Project Description

FOTSUN Special:

Interview with

GOOD DOOGS

Interviewer: Jess Moog

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GOOD DOOGS

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WA based surf rock outfit Good Doogs have been very busy boys this year.

They’ve released a bunch of singles, a bunch of music videos, and are three shows away from finishing their national ‘Want That’ tour. All of their hard work is definitely paying off, with the band’s chilled out tunes scoring them a top spot on Triple J Unearthed’s Most Played of 2018 list, and no doubt earning them a stack of Hottest 100 votes.

I sat down with the lot of ‘em, aka frontman Asher, drummer Grudge, bassist Dyl and guitarist Andy, to discuss making music and their relentless love of Wavves.

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GOOD DOOGS // Photo – Connie Smith

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First up how are you guys today? Having fun at FOTSUN?
Asher – Very good.
Grudge – Hot.
Andy – Hot.
Dyl – Hot.
Asher – We just got here!
Grudge –
Went in the wrong entrance, walked the whole length of the festival. Classic.

So how did the band come into being? When did you all meet?
Asher – At a Hockey Dad show. Yeah I was playing in a different band at that time and these guys were hanging around. One of them was wearing a Wavves jumper and I was like ‘Oh Wavves are sick, I have a Wavves tattoo’, so yeah we kind of bonded over that.
G – And then we started playing music.
Asher – Yeah pretty much. It was originally going to be a Wavves cover band.

Really haha? A Wavves cover band?
G – You haven’t seen anyone else doing that, have yah?

Ahh yes very true. Who would you say are some of your biggest musical influences?
Asher – Wavves hahaha. Yeah Nirvana, all of them.
G – The Pixies. Who do you like Andy?
Andy – The Chilli Peppers.
G – He loves the Chilli Peppers.

Are you going to see them when they’re in Australia?!
Andy – Yeah I got tickets!

Ugh luckkyyyy, I did not. But anyway you guys have obviously had a pretty big year. Done a couple of tours, released a few songs. How’s the whole creative process been going so far?
G – It’s been good! It’s been blossoming. Well we didn’t really know each other when we started the band so kind of just been finding our feet with each other as the band’s progressed. The songs have gotten better because we’ve kind of figured each other out.
Asher – Yeah definitely. Trying to find a vibe is hard.

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Interview with GOOD DOOGS // Photo – AH Imagery

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You all hail from WA right? I’ve actually never been there. How’s the music scene back there?
G – It’s God’s country over there.
Asher – It’s a bit spread out. There’s a lot of different genres.
D – There’s a lot of psych music
G – Everyone really likes the whole Tame Impala scene. But, I dunno, I feel like we kind of get left behind in the whole Australian music scene in WA, everyone’s kind of segregated over there.
Asher – It’s just so far away.
G – People are just happy to play shows in Perth, like, on a weekend.
D – People think that the music scene just ends in Perth haha but there’s so much more to it.
Asher – It’s also just so expensive to get out of there.

So you guys were number 3 on triple j Unearthed’s most played of 2018. That’s pretty fucking cool! How does it feel to know so many people love your music?
Asher – A sick feeling. It’s fucking awesome.
D – It’s sort of surreal.
Asher – Yeah it’s crazy. I don’t know how to explain it.
G – The band’s still, kind of like a joke to us half the time, so to see that was like ‘wow’.
Asher – We kind of just want to have fun, and then stuff like that is just fucking awesome.

When you guys started out did you want to be big or was it more to get into the local scene…?
Asher – We just wanted to have fun.
D – We played with a couple of bands and we thought that was pretty cool. We played with Ruby Fields and stuff, and Skegss. We thought that was as good as it was going to get.
G – But I feel like once you reach one summit of something, you just start shooting for other goals. Your goals get larger as you get bigger!

Yeah I feel like you just got to take things step by step. But you guys are actually making it! That’s huge. I mean number 3? That’s very impressive.
Asher – Yeah thanks so much! We’re very happy with that haha.
G – Yeah very happy.

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GOOD DOOGS // Photo – AH Imagery

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What’s up next for you guys? Got any fun things planned for 2019?
Asher – We’re going to finish up this tour first, and then see what happens then. Actually we’ve got something planned, maybe another single next year.
G – Yeah that single and then trying to leave the full front end of next year open so we can try and work on something.

And just to close up, who are you most keen to see today? Any bands in particular you froth?
Asher – I’m pretty keen to see POND!

Ahhh yeah POND were last night…
Asher – Oh what are you serious?! I didn’t know that!
G – I’m keen to see Body Type. They’re so good.
D – That’s who I’m keen to see too.
Asher – Yeah well I’m keen to see Body type too but haha. Let’s all just say Body Type.

Haha sick. Well cheers for your time guys!
G – No worries.
Asher – Cheers for yours!

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GOOD DOOGS // Photo – AH Imagery

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Check out Amy Halpin‘s gallery HERE

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Connect with GOOD DOOGS:
Website // Facebook // Instagram

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