RADIUM DOLLS

Words: Keeley Thompson

Images: Jerri Lee Leslie (@jerri.atric)

Old leather boots slumped like tired shoulders scuff along the arthritic hardwood floors while the scent of Champion Ruby and Fireball follows close behind. Timber doors lining the hallway remain permanently ajar, swollen and sweaty from 37-degree days. 

Home. 

The house throbs, friends decorating the living space as conversations flood into dusty corners of the room. 

Sonder; A room of people feeling their own external joy and internal discomfort. Happy, but heavy. Walking the line between ecstasy and escapism is more appealing with the gait of ten pints behind you. 

Taking quiet, solitary intervals between conversations to substitute one reality for another. Inhale/exhale. Loud/quiet. With/without. 

Yet, at the setting of the harsh sun is the truth - life, though unimaginably beautiful, is capricious in its distribution of pain. 

Feel, cry, live. It’s all you can do. 

This is Radium Dolls. 

A musical stream of consciousness, Radium Dolls call to the unspoken and unattractive worlds inside our heads without embellishment. Energetic and passionate, Radium Dolls are a sonic reminder that to beat a demon, you must first know its name. 

Radium Dolls is the musical project of Will Perkins (Vocals), Thomas Perkins (Guitar), Ewan Day (Bass) and Bryce Equinox (Drums) that brazenly chronicles mania and melancholy. Brutally raw yet elegantly honest, the urgency to Radium Dolls’ music serves its first and final notice; ignorance is bliss till it isn't. 

KEELEY: How did your relationship with music begin and how did Radium Dolls come about?

WILL: Growing up, Tom and I played a lot of music together and always wanted to be in a band together. Being brothers and sharing a love for music, it was always a dream of ours. 

I moved to Brisbane and started playing in a band while Tom was in Sydney and playing in a cover band. While it was (and always is) good to be playing music, we were both feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied in those bands. From that, I convinced Tom to move to Brisbane and start a band with me. 

At the time I was living with Ewan and managed to convince him too. He’s an absolute gun musician and was keen. Luckily he was already playing with Bryce and they came along as a package deal and that was that! 

TOM: Yeah, so I was playing covers for a while at Old Dave’s Soul (shout-out). 

I came to visit Will and saw a Perve Endings gig while I was up. Seeing what he was doing in that band, I got a lot of motivation and inspiration from that. 

When we started Radium Dolls, we had a couple of different drummers in mind. I remember at the first practice we played with Bryce and it was like a light turned on. We all worked so well together, it was very fortunate we were able to click so easily. 

KEELEY: And did you start with material already written? 

WILL: Nah all from scratch baby! And to be honest, most of the stuff that we came out with at the start was garbage. I know that it takes time to properly find your sound as a band, so a lot of the things we wrote were just to get us started with something. 

A lot of the early songs were just vessels to get us started and on stage. I value those songs for their purpose (and their achievement of their purpose), but objectively they’re definitely not our finest work. They helped us get started and find our actual desired sound, so I’m grateful for that.

KEELEY: Was there a moment where you did ‘find your sound’? 

WILL: Not really. I think over the years we just improved and developed as musicians. 

We’ve all come from pretty different places musically, so it just took practice and time. Bryce was actually a metal drummer (and he’s very fucking good at it) so he’s had to adapt his style to be less explosive and metallic, I guess. 

Personally, my writing has changed as I’ve figured out what I want to say and who I am as a musician, performer and general human (though I’m still figuring that out a bit). 

TOM: Yeah I don’t think we’ve ever fully been able to define our sound or had any ‘lightbulb’ moments. Our inspirations and influences are so diverse and that’s probably why our ‘sound’ is so different on each track. 

As a band, we take inspiration from bands like The Peep Tempel and Tropical Fuck Storm. But I know Ewan loves folk music and Will loves hip-hop. 

KEELEY: You just mentioned influences. Where do you pull inspiration from as a band and individually?

