The ever-vibrant and lyrically-immersive Dodie is no stranger to the world of public presence. The English singer-songwriter has crafted an ever-growing array of music across Spotify and Youtube over the past eight years, with over 415 million views on their work to date.
The indie-pop stalwart, once inseparable from their ukelele and known for their trademark yellow outfits (which have since inspired Dodie-yellow Pinterest boards), interweaves snippets of vulnerability in tender storytelling via YouTube videos shared with an audience of over 2 million subscribers. We got to spend an afternoon chatting with Dodie, fresh off the heels of their intimate Australian tour, where they played songs from their heartfelt latest EP ‘Hot Mess’.
Best Before: Hey, Dodie! I’ve been a fan of your music and YouTube for years now, so I’m excited to get to chat to you about your recent Australian tour! How’s it been performing in Australia for the first time?
Dodie: Aw , really? Thank you, that’s so nice! I’ve definitely traveled around Australia around 2014-2015, but I’m back and that feels really good. I did Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, all of which were amazing. Then I had a little holiday in Cairns, which was really nice, and I’m back in Sydney for the last few days.
That’s a solid rotation Out of the three shows you did, what did you feel stood out in comparison to other countries?
Oh my god, honestly, the energy. I said on stage, “You guys are hungry.” Everyone was just so fucking hyped for the show, which was so amazing, and they were honestly the perfect crowd. Sometimes if a crowd’s timid, I get a bit anxious, but then I think, “Oh that means they’re really listening in. If a crowd’s too hyped I worry sometimes, “Oh, I hope they’re not gonna get bored.” But they were ready for it all. I have to come back.
Sounds like it was a blast. One thing I’m curious about is whether anyone in the crowd asked you to do a shoey.
I was reading a few signs and I asked the crowd if I should do a shoey. There was a sign for a shoey and the whole crowd was like, “NO! It’s gross!” The person holding up the sign was like, “Aw, nevermind.” Kind of wish I did it, but also – gross.
What’ve been some of the highlights here in Australia outside of performing?
The skyrail in Cairns is so beautiful! Have you been on it?
Ah no I haven’t!
Oh my God, it’s gorgeous. It travels over the oldest rainforest in the world and we went on it twice. It’s so magical, the sounds sound like jungle effects but it’s just the jungle, really cool! We traveled to the Blue Mountains to meet a friend, as well. Plus I got to meet kangaroos, which was cool.
[Laughs] I respect that. How was bringing in new material from your ‘Hot Mess’ EP to Australia for the first time?
Dodie: It was so amazing! Everyone was singing the words to all these new songs, which is a privilege I get to have when I play older songs, because they’ve been out for much longer. People sang almost, if not just as, loud to these songs which is an addition I never want to expect, but it’s always amazing when I hear it. It is cool and interesting though to hear my timeline in a set unfold, and it’s so fun to go back in time and remember where I was when I wrote them and what I was feeling.
“Growing up lends itself to feeling more confident in so many ways – whether that’s in my writing, or communicating what I want or need when working with others.”
A lot of these songs can come from vulnerable moments or personal experiences that influence these tracks. How does it feel when you perform some of these older songs as a more wisened and mature Dodie? Do the memories and feelings once experienced at the time of the song’s creation still linger when you perform them now?
Honestly, it feels amazing because things can feel so heavy when they’re just heavy feelings soup in your brain. But firstly, writing’s a processing thing for me. I really get to understand how I’m feeling and what I need, just from writing a song and looking at it. Then when I get to bring it to shows, a year or two down the line after I’ve gone through it and processed it, it feels great when I get to look back on it as a package of what I’ve overcome and gone through rather than something I’m currently dealing with or experiencing in the moment. The context of that weight changes and it becomes something I’m proud of, which is something I haven’t realised until you said it, so thank you.
With that in mind, you’ve talked about how writing can be a therapeutic process to work through what you’re experiencing. How do you find that balance and that fine line of managing that vulnerability to not feel like you’re oversharing in your music?
Because I used to overshare in a way where I’d blast out online with no boundaries at all, I feel like writing songs is a boundary in itself. I can hide in the poetry and feel protected enough. I will say, that sometimes I do wanna write about things that are in my personal life and I simply can’t because they are around me. I love my friends and family, so I can’t. But it’s a shame – I wish I could. Maybe I’ll write them secretly just for me, but then I’ll want to release them so it’s hard.
With ‘Hot Mess’, it was an interesting listen seeing these four tracks feel sonically different from one another, while feeling like they still fall nicely under one collective roof. What was the process like in terms of curating and selecting the final tracks on the EP?
I’m someone who doesn’t write a lot of songs at one time. I write songs when I feel like I should. So when I felt like it was the right time for a new package of songs to form, I naturally had these four. They sort of fit the theme, in a way. I feel that life makes themes by itself, but these songs were written across various points in life and moods and where my heart was.
Out of the four, what’s been your personal favorite to record and perform?
