Brisbane band DZ Deathrays announce tour and new album

IT’S been almost 10 years since guitarist and singer Shane Parsons joined forces with drummer Simon Ridley to form DZ Deathrays, a scuzzy dance-punk band they ­started with the humble aim of playing at mates’ house parties in Brisbane

DZ Deathrays’ singer/guitarist Shane Parsons (left) and drummer Simon Ridley. Picture: Matt Warrell

It’s been almost 10 years since guitarist and singer Shane Parsons joined forces with drummer Simon Ridley to form DZ Deathrays, a scuzzy dance-punk band they ­started with the humble aim of playing at mates’ house parties in Brisbane. The pair ­quickly exceeded those modest ambitions, with their first two EPs – Ruined My Life and Brutal Tapes – earning critical praise and Triple J airplay on the back of songs such as The Mess Up, Blue Blood and Teeth.

The band quickly became regulars on the festival circuit, playing Big Day Out, Parklife and Sunset Sounds before they’d released their debut album, Bloodstreams, in 2012. Much to their surprise, that ­release went on to win the ARIA for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album, beating off more established acts such as Frenzal Rhomb. Their 2014 foll­ow-up, Black Rat, scored the band ­another ARIA Award and spawned the ­single Gina Works at Hearts, which made that year’s Triple J Hottest 100.

DZ Deathrays have since released a couple of standalone singles – the chunky, riff-laden Blood on My Leather, with an ­accompanying video starring comedian Arj Barker, as Satan; and melodic rocker Pollyanna, but as Parsons and Ridley tell Qweekend, they’re relieved to finally have their third album, Bloody Lovely, in the can. “We weren’t anticipating four years between ­albums, it just kind of ended up that way,” Parsons says. “We had a hectic touring schedule for the first two years with Black Rat , so it just took that long, unfortunately.”

“Then some really good stuff came about,” Ridley adds. “We did (US music conference) South by Southwest again and then straight into the Groovin the Moo and then the Violent Soho (support) tour. It was a really good year for us in 2016 for touring – we did Europe and then America with (Brisbane band) Dune Rats.”

Parsons and Ridley are originally from Bundaberg, but it wasn’t until the two reconnected in Brisbane that they started playing together. These days, Parsons calls Sydney home, while Ridley still lives in the River City. “We’ve changed the way we’ve written (songs) over the years but maybe for the better,” Parsons says. “We don’t ­always write over email; every couple of months we’ll spend a week at the rehearsal room jamming and coming up with ideas, and we’ll take those home and record them ourselves and get them into demo form.”

A few tracks from the album – Shred for Summer, Bad Influence and Total Meltdown – have been getting steady airplay on ­Triple J ahead of its release. When asked if they have any other particular ­favourites from Bloody Lovely, Parsons names Over It, a song that came out of a co-writing session with Sydney band Polish Club’s singer and guitarist David Novak. “It’s like a really basic break-up song with no substance to it at all, but I quite like that you can write a break-up song if you’re not even breaking up with somebody.”

As well as releasing Bloody Lovely, DZ Deathrays have just played one of the biggest shows of their career, opening for US rockers Foo Fighters at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. “We could never have imagined playing there when we started the band,” Ridley says.

They’re “working on another album, as we speak”, and Parsons is confident it won’t be as long a wait ­between Bloody Lovely and its follow-up.

DZ Deathrays, The Triffid, Newstead, May 25