINLEY: We’re a completely different band now, we should probably go by a different name but we all like the current name too much. 

JOE: Your sound could be considered Brit-Pop, would you say your sound is moulded more by Australian music, or music from overseas?

FINLEY: Our sound has definitely been inspired by Last Dinosaurs and Dune Rats, they were almost our mentors when we were first coming up. Sean from Last Dinosaurs helped us a lot when we started. 

OLIVER: There are some overseas influences though definitely, like Stone Roses, Oasis and even some shoegaze acts like Slowdive, especially their second album. 

TOM: We listen to a lot of random shit hey. 

JOE: You promised new music 2 months ago, where is it?

FINLEY:  We have heaps of it! We’ve just spent the last two months building our studio so that’s all done now. We have three songs we’ve been finalising, and we have one track that should hopefully be out in July / August. It’s a bit disco-ey, a bit Krautrock.

OLIVER: Krautrock?

FINLEY:  Yeah krauty, a bit of German to it - bit of sauerkraut on it. I’d describe it as a bit New Order-y. We have some shows in August, but maybe we’ll do a small single launch for it. We’re trying to work towards releasing a few tracks, build towards an EP then hopefully aim for an album after the initial EP. 

JOE: What would you say your favourite Brisbane venue is?

TOM: It was The Zoo. It’s getting turned into office spaces now, which is so sad. 

TOM: Princess Theatre might be my favourite nowadays. 

FINLEY: Yeah we played a DJ set there that went terribly. I rocked up thinking I looked sick - Nautica shirt, tan pants thinking I look awesome and some guy comes up to me and says “Mate you’ve got that Yacht Rock vibe going on!” that just set up the whole night. We had a DJ set loaded up on a USB stick, and once we’re on stage we realised that none of us knew how to DJ. We’re looking at the decks thinking “how the fuck do we use this?”. 

HARRY:  Our USB didn’t even work so we used someone else’s and the songs loaded were from fucking ShrekFest, this was in front of like 200 people. I didn’t even stand up on the stage for the set.

JOE: What are the changes in Brisbane’s scene post-COVID?

HARRY: It’s shifting and changing all the time so it’s hard to say. I think music is moving out of the valley, and more into the city and to the outer-suburbs. 

OLIVER: I think around Nundah will pop up more for artists I’d say, it’s cheaper for venues out there. There’s a great venue in Nundah, Royal Quarters, which just had a great packed out show earlier in the year. 

JOE: Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of Brisbane indie?

DOPAMINE: Powderfinger, Ball Park Music, Last Dinosaurs and The Go-Betweens.

JOE: Who would be your all time favourite NRL player?

OLIVER: Darren Lockyer

FINLEY, HARRY, TOM: Johnathan Thurston

JOE: Where is Dopamine three years from now?

FINLEY: Getting out all of our songs. We have the studio now, we want to eventually release a track of month. We have our ducks in a row now so we just want to take it as far as we can. 

HARRY: Making some art

FINLEY: Making some fucking art. 

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