DMA's are an Australian rock band formed in 2012 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The band is composed of lead vocalist Tommy O'Dell, lead guitarist Matt Mason, and rhythm guitarist Johnny Took. They originally gained popularity for their debut single " Delete" and for their self-titled EP, which were both released in 2014. The band have since gone on to release four studio albums: ''Hills End'' (2016), ''For Now'' (2018), ''The Glow'' (2020) and ''How Many Dreams?'' (2023). All four albums have peaked within the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart, with the latter two also reaching the top five in the UK and Scotland.

History

Johnny Took, Matthew Mason and Tommy O'Dell began playing music together "about two years" before DMA's formed. Took and Mason both played in Sydney

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

and bluegrass band Little Bastard, with DMA's originally serving as a side project of sorts to it before they began to focus on the latter full time. The band originally formed under the name Dirty Ma's before abbreviating it, hence why the name includes a grocers' apostrophe. In February 2014, DMA's were signed to I Oh You and released their debut single " Delete", which peaked at number 88 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. Their self-titled EP was released on 28 March 2014. In February 2016, the band released a full-length album titled '' Hills End''. It peaked at number 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart upon release in March 2016. In April 2016 they appeared on the cover of Australian magazine, ''Happy Mag''. Their song "Play It Out" features as one of the songs on '' FIFA 17'', the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

video game. The band's cover of

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

's " Believe" was voted in at number 6 on Triple J's Hottest 100 2016 list. The video has received over 10.3 million views on YouTube and became the first Like a Version cover to ever rank this highly in the Hottest 100. The cover would later top the inaugural Triple J Hottest 100 of Like a Version in 2023. In November 2019, the band supported

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...

on his UK and Ireland tour. The band also went on to support the likes of Richard Ashcroft, Kasabian and The Kooks. In October 2021, they played their largest headline show at Alexandra Palace in London to over 10,000 fans. On 31 January 2020, the band released " Life Is a Game of Changing", the second single from their third studio album, '' The Glow'', which was released on 10 July 2020. ''The Glow'' peaked at number 2 on the Australian charts and number 4 on the UK charts. In October 2020, the band performed at the

2020 AFL Grand Final The 2020 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between and at the Gabba in Brisbane, Queensland, on Saturday 24 October 2020. It was the 125th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Vic ...

. On 20 August 2021, an EP titled '' I Love You Unconditionally, Sure Am Going to Miss You'' was released. The band stated "This EP was in the natural trajectory that you can sometimes take in a band. You work with different producers and you want to keep changing, but there's also something in your core that pulls you back. It's cool to get back to your roots sometimes." The lead single "We Are Midnight" was released the same day, which the trio described in a statement as "a noisy guitar pop explosion that brings us back to our roots". In August 2022, the band released "I Don’t Need to Hide" with DMA's guitarist Jonny Took saying, "There's a confidence you obtain when you find someone who loves you for all your faults, quirks and obscurities." Further radio singles "Everybody's Saying Thursday's The Weekend", "Fading Like a Picture", "Olympia" and "Something We Are Overcoming" were promoted by the band in the lead-up to the release of their fourth album. The bands' fourth studio album, '' How Many Dreams?'' was released on 31 March 2023. The album launch also included a limited edition collaboration with British sportswear brand

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Musical style and influences

Their musical sound has led to comparisons to the bands

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

. They have also cited influence from

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

, New Order,

The Music The Music was an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the releas ...

and Dinosaur Jr in addition to

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

bands.

Members

* Tommy O'Dell – lead vocals * Matthew Mason – lead guitar, backing vocals * Johnny Took – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar

Touring musicians

* Joel Flyger – rhythm guitar * Jonathan Skourletos – bass guitar * Liam Hoskins – drums

Discography

* '' Hills End'' (2016) * '' For Now'' (2018) * '' The Glow'' (2020) * '' How Many Dreams?'' (2023)

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - , rowspan="2",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, themselves , Breakthrough Independent Artist , , rowspan="2", , - , ''DMA's'' , Best Independent Single/EP , , - , rowspan="3",

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, rowspan="2", ''The Glow'' , Independent Album of the Year , , rowspan="3", , - , Best Independent Rock Album or EP , , - , "Criminals" (The Avalanches remix) , Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single , , - , rowspan="3",

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, rowspan="2", I OH YOU/Mushroom Group for DMA's ''How Many Dreams?'' , Independent Marketing Team of the Year , , rowspan="3", , - , Independent Publicity Team of the Year , , - , Konstantin Kersting for DMA's ''How Many Dreams?'' , Independent Producer of the Year ,

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982. ! , - , rowspan="2",

, , rowspan="2", "Silver"
(Matthew Mason, Thomas O’Dell, John Took, Thomas Crandles, Liam Hoskins, Joel Flyger) , , Most Performed Alternative Work , , , , , - , Song of the Year , , , - ,

, rowspan="1", "Everybody's Saying Thursday's the Weekend"
(Matthew Mason, Thomas O'Dell, John Took, Liam Hoskins) , Most Performed Alternative Work , , rowspan="1", , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. DMA's have received 14 nominations. ! , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, ''Hills End'' , Breakthrough Artist , , rowspan="4", , - , rowspan="3",

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, rowspan="3", '' For Now'' , Best Group , , - , Best Independent Release , , - , Best Rock Album , , - , rowspan="5",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, rowspan="4", '' The Glow'' , Album of the Year , , rowspan="5", , - , Best Group , , - , Best Independent Release , , - , Best Rock Album , , - , Unplugged & Intimate, Laneway Festival , Best Australian Live Act , , - , rowspan="5",

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, rowspan="3", ''How Many Dreams?'' , Album of the Year , , rowspan="5",
, - , Best Group , , - , Best Rock Album , , - , Joel Burrows for DMA's – "Everybody's Saying Thursday's the Weekend" , Best Video , , - , DMA's Live at Falls Festival , Best Australian Live Act , , -

J Awards

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's youth-focused radio station

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

, ''For Now'' , Australian Album of the Year , , - ,

, ''The Glow'' , Australian Album of the Year ,

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) commenced in 2016 to recognise contributions to the live music industry in Australia. ! , - ,

, DMA's , NSW Act Voice of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" , DMA's , Best Indie/Rock/Alternative Act , , rowspan="2" , , - , Best Live Act in NSW ,

Rolling Stone Australia Awards

The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. ! , - , 2021 , "Life Is a Game of Changing" , Best Single , , , - , 2024 , DMA's , Rolling Stone Global Award , , , -

References

{{Authority control 2012 establishments in Australia ARIA Award winners Australian rock music groups Britpop revival groups Infectious Music artists Mom + Pop Music artists Musical groups from Sydney Musical groups established in 2012