NewDad spoke to NME at Glastonbury 2024 about the major milestones they have reached this year, as well as looking towards their next steps as a band.
Vocalist and guitarist Julie Dawson and bassist Cara Joshi caught up with us backstage, shortly after they performed at Woodsies on Sunday (June 30). Their Glasto appearance followed a huge few months for the Galway band, who became NME Cover stars ahead of the January release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Madra’.
In May, they embarked on an “unexpected” tour with Luke Hemmings. The 5 Seconds Of Summer frontman recently released his second LP ‘Boy’, and NewDad opened for him across a slew of UK and European dates. The experience, Joshi explained, was one that not only had a personal significance, but also led to the band being exposed to a new audience. “We are both 5SOS fans, so it was so much fun to tour with Luke,” Joshi said. “It was strange and so exciting.”
Joshi also suggested that, for Hemmings’ largely teenage following, seeing NewDad live may have offered them a gateway into shoegaze music. “I feel like there were people who were like, ‘I don’t usually listen to this sort of music and I don’t know who you are [as a band] but I want to explore it now’.
“Usually, when you’re a support band, people don’t pay too much attention to you,” Dawson added. “But these fans were showing up so early and seemed so excited by our music. They were really keen to see us and made such an effort.”
She continued: “It was also an opportunity for us to play to a different type of crowd compared to what we are used to – an entirely new demographic. They were way younger, and seem to experience concerts in a different way. It was so special.”
On stage at Woodsies, the Galway band performed a cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’, which recently did the rounds on social media after becoming a staple of their live set. Their gloriously faithful take on the track led to a Twitter follow from Robert Smith, Dawson said. “There are so many amazing songs by The Cure that we could cover, but we all gravitated towards that one. It’s fun to put your own spin on a song, and hopefully we do it justice.”
They also hinted at what the rest of 2024 holds for NewDad, including their first live shows in Japan this October, alongside starting work on their second full-length album. “We’ve been doing a lot of writing. I don’t think we’ve really figured out where we’re going but we have a lot of great songs that we’re just trying to nail down,” Dawson said of album two.
“We are so busy with live shows at the moment but hopefully after Christmas we will be able to get back into the studio. We are writing some really good tunes. I am so, so excited for the next step.”
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