Oh man, recording “Hot Mess” and “Lonely Bones” specifically. “Hot Mess” was so chaotic and we added in layers, and layers, and layers to make it sound like it really grew, and was crazy in this mess. Also now, when I sing it I do this high note at the very end so I get a big adrenaline spike at the very end. “Lonely Bones” was recorded mostly in my bedroom and my producer Pete (Peter Miles) added snares, drums, and we added gang vocals. Obviously, playing that live feels amazing, seeing everyone sing along with the “lalala”.
Going into “Hot Mess” as well, you’ve shared a lot about your personal life and songwriting process on YouTube. What do you feel are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in yourself in how you approach making music, and how you approach sharing online and maintaining your personal life at the same time?
Growing up lends itself to feeling more confident in so many ways – whether that’s in my writing, or communicating what I want or need when working with others. In terms of vulnerability, I feel very similar. I don’t think my lyrical style has changed too much over the years but my sounds definitely have. As my general understanding of theory and what I like has grown, I definitely feel braver now in terms of what I want to make.
“Because I used to overshare in a way where I’d blast out online with no boundaries at all, I feel like writing songs is a boundary in itself.”
If you could get all the different versions of yourself in a room to write songs together, what type of EP or songs would you come out with at the end?
Oh my, I don’t know! Do you know what? This is gonna be a bit of a boring answer but probably the one I’ve got now. I think I carry all the past versions of myself with me constantly, like I can dip back into 2019, 2018, or 2012 Dodie, even. So probably I’d come out with what my next song would be, which I don’t know yet.
I remember seeing different versions of your tracks like “Would You Be So Kind” being performed on the tour bus, listening to that over and over again. Are we likely to see variations like that in the future again? Where you would perform your songs of old and new in different contexts and settings like that as well?
I really should! That’s one of my favorite snapshots in time, I love it so much. It’s so full and you can tell I was so excited. I really should, I’ve gotta figure it out. I feel like “Lonely Bones” could be one of them. I’ve done a few songs in abandoned pools and they’d bring a giant echo in, which is pretty sick.
When it comes to the overall creation process for ‘Hot Mess’ visually, what were the main things you really wanted to bring across in the creative concept?
My amazing flatmate and creative friend directed the ‘Hot Mess’ EP artwork and theatrics that we did. She is so intentional and careful about building a world around the music, to understand what the world is about. We decided it’d be very tactile and fabric, while having some darkness flowing through it.
In terms of creating that world and having that light and darkness, did you want to create something that felt interconnected with your other bodies of work, or like its own standalone piece separated in time?
In terms of what I’m attracted to, colour palettes and aesthetics, things will feel coherent over time. But I definitely knew ‘Hot Mess’ was a standalone project, something in between bigger projects. I wanted it to feel a bit outside of my other work and a bit different.
What was something you were really anticipating ahead of your Aussie shows and how much of that anticipation changed?
I knew I wanted to come back with a big band, and I was right. It was an intimate experience because it was just me, and I made sure to have more time for talking. I forgot how much I missed that – off-the-cuff, let’s see what happens type of thing. I never really wanna put it in there because I like feeling scripted and structured and having something to say. It makes me feel comfortable. But I actually felt equally comfortable this time, having space to talk to the crowd, which was really nice.
That’s really lovely. Looking back on that back in terms, was having that off-the-cuff improv early on?
It was definitely there in the earlier stages but I didn’t have the confidence yet to really use it. So, we adapted to that and I gave myself a strong structure. Ironically once that was put in place, that was when I finally felt confident enough to not have it. So it’s good to have both versions of the show.
When you’re getting into the thick of things and getting ready to adapt to anything that might happen, what’s your favorite pre-show ritual and has it changed over the years?
We used to have this this certain niche gospel song that our friend Martin found on Spotify called “Desire”. It’s got seven key changes – we know every beat and every word. We’re not religious, but it’s a banger. We used to play this game called Zimmy Zimmy, I used to put glitter on everyone, and now I pretty much just do the glitter. We’ve just done so many shows where we can’t be arsed for this or that. But I put glitter on everyone’s cheeks and we all usually drink tectonic which is a combination of tequila and tonic.
“I’ve done a few songs in abandoned pools and they’d bring a giant echo in, which is pretty sick.”
Going off the intimate experience, what would you say are the things in hindsight you’d wanna take into your shows moving forward?
The freedom. The large chunk of time where I can chat and interact cause shit happens and I don’t plan it. I remember before the show I was like, ‘The crowd really laughed at me, I think I’m really funny. But I have no idea what I said.” But it happens. I get the confidence of, “Oh! I’m a funny guy,” because the crowd will laugh because they’re kind, and I’m like, let’s go.
I remember seeing photos from your shows in New York from a colleague of mine, Deanie Chen.
Oh my god, I love her! She’s so talented.
Seeing all those photos made me feel FOMO from how pretty the night looked. When you do come back, what’re some things on top of the big band visually you’d like to bring for the Australian