Dumbhead make music that’s really exciting to listen to
A chat with Zach and Maayan 
Photos by Christopher Arblaster & Harry Baker

One of my favourite pastimes recently has been riding my bike around listening to Dumbhead. Their music is sharp, strange and emotionally resonant. It’s airy and heavy at the same time, thanks to the band's punchy production layered under vocals that I reckon fit the adjective - Floaty. Band members Maayan Barnatan, Billie Raffety and Zach Salmon have been making music for a sustained period of time now and beneath their banter, there’s a clear-driven enthusiasm for what they do, both making music and immersing themselves in it. 

Performed with guitars and synth, skeletal loops, dubby pulses, analogue blips and trumpets (shout out Henry), tied together with those aforementioned floaty, and equally pensive vocals. On paper, it seems like a lot, but Dumbhead’s sound remains sparsely curated. The trio is underpinned by a palpable joy in experimentation that makes them really exciting to listen to.

I spoke to Zach and Maayan at the pub a long time ago while Billie was riding her bike across Europe. Their new self-titled EP just came out and it’s really good, so here’s the somewhat outdated interview to promote that.




What was the first song you guys learned on guitar?

Zach: Oh, probably Smoke on the Water

Maayan: I think I learned Seven Nation Army. I remember my dad teaching me that. At my school, in like year three, we got this badass music teacher called Sue who taught us Brazilian and Spanish stuff.

Zach: I think I actually learned songs on the ukulele before I learned any songs on the guitar. When I was like 10 or something me and my dad used to get ukulele lessons together [laughs]. We'd go to this uke night on a Sunday or something, it was probably like 30 people playing these songs on ukulele all at the same time. It was actually really sick.

Have you always wanted to make music?

Maayan: Yeah. Ah, actually, my first dream was probably to be a soccer player when I was real young and then from when I learned to play guitar at like 10, I wanted to make music.

Zach: I was gonna do film, and then in year 10 or 11, I got into DJing, and I really wanted to be a DJ because I watched ‘The Get Down’. And then through that, I started wanting to produce. In the end, I just wanted to make music, and then it kind of just worked out. I remember Maayan showing me these new beats that he was making that were way different to all his other stuff. I remember being like, ‘Oh damn, this is sick.’ And then you were like, ‘Oh, do you want to do this?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I'm in.’

What's your music-making process? Does someone come in with an idea or a draft, and you work from there or is it made all together?

Zach: Yeah, in the past, it has mainly been Maayan bringing stuff in, and then more recently, I was bringing stuff in, but it's definitely a mix now. The way we make music has definitely evolved, which is cool. But, yeah, I kind of like it how we don't always do it the one way, like, we'll either bring ideas or do it together, but it's always kind of like someone's got something and we go from there. So it's definitely fun, and Billy also has this incredible ability where no matter what idea you give her, she'll instantly sing a fully fleshed verse with the most amazing melodies, and the lyrics are awesome, like straight out of the gate. I swear, right at the end of the last recording session we did, I brought an idea and Billie did one take on it, and it nearly made me cry. It was so beautiful.

Woah



Zach: Yeah, dude, literally just so nonchalant like, ‘Oh yeah, maybe it's alright’ and we're just up against the wall, like, ‘Holy shit’ [laughs]. 
 It’s also sick how Maayan’s voice and Billy's voice work really well together when they sing at the same time. I fully get goosebumps on stage. I’m always getting goosebumps when we're playing.

You guys live together. Do you have a studio setup where you make music at home?

Zach: We’re usually just both making stuff in our room. But one of our housemates is moving out soon, so we're gonna turn that room into a studio. They've got a really sick room outside of the house, it's like a converted shed. It's a sick setup. A lot of the time, I'm at home, living, and then also working in a way. Making music, mixing and mastering all in my bedroom, and just living in my room. I'm keen to be able to work, not in my room.

Yeah, it's nice to have a separate spot

Maayan: Honestly, it will be so nice to walk out into the shed with a coffee in hand [laughs]

Zach: Yeah. As soon as our housemate told me, I was like, ‘Oh man, damn, that sucks, ’ and then literally went straight into his room and was eyeing it up. He's like, ‘what the fuck man’ [laughs]. I was like, ‘I'm sorry. I’m not excited for you to leave, but I’m just really excited to have this space.’

Do you guys see yourself as a trip-hop band?

Maayan: Well, to me, trip-hop is already a mixed genre. It's like jazz, R’n’b, and hip-hop mixed together.I think it's cool to incorporate a trip-hop kind of thing. I don't reckon we’re strictly trip hop in that way, though. I would say we’re trip-hop influenced, but I don't reckon we’re necessarily trip-hop.

Zach: When people ask what music we do, I just say triphop. It's the easiest because it's already such a blanket genre. Obviously, I love Portishead, Massive Attack and Tricky and all that nineties kind of UK scene. But I’m definitely not making music and being like I wanna make a beat like this, you know? It’s normally pretty far from that in a lot of ways.

