In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet.       

This time we’re chatting with Dekleyn, an Australian duo with a knack for merging bouncy, danceable electronic music with alt-indie influences. 

The duo are perfect for any fans of LANY and Vallis Alps, pumping out an addictive blend of dance and indie music layered with impressive vocal melodies and a production style to impress even the most committed of audiophiles. Their third EP, Thrive, was well-received and acted as the perfect teaser for their upcoming self-titled debut album, which will land in 2020. Despite their uplifting musical style, their lyrics are often centred on meaningful and poignant subject matter. 

We landed a short interview with the pair, touching on everything from their upcoming album and the influences behind their lyrics. 

TMR: In general, what is your creative process like?

We usually start with an acoustic guitar and coming up with some chords and melodies. From there we will make a beat and some basic synths and a bass to work with and then start from there!

TMR: How has lockdown changed the way you approach music?

We have had a great experience with the lockdown situation in the sense that it’s given us more time to work on our music with less distractions. Our process has remained very focused as we’ve pushed to finish our debut album due later this year.

TMR: How did you balance the juxtaposition of the indie-like guitar loops and dance-like sidechaining on ‘One More Night’?

We used the upbeat drum beat with the toms to tie the lighter parts of the song (guitar loops, clicks) with the dancier, thicker synths. It gives the song a feeling of being light and relaxed, whilst also upbeat and fun.

TMR: ‘See Right Through Me’ also manages to blend a wide range of textural elements; where does your impressive production style come from?

Our production style is really just a development of ourselves over the years. We take influence from a number of bands such as The 1975 and LANY, so they are definitely somewhat shaping the sounds and instrumentation you hear in our music, but overall our sound and production has just evolved from what we know.

TMR: Your lyrics are quite introspective and emotive. Are these fictional stories or do they come from real-life experiences?

Our lyrics definitely lean towards fictional stories, however some of our newer ones have some real-life experience tied in with them. The album features a whole bunch of songs based on experiences from our own lives that are as emotive as we’ve ever been. We find fictional stories easier to write about most of the time.

TMR: Do you take influence from anything/anyone non-musical when composing?

I think we take a lot of influence from the people around us, friends and family, other artists that we find interesting etc. We try not to focus on anyone/anything in particular when trying to find influence. We generally work best when we just write what comes to us naturally, rather than trying to write something based off of someone/something’s influence.

TMR: Which track that we haven’t already heard from your self-titled debut are you most excited for your audience to hear?

‘What We Could Be’ and ‘Leave It To Me’ are two particularly exciting songs, one of which is our next single due in just a few weeks!

TMR: What sort of thing can we expect from the rest of the release?

More dance, more chill, more emotion. There’s still a huge mix of styles and musical approaches to come from our super diverse album.

TMR: Without live shows, what else do you have planned to engage with your audience?

We are currently trying to plan a tour for soon down the track, in the meantime we are focusing on getting these tracks out to our fans!

By Dan Peeke