Glass Editor, Tione, sat down with Madelyn and Alana from the band Dropics, who will competing in Round 2 of Battle of the Bands on July 30th at Bot Bar. The band members include Madelyn Finster (lead singer), Alana Li (bass player), Isabelle Harvey (rhythm guitarist), Zak Howard (lead guitarist), and Andy Hobart (drummer). The three chatted about The Great Wall of China, Megan Thee Stallion, and 9/11, when they weren’t talking about Battle of the Bands.
Tione: First, can you tell us about how you became a band?
Madelyn: So, it’s a bit messy because there’s five of us. But Alana and I went to school together, and the boys went to school together. We made a band at the end of school when most of us graduated. We brought Belle in later on.
Alana: I met her at QUT, I was like “we have a band, want to join it?” She was like “Yeah, obviously.”
M: And then we dropped a pick, and that’s how we came up with our name. It’s really actually quite embarrassing. I don’t want to talk about it actually, I shouldn’t have brought it up.
T: Can we please elaborate?
M: Okay, it took us a long time to come up with a name. We used to be called Zeezemzahzah, only for a week. And then the Pickups.
A: But then Andy, our drummer, said that Dropics is kind of like the opposite of Pickups, and it sounds similar.
M: But we do get called Drop Kicks a lot.
A: Yeah, we’ve been called Drop Kicks on the radio.
T: How has being part of the QUT community impacted your growth as an artist?
A: I think the biggest impact that I’ve noticed so far is just how easy it is to make friends at QUT. I’ve made so many friends and I’ll tell them, we have a gig, or we dropped a single, and they spread it around, in my course at least. I think it’s just really cute, it actually does feel like a community, unlike other uni’s.
T: Is that Griffith slander?
M (a Griffith student): I can’t confirm or deny.
T: Okay, can you share any memorable collaborations with other QUT students or faculty?
A: Georgia Scarlett, also competing in Battle of the Bands, hosts a 4ZZZ radio show that actually focuses on folk and acoustic music, and we got to go on there and play our single as an acoustic version, which was pretty cool.
T: Can you describe your creative process when producing your tracks?
M: What typically happens is one of us walks into rehearsal with an idea and plays it for everyone, and we either like it or we don’t. And then we spend the next few weeks working together and making a song. In fact, this is our recording week, so we’re actually recording an EP right now. We just needed a fifth song, and within one rehearsal, we had a whole structure just because we needed one. Everyone will write lyrics together, it’s very collaborative.
T: Who are your biggest influences in music and how they shaped your sound?
M: So, one of the bands we get compared to a bit as Paramore. People also say we’re like Ocean Alley, or the tiniest bit like Arctic Monkeys.
A: Also, Blondie. And beabadoobee.
M: Also, an artist called French Kiwi Juice. FKJ. He has a really good song called Ylang Ylang. It’s just his use of harmonies and looping pedals that we’ve really brought into our band. It’s like fusion jazz.
T: Alright, now we’ve got some fun questions. If you could perform at any venue or festival in the world, where would it be?
M: Lollapalooza would be a good one.
A: Oh, I was gonna say the Great Wall of China.
T: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened during one of your gigs?
M: I had my eyes closed and I hit my teeth on the microphone. We have another one, but it wasn’t a gig. It was while we were on the radio. So, we were doing a radio interview for TalkerSpace which is a 4ZZZ radio show. And thank the Lord, it was pre-recorded, because we were talking about one of our TikToks and how it became successful in America. So, I casually said, “We’ve hit the United States guys!” And everyone laughed so I kept going and I said “Guys, we hit the Pentagon!” and everyone laughed again, so I said, “We’ve hit the second tower!” No one laughed. So that was edited out. But it was really funny.
T: You heard it here first. Dropics is canceled.
A: For our next one, wink wink, we’re definitely not going to play any Chappell Roan songs or anything. But we’re definitely gonna hit them with the H-O-T-T-O-G-O. Because we’re covering Good Luck, Babe.
T: Who is your dream collab for a track or album?
M: Gorillas. But also, Still Woozy. I think that’d be fun.
A: Arctic Monkeys.
M: I feel like an indie song with a rapper would be cool. Megan, Thee Stallion, she did a cover of her own song, Cobra, but like metal or emo. It was actually good.
T: And do we have anything else we’d like to say? Perhaps to the band you’re up against (Gravity’s Rainbow)?
M: So we heard a little rumour that you weren’t too kind to us in your interview. We just want to tell you that pride month is over. Get this rainbow out of here.
A: So gravitational rainbows. We’re better. We haven’t stalked you guys, but we’re probably hotter.
M: They’re probably all men.
A: Do you even talk to women?
A: We have minorities.
The Glass Magazine X QUT Guild Battle of the Bands has returned for Semester 2! Last year was such an absolute blast that we are pitting the bands of QUT against each other once again. You don’t want to miss this amazing event, so make sure you register on QPay to get all the details. We’ll see your there!