TOM: I think a lot of us take influence from those post-punk, modern punk bands like The Peep Temple. I know that band is a big one for me instrumentally and lyrically for Will. At the same time, I know Ewan takes a lot of inspiration from folk-rock artists like Fred Eaglesmith. 

I think the cumulative result of that is the synthesis of those different influences into something that’s not quite genre specific. 

WILL: I’d agree with that. In terms of the frontman thing, I take a lot of inspiration from musicians like Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Bernard "Doc" Neeson from The Angels and Nick Allbrook from Pond. I love their ability to balance elegance and anger and the way they stand in their power and provide a show without being inauthentic to themselves. I suppose I try to do that too. 

KEELEY: How has your relationship with music changed over time?

TOM: I started playing music when I was in Grade 8. I started with bass and moved to guitar, and at that time it was just something I did as a side-hobby and because I liked it. 

Later I moved to Japan and was able to make a living playing music there. When I moved to Sydney, music actually changed from something that I loved to something that I’d fallen out of love with. 

Once I came to Brisbane and joined Radium Dolls, I got to rediscover my relationship with music and the reason I fell in love with playing in the first place. From all those experiences combined, the best part has been the collaboration with other people. Having an idea and seeing it grow in the hands of other people. Giving an idea to someone and trusting them, or them giving you an idea and trusting you. I think that’s really special. 

WILL: Music is deeply personal for me (and probably most people) and has helped me a lot. For a long time I played music for reasons other than what I’m playing for now, which is fulfilment. 

Historically, I felt a lot of imposter syndrome. Having people come up to me and tell me how much a song means to them has really helped me with my personal identity and relationship with music. For me now, music is even more embedded in who I am. 

Radium Dolls has really helped me grow in myself. I feel at home in this band. I’m proud of us. 

KEELEY: How do you manage the inherent vulnerability that comes with performing something you’ve created?

WILL: I stopped caring what other people think. I’ve realised my relationship with music is a lot more than just music. It’s not something I’m worried about; I’d be more worried if I didn’t do it. It’s for my wellbeing. It’s free therapy. 

People are inherently intuitive and respond to authenticity. As long as what you put out is real, people will respond. Vulnerability breeds connection. 

Whatever mood I’m in on the day is what comes out on stage. I don’t try to hide it. 

TOM: It’s easy to look past the fear when you recognise how much it enables connection. We’re not particularly vulnerable people in our everyday lives so being able to show a different side of ourselves is really cathartic. 

KEELEY: What’s something you're proud of yourself for in relation to Radium Dolls? 

TOM: Oh, so much stuff. I never thought I’d get to write and contribute to an album - at least one that was good. 

I’m so proud of the album we’ve just created. It’s such a good body of work and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to achieve. 

WILL: I’m proud of everything we’ve done as Radium Dolls. It’s given me so much more confidence and meaning. We’ve achieved so much, met so many idols, played some amazing shows and on amazing stages and made so many friends along the way. 

Sometimes it can be hard to keep going, because it is a lot of work, but we keep rising to the occasion. Radium Dolls is a real sense of self for me, and honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without it. 

I’m so proud of everything we’ve done. 

KEELEY: I’m trying to settle an Australian debate. What’s the best biscuit in the assorted creams packets? 

TOM: If you say anything other than Monte Carlo’s you’re lying to yourself.

KEELEY: Nah that ain’t right. 

WILL: I don’t know the name of any of them, but I’m going to say the chocolate and Anzac biscuit ones. 

KEELEY: Kingston’s? That’s the right answer. 

TOM: You’re both wrong. 

KEELEY: Last question! You’ve made it! What’s next for Radium Dolls? 

WILL: A lot! This is actually the calm before the storm, I think. 

We’ve got a show coming up on February the 2nd at Stranded Bar and a single ‘Hit Song’ coming out on February the 1st. We’re also doing an East Coast Tour. 

Other than that, keep churning out music. 

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