Maayan: I think it’s not referencing trip hop, but it’s drawing from the same place that they came from. It’s like Jazz and Hip Hop are what we listen to, so it’s coming from similar areas, and it has a sort of similar sound. We just like to make heaps of different shit

Zach: Yeah, I mean, for me, it's like, I like electronic elements in music, and I like acoustic elements. And it's just blending those in new ways is what I find the most exciting. Transforming sounds into different sounds.

Maayan: Yeah, I reckon, my favourite artists are people like your Bjork, that just have heaps of different beats and different styles, but it's all recognisable as her voice and just general vibe, same as Black Francis from Pixies. In one of his interviews, he says something like, ‘Whatever a song is, that's just what we're doing.’

Yeah, that's awesome, I love Pixies. Radiohead have a similar thing, where they're recognisable but all their music is so different. Do you take any inspiration from that?

 Maayan: Yeah. I’ve been in a big Radiohead hole recently

Zach: Yeah, I've been bumping Kid A heaps

Maayan: They're one of those bands I listen to, and just want to make music after.

Zach: Yeah, I love Radiohead because all the individual members do their own different things, and they're all beasts. I really like those types of bands where it's like, together, they're a fucking powerhouse, but then also individually, they have so much to offer. It's really cool.

Have you heard that Tom Yorke, MF Doom remix?

Maayan: Oh dude, yeah, ‘Gazillion Ear’. I used that as a pure reference track for a beat I made in uni.  

Zach: Yeah, that song is so eerie, but so driving. I love how it's got that moody pad and the high hats. It's like, not even that much happening, but it's so much happening. It's so good.

Maayan: Oh man, I wanna listen to that song now [laughs]

So Billy's in Europe right now?

Maayan: Yeah, she is. I think she's in Germany right now. Could be past Germany. I know they've gone like over 250 K’s already. 

What’s she doing over there?

Maayan: Bikepacking

Zach: It’s so crazy. It's Billy and Rory, her partner. They started in Amsterdam, and the end goal is India or something.

Holy shit. Are they big bikepackers?

Maayan: Uh, yeah. They were training. They did a 2-week ride to Wollongong. I think Billy broke a toe from dropping a beer glass on it, so they had to cancel it at one point. But yeah, they’ve both got really sick bikes with all the gear and everything.

How was making your music video for ‘want light!’? It turned out really good

Maayan: It was really fun. It was our first music video, and we just asked Finn [Morris] if he wanted to make a video. It was a really small production. Just him and us. That was it. We were doing all the gaffering and lights and stuff.

Zach: It was kind of just like friends making it together. It wasn't like, I don't know, a big film thing. I've been on film sets before, and it can be very like, ‘you don't know what you're doing. Shut up and sit over there,’ and I don't know, I don't like that energy. But Finn’s good, he knows what he is doing, but he’s also not too full on.
I got really sick, though. When we were shooting this little bit where I'm in the city and I'm pouring wine all over myself, I was so sick. It was fucked. I was just like smacked, for two days straight on cold and flu medicine and then like, still drinking. So I was in this weird daze. And I just remember sitting on the dolly getting pushed down the street right in the middle of the city, and all these people looking at me, I was just in the weirdest state [laughs].

You killed that shot, though. Sacrificed the white singlet.


Maayan: Yeah. You’ve still got that singlet as well

Zach: Yeah, yeah. If anyone wants to buy that…[laughs]

Maayan: But yeah, it was really fun. We got on Rage. That was fucking sick.

No way!

Zach: Yeah, it's crazy. I always watched Rage when I was younger. And then seeing the music video on there and seeing the Rage logo at the start, it was so awesome.

Do you like being a part of Melbourne’s music scene?

Zach: Yeah, it's cool to be a part of. I feel like what we are doing is very accepted and very involved. And then also being in the scene and showing that love for other people and other artists and playing shows with your friends, there's this whole community that's coming out. Yeah, I dunno, it's just a very good energy.

Maayan: It feels like everyone's working together. Everyone's uplifting each other. 

What’s most important for you guys making music together?

Maayan: It's so corny, but I reckon staying true to what we're doing and not trying to please anyone else, but ourselves. I feel like that’s just the fundamentals of what it means to make art or music or anything like that, I guess

Zach: And, making stuff that we're excited about. Keeping it fresh. Not trying to do the same thing over and over.  

Maayan: Yeah, just developing as well, I reckon, is pretty important, like, not staying stagnant

Zach: But yeah, I feel like we're all quite critical in our own ways. So I don't think an idea is ever going to get past if we're not all keen on it, you know, which I think is really good.

Maayan: Yeah, communication in the band is really important, I reckon, like, making sure everyone's happy at the end of the day is important. We're just making sure that we’re having fun and don't get too lost in the sauce.

Zach: I find it easy to get lost in the sauce. But I think it's good because we all have very varying music tastes, but also similar in a lot of ways as well. And we all have different inputs and different talents. So I think, especially this year, we've gotten to a really good place of being able to bring it all together.