Music
Q&A: The Dunwells talk tour life, their brotherly bond and new album
Leeds indie rockers The Dunwells are in the midst of their UK tour, with a sold out show stunning fans in the capital last night.
We caught up singer, and one half of the band’s brother duo, Joseph Dunwell, to talk about the new album, Light Up The Sky, the Leeds music scene and being a young band in the UK right now…
Firstly, for those that haven’t had the pleasure of hearing your music yet, what do they need to know…?
“We are an indie rock band from Leeds, we have been together for six years, we have just released our second album Light Up The Sky, and we write music to play live!”
You describe yourself as a ‘band of brothers’, what is it that makes you so close?
“Well two of us are actually brothers, me and David. David and Rob are best friends from high school and I went to music college with Adam when we were younger; we have all know each other for ages, we all know each other really well, what makes us laugh, what annoys each other. Musically that helps a lot. We just love being in a band together.”
How does your close bond impact the way your write, record and tour?
“When we are working on songs we all have input and the outcome always seems to work for us, the fact the we are so close [means] we can just be honest, many a time I’ve been told “that doesn’t work man”, you just can’t take offence. Same for playing live, we are always trying to make ourselves better. If I try an ad-lib or Adam tries a new fill and it works, we make sure we let each other know, the same if it doesn’t.
And how has the Leeds music scene helped you as a band?
“The Leeds scene is so good, especially now more than ever. As a band we love to go out and go to gigs and open mics. When we first started as a band we kind of bypassed Leeds and went straight to London because that’s what we thought we had to do, luckily it worked for us. We have the best set of fans in Leeds though and there are some unbelievable venues, we are playing the Brudenell Social Club on 8 April – this is one show I am very excited about.”
And what does it feel like to be young British band in general right now?
“It’s ace, genuinely we are just having the most fun at the moment. The fact that we have just released a brand new album, with a tour to support it, is amazing.”
What’s the reception been like since releasing Light Up The Sky?
“The reception has been great; a lot of people have been in touch to say this is their new favourite album. That means the world to me.”
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You’re touring in support of the new album right now, how does it feel playing the new songs live?
“Live shows are my favourite thing to do; that’s what we make music for. The fact that the Light Up The Sky had been out for two months before we went on tour is great for us, it’s great to see people singing our songs back to us.”
Which tracks are you most excited to see develop in a live setting?
“Strange Feeling sounded amazing in the rehearsal rooms; it sounded so big [with] loads of energy, also Light Up The Sky. Thinking about it now is making me so happy!”
Confession time, who has the worst tour habits?
“I would have to say me and Adam, we suffer from H-anger, the most annoying thing about it is, we are hungry all the time, the lads get well annoyed. More snacks in the van are needed on this tour!”
Get tickets for The Dunwells’ remaining UK shows now at Ticketmaster.co.uk.
