Leeds-based Adult DVD have released their new EP Fountain of Youth. The dance-rock outfit are a wild blend of whirling bobbing synths and thumping drum and bass. This is music to get the room bouncing and spread the feel good endorphins.
Could you introduce yourselves and share how Adult DVD got together as a band?
Hey, I’m Harry, I sing in Adult DVD. Then we have Greg on synths/vocals, Danny on guitar/synths, Jake on synths, Jonny on drums and George on bass. So, DVD started in lockdown, me and Jonny were living together, and we knew the rest of the boys from their old band Uncle Buzzard.
Me and Greg kept in contact over lockdown and just started kicking some ideas about, one of them being ‘Broken English’, our first single. We started writing more frequently and decided it was worth perusing, so we quickly got everyone else involved. And now we are here!
And who came up with band name? I’m sure you know it’s impossible to google you for any background info!
Greg did a drawing of an old sex shop years ago which he screen-printed on tees too. We were all Danny’s old house one time, where we used to record. And the drawing was framed on the wall and Danny also had the tee on, so it made sense at the time to call the band that, and it has stuck!
It’s ADULT DVD BAND! If you miss ‘band’ off the google search, then that’s on you and you are up to something else.
Congratulations on EP Fountain of Youth. The 4 track EP is a delicious electronic delight. How can anybody not move while listening to ‘Sadman Mancave‘. How do you create your songs? Is it collaborative? Is there one lyricist?
Thanks so much! To be honest each song different, it usually comes from one of us presenting the band with a half-written tune and we all go away and add bits to it. Due to the amount of equipment, we have, we aren’t really a band that can go into a rehearsal room and ‘jam’ a song, it sounds horrendous when we do that so it’s best, we all have an idea of what we want to bring to the track. We do however rehearse a new song idea at practice and that’s usually how it gets structured.
Lyrics wise it used to be me and Greg in charge of that, but since ‘Bill Murray‘ it’s been super collaborative between us all, which is fun!
I just have to mention ‘Bill Murray‘. That is a phenomenal track! Where the heck did the idea come from? And did you have to watch tons of movies with Bill Murray and Tom Hanks to get the details for the lyrics!
The song comes from a Reddit article; people on the internet believe Tom Hanks and Bill Murray are the same person as they’ve never been in the same movie together. We thought it was too good of a concept to not write a song about it. I would love to know why we were on that reddit article in the first place though, maybe one of the other boys will know, I’ll find out and let you know.
Is the Fountain of Youth EP a DIY release? If so, how difficult was it to produce?
Yeah, everything we have put out has been a self-release, but we are actually very lucky; we record everything ourselves between our houses/a studio. Danny and Jake are both great producers, so not having any recording costs is great. We also have had help from Launchpad in Leeds, who helped us with digital distribution, as well as continued support from BBC introducing.
It’s super hard self-releasing though, purely because there’s just so much more to it than the music. It’s all a bit confusing and we should have probably paid for PR campaigns/ targeted ads by now, but it’s well expensive and we would rather spend the money hanging out together.
What are your live plans for the rest of the year? Do you have festivals planned this summer? Are you confirmed for Left of the Dial in Rotterdam?
Yeah, Left of the Dial, we can’t wait! It’s our first shows out of the UK and we’ve heard nothing but great things. We have got a show with Lumer at Hyde Park Book Club on July 4th, then me, my dad and Greg are going to go cry at Blur in London the week after (tears of joy).
We have just found out we are playing at Beatherder too!
If I looked in your fridge right now what would I find?
Me and George live together, he’s on it with the food shopping so his side of the fridge is pretty exciting. My side is pretty grim at the minute, I can see half an onion and some olives currently, at least that’s tea sorted.
For more information on Adult DVD please check out their facebook and instagram