Lewis from Sophisticated Dingo tells us what it's like being in a band with your best friend!
Lewis, Thank you for chatting with us!
You’ve just released your new single ‘What Is Going On?’, can you tell us a little bit about the song?
Sure thing. The tune is all about self-empowerment in the face of receiving judgement from others. The themes stem from the experience of realising that no matter what others thought/said about me that I was proud to back my own decisions in how I live my life. Having all the answers is rarely a necessary component of any job or activity you undertake, so embrace learning and be honest about not knowing what you are doing.
What do you hope listeners feel when listening to Sophisticated Dingo?
I hope people feel whatever they happen to feel when they listen to our music. The place that most of the songs come from is analysing experiences that we encounter in our personal lives and stepping back to look at how that could affect people in general. Then we set it to loud and sometimes abrasive sounds. So if you feel reasonably introspective and get a kick out of loud noises then I guess you feel somewhat like we do. But whatever you feel is great.
We’re excited to hear your sophomore EP in a few months’ time! What can you let us know about the release?
Thank you. I am pumped to hear it too. It’s called ‘How’s The Carry On!?’ and comes out on August 19. You can expect to hear a development of our sound that we have tried to deliver well thought out thrashy pop songs from. The production is great courtesy of producer Sam Swain and we can’t wait to release it.
We hear you’ve been best mates since the age of twelve, which is super wholesome.
What’s it like being in a band with your best friend?
Amazing. It’s a beautiful thing where we feel completely comfortable around one another and understand how each other thinks. When we are working on a new song or structuring a live show I will get very excited and speak in somewhat incoherent sentences that I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand. Jimmy somehow does understand these and we get from A-B much quicker than perhaps we should.
You have such an eclectic mix of genres in your sound - there’s an undeniable pop element to most of your songs, with some subtle 60s-surf and punk / garage influences present as well. Where did you find inspiration for your sound, and how has it evolved since your debut EP in 2018?
Most of our inspiration for our music comes from what we listen to. We love bands like The Pretty Littles, You Am I and The Gooch Palms so have always wanted our music to be exciting and full of passion. In recent times I have become more interested in American punk sounds from bands like Wavves, FIDLAR, Together Pangea and others so there is definitely a noticeable influence from them on songs like ‘What Is Going On?’ and ‘Vultures’.
Since live shows are still a bit up in the air, tell us what we can expect from a Sophisticated Dingo gig when we can finally get to one?
Absolute chaos. Fire breathing and sketch comedy. We love to push the boundaries of what is physically possible for athletes/live performers. We just want to have a good time and hope you want to have a good time too. I look forward to that first gig back, whatever form it takes.
And lastly, where can we follow Sophisticated Dingo and hear your music?
- Get on it:
