What do you get when you take a little bit of ska, a little bit of reggae, a little bit of indie, and a dash of melodic pop-punk, put them all together, and shake them up?
Simple. You get Dal Santo!
Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, this trio has found a way to expertly blend musical genres that aren’t typically known to mesh well – namely ska and indie music. What results is a unique sound that will surely appeal to those of us already indoctrinated into the cult of ska, as well as those who aren’t quite ready to take the ska plunge completely. Having such diverse musical interests, you’re definitely going to find something you can enjoy when checking Dal Santo out.
While the band has been around since 2016, they really hit their stride late-last year with the addition of drummer Sunny Dial. Unfortunately, just as the band started to fire on all cylinders, the world began to shut down. Because of time zones and phone bills, the band sat down to answer some questions about themselves via e-mail.
If you haven’t experience Dal Santo yet, then you’re in for a treat.
Since it’s on everyone’s minds these days, how are you coping with 2020?
We came into 2020 right in the middle of our biggest bushfires ever. Whilst feeling helpless at the time, we hosted a Fundraiser for the Country Fire Authority, which is a volunteer-based firefighting unit for our state. Even though we were playing a show almost every week at that, we managed to get into the studio to record two singles: “Fall In” and “No Not Sorry.” Since that point, we’ve not been able to gig, tour, or really even be able to jam, but have kept active with Live Streams, demoing, and songwriting. Even though it’s been a tough year for everyone, we’re so grateful for the ongoing support and love from our fans, friends, and family.
In America, live music has essentially ground to a halt since February. How are you faring in Australia?
Unfortunately, Melbourne has been the worst affected city in Australia and we’ve just got out of an eight-month lockdown. Other cities such as Sydney and Brisbane have had limited capacity, sit down only shows since August. Gigs are very slowly returning in Melbourne so we’re incredibly excited to get back on stage again! We hope live music returns soon in America too.
Speaking of live music, what’s a typical Dal Santo show like?
A Dal Santo show is all about good vibes and unity! It’s a safe place where everyone comes together to enjoy live music.
Once the dust settles and the world is back to “normal,” do you have any touring plans that will see you visiting America?
Once we return back to “normal,” our plans are to hit the studio and release our brand new material. We’ve been busy writing and are super excited to bring you our best songs yet. As far as a USA touring schedule goes, we will just have to wait and see when our governments will allow it to happen. Some of our favorite artists hail from the US, and it would be an honor to step foot on the same stages they would have once graced.
Your music is this fun hybrid of indie, power pop, punk, ska, and reggae. What influences brought about such a diverse mix of genres together?
As a group, we’ve always prided ourselves on collectively having broad and diverse tastes in music. Sunny loves everything from ska to ‘00s hip hop. Jimi was a pop-punk fanatic growing up, and Gaurav loves heaps of indie and metal music. But all three of us seem to have overlapped somewhere in between to define our own sound!
I interviewed Tara from Half Past Two earlier this year, and she said the following about being a woman in the music industry –
“The music industry isn’t kind to women, in general. And my personal experience is that women are expected to quit, for a job, for a spouse or a family, or whatever.
But also, I think we just don’t notice how many women are actually on stage or in a session. Often the vocalists are celebrated but not a drummer, or a guitarist, or a saxophonist. I’d argue their representation is as important as a front person’s.”
Do you see the same representation issues she’s calling out in her answer? How can we get better as a scene?
We think that Tara said it perfectly, and I [Sunny] certainly can relate from my past experiences. Especially being a proud queer woman. Thankfully in recent years I have mostly had positive experiences, and have noticed more women and non-binary musicians which is incredible for our scene.
The next gig you see with a female band member, be sure to high five her and tell her she rules.
You released a new single this year. How have you evolved musically on “No Not Sorry” from where you started on your self-titled debut and Patong Beach?
Sunny joining the band late last year has provided a fresh new take on our songwriting. This has impacted us not only musically, but lyrically as well and provided us a perspective of the world from a completely different set of eyes. This has seen us all evolve together as a band with “No Not Sorry” actually being the first song we ever wrote together.
Aside from the two new songs, what have you been doing to keep busy as a band this year? How can folks best support you?
It’s been a fun challenge to keep busy and inspired without seeing each other.
We’ve rebranded our social media accounts, released new merch, hosted an Instagram live stream, wrote demos, made friends with rad bands in America and spent a lot of time dreaming about touring.
You can support us by listening to our music on Spotify, buying our music and merch on bandcamp and following us on Instagram and Facebook.
What is Pal Santo?
Pal Santo is our animated YouTube series! Three pals on adventures inspired by our music. It was made by our mate Jed Newman who did an incredible job. You rule Jed!
Not enough Australian bands get exposure over here in the US. If someone likes you, who else should they seek out?
If you’re a fan of Dal Santo and want to check out other rad Aussie bands, go find Twisted Willows. We’ve played a heap of shows together and can guarantee that it’s always a party. Another awesome band is Catholic Guilt. We had a handful of shows planned with them this year, which have been postponed. You may also notice Sunny Dial in their film clip for “A Boutique Affair!”
Australians always have fun slang and ways of swearing. Whenever I interview a band from Australia, I have to ask for more…so, what’s your favorite Australian slang, and what does it mean?
Given that we are all Australian members, we probably use more slang that we appreciate. But my favorite is overhearing someone going to “punch a dart.” This translates to “smoke a cigarette,” but is unmistakably an Aussie saying which would simply be misunderstood anywhere else in the world.
The US is about to have a big election. How stupid do we look to the outside world?
Upon writing this, the election has actually been decided. All we can say is that it’s been a terrifying four years. When Donald Trump was first elected, it shone a dark light which had flow-on effects across the world. His views on immigration and diversity, his inactivity on climate change, and lack of response to COVID-19 stood against many of our beliefs. But this has also reminded us all how important democracy is. I think a lot of us here in Australia were also nervously waiting for the outcome of this election and couldn’t be happier that Joe Biden is your new president. Let’s hope that this can translate into a brighter future for you and the rest of the world!
Any last words or cheap plugs?
We are really excited to announce our first official show post-lockdown at Stay Gold in Melbourne on Friday, 11th December.