The Dreggs Feel Alive Interview

For Fans Of: Ben Howard | City and Colour

The Dreggs, a two-piece indie-folk duo who formed in mid 2017, have been making their way through the music scene at a steady speed. The pair of musicians from Bribie Island, a small town in South-East Queensland, formed The Dreggs on the Sunshine Coast, infusing a mixture of summer vibes and wintery folk in the one unique sound.

The Dreggs latest single release, Feel Alive, gives a good insight into yet another punchy, fun 'foot-tapper', providing the perfect segue into the release of their EP Seas Embrace. Feel Alive is about learning to appreciate life and finding a way out of being stuck in one place with no way out, which compliments the theme of the album.

Written by The Dreggs and produced by Jordan Power, from Inky Studios in Byron Bay, the track forms a catchy and fun melody, bringing with it a big chorus and unique sound. Feel Alive was written with the intention to make people want to dance and feel a sense of happiness when being listened to. The Dreggs, made up of Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris, formed in 2017 with the coastline at their feet. Growing up on a small island town south of Caloundra, they infused their love for the ocean and passion for music into one sound. Since the release of their debut single, Give Myself To You, the duo found a significant response from a variety of people and venues. As well as allowing more opportunities to showcase their music, The Dreggs have received positive reviews on platforms such as Triple J Unearthed and their respective social media pages.

With the release of the Seas Embrace EP, the duo have been working on organising an east coast tour, heading south passed the border from their home in Sunshine Coast, to showcase their EP and expand their fanbase.

'Feel Alive' is available now in digital stores.
The 'Seas Embrace' EP was released on the 11th of May 2018.

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Interview with The Dreggs

Question: How would you describe your music?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: We enjoy toying with a range of emotions and sounds when we write. Our tracks can often alternate between being upbeat and energetic to sombre and atmospheric; it depends on what emotion we are trying to convey. Categorically, our music is Indi-Folk, but we try not to fall into the trap of being too repetitive.


Question: What inspired the single, Feel Alive?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: Feel Alive was the very first piece Zane and myself wrote when we came together as The Dreggs. The song was written as a reflection of how we felt at the time; all our tracks are reflective in some way. We both felt we were stuck in a rut and music was our ticket out, which is why the song is about running away and finding a place 'where the grass is greener on the other side."


Question: What can we expect from the Seas Embrace EP?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: We wrote the Seas Embrace EP relatively early in our music career. The EP, in itself, is quite experimental in a lot of ways, as at the time we were finding our groove and toying with a lot of ideas. We describe ourselves as an Indi-Folk duo, however, some tracks on the EP veer away from this genre. We decided to run with these ideas because, music tastes aside, we enjoyed writing and recording them. People can expect, for the most part, folky foot-stompers on the EP, which is our primary sound, however, there are a couple groovy pop-reggae tracks throwing a curveball in the mix.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: Our favourite song to perform live would be Give Myself To You. This was the first song we officially released as The Dreggs and seems to be the one most people know. There's a lot of energy in the song which is a heap of fun on stage, mixed with the great feeling of watching people sing along and dance.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: Both sides are enjoyable and recording the EP in Byron Bay was a lot of fun, however, performing live is definitely the way to go. We put a heap of work into our stage presence and sound, which is why we prefer to be up on stage rather than in a studio.


Question: What is the story behind the name, The Dreggs?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: At the time we were struggling to find our name. One day, we were recording a video of us covering a song, to which Zane said when we'd finished playing, 'let's look at these couple of dreggs." At that moment, we looked at each other as if a lightbulb moment had occurred, and ever since the name has stuck. We think it suits us a little too well sometimes.

Question: How did the band come together?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: We lived down the road from each other all our lives without ever knowing, and it wasn't until a mutual friend introduced us that we started jamming together. We clicked very quickly, and it was only two weeks after meeting that we organised our first gig. We realised soon after that we were so in sync with each other's music tastes and ideas, so we ran with it. Now, we're good friends first and The Dreggs second… mixed with the fact that we now live in the same house too.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: Most of our tracks are reflective of how we are feeling at the time as individuals and as The Dreggs"they tell a story. There is nothing that motivates us more than the need to express our emotions through writing. Our tracks are the result of an emotion either of us felt at the time and then written with enough ambiguity for others to relate to it in their own way.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: We never have a bad time listening to the likes of Ben Howard, City and Colour, and Angus & Julia Stone, to name a few.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: Both of us grew up as musicians and somewhere in the back of our minds that whole time we both wanted to express ourselves for a living. When Zane and myself met, we were both going through some rough times and found consolation in music. It sounds lame, and it is, but we found inspiration in each other to push through our personal battles and pursue the music industry.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?
Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris: Obviously it would be a dream come true to collaborate with the likes of Ben Howard, City and Colour, or Angus & Julia Stone. Other artists like Ziggy Alberts, The Paper Kites, Kyle Lionhart would be interesting to work with.


Interview by Brooke Hunter