A Quick Chat with Okay Dane

What was your favourite part of creating new single 'Interstellar Nihilist’?

Definitely hitting the studio with Sam Swain, we love working with him and it’s always such a fun time experimenting and coming up with new sounds. He’s always happy to push it further and never says no to trying anything strange. Of all the tracks we’ve done with him this has the most of any of those experimental sounds we’ve messed around with in the final song.

What's the story behind your name Okay Dane?

We’ve always found band names difficult to come up with and we always pick something dumb or a pun. To understand what it means to be an Okay Dane you must simply imagine a very average Great Dane.

What's your creative process like when making music together?

It will depend on the song usually, some will change over time once a demo is brought to rehearsal and played live over a few shows, and some will come out almost fully formed from being demoed, and Liam and I will go back and forth with ideas and notes to get it up to standard. For Interstellar I had put together a demo that ended up sharing its form with the final version, including a session with Liam to arrange and write bass parts and a visit to Ish to record harmonies, but the main thing that changed from my demo to the final was all of the aforementioned sounds and noises we created in studio.

What was the first concert you ever went to?

My Chemical Romance back in 2007, I believe The Getaway Plan and Circa Survive were supporting. I was 11 turning 12 and it legitimately changed my life and pointed me in the direction I’m at now.

Who's an Australian artist you can't get enough of right now?

Ball Park Music always and in perpetuity. There are too many great Aussie bands to count who we can’t get enough of but we always wind up back at Ball Park.

Which songs were in your 2023 wrap ups?

2023 has been very local for us! Lots of our mates and bands in the scene here like Stepdad Advice, Oh Daisy, Goldsocks, Suzi, Cheap Skate, Ambulance, Baby Shower, Scud, After School Care, Grevillea etc, there’s a huge list and it’s very exciting hearing all the killer music coming out of Melbourne at the moment

What shows are you bingeing right now?

Rewatching The Sopranos, heaps of crime documentaries and then some old Futurama episodes as a palate cleanser before bed so I don’t have nightmares.

What’s next for Okay Dane?

Finishing up recording our EP with Sam, so we can have that done and out by the end of the year. Looking a little further we’re looking at self-producing our debut album so apart from playing as many shows as we can this year, that’s what’s ahead!