DMA'S: 'We are everyday guys and we don't mind talking about our feelings'

You’re back on a full headline tour of the UK and we’ve adopted you as our own here. Do you feel at home touring the UK and what has been your favourite city to play?

The UK has definitely become a second home to us, I was even living in Edinburgh for a while. In terms of favourite cities to play, we love them all for different reasons. Especially when you get to play some of those beautiful old venues, for example, like Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow and The Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Those two off the top of my head have been great, but we've also done amazing shows in places like Manchester and Leeds and all around, to be honest.

You’re a prolific band with four studio albums in a short period of time. How do you curate a set list for a tour that keep things fresh for you and your fans?

We'd like to obviously try and incorporate our favourite songs from the new albums, and that kind of keeps it fresh as well. The set gets stronger and stronger every time we do a record and that's been the great experience in getting older as a band – that the live show gets stronger and stronger because you can be more particular with what songs go into the set. But, once again, we also like to incorporate some of the older tracks, or more obscure songs, into the setlist, especially if we've never played them live before because we know that the fans that have been there since the start really appreciate that.

Your songs have always been a mix of euphoric anthems and seeing positivity in an emotional situation. Do you find it empowering that your fans connect with your own feelings?

I think one of the reasons why DMA'S has been successful was because we are everyday guys and we don't mind talking about topics like that. I think some people find it hard to communicate that, so when they see who we are, and hear us singing or writing about those topics, I think people find it really, really relatable and that's all we could ask for in music.

The new album is a huge pop production. You have found a way of taking the core ideals of your early work to an arena ready polish. Was this a conscious plan or did it evolve naturally?

It has evolved naturally and I think DMA'S has always loved writing pop music. When I listen to Delete, I feel like it’s a pop song and that was the first song we ever released. Just naturally when you want to change your sound and the band gets bigger, it's easier to start going to nicer studios working with big producers. And that's been exciting for us and we've enjoyed moving in that direction. But it wasn't a conscious plan, it's just because we wanted to do something different and we could very easily just go back to doing something more lo-fi and would probably consciously do that because of the way that things have naturally moved forward. We didn't move forward for the sake of moving forward, it was more for the sake of doing something different for us.

Who influences you as a band? There’s always been a Britpop side to you but who specifically did you look up to when starting out?

For Tommy, Stone Roses and Oasis were big influences for him. I know that for Mason, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and Pavement were big for him. And, for me, bands like Wilco, Stone Roses and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

You will be playing some stripped back sets in record stores along with some album signings. What’s the strangest thing you’ve been asked to sign on tour?

Someone who got us to sign his shoe one time, that was pretty strange. It was an Adidas Gazelle.

You covered Cher’s Believe on the Like A Version radio show. What’s on the tour bus playlist that gets you all singing together?

Just anything from Cher really, we're just really obsessed with her (lol). But, seriously, it changes every tour, anything from Paul Kelly to Saâda Bonaire or Lost Animal.

Would you consider collaborating with an artist and, if so, who’s the dream collaboration?

For me, the dream collaboration would probably be The Chemical Brothers just because I've always loved their production and they've been one of my favourite bands for a long time. But there are so many amazing artists out there. We've been doing a bit of writing with Ruel recently, and he's a really cool guy. So maybe something with that could happen in the future.

Do you pick your own support acts and who should fans be looking out for on this tour?

Yeah, we do pick our own support acts. This tour we're happy to have Dylan John Thomas, Tribes, RATS, Callum Bowie and Demob Happy joining us. If you're coming to a show, please get down early and check them out.

You have to pick one song from your discography that you want a band to cover. Name the song and the act you’d choose.

That's a good question. That's probably the best question I've had in a very long time. I'd like to hear Adele cover Blown Away. That would be cool.

How Many Dreams is out on March 31. DMA’S play at St George’s Hall, Bradford on April 13 and will be doing a stripped-down show for Crash Records at The Welly, Hull on June 3. They will also perform at Live At Leeds in the Park on May 27. https://www.liveatleeds.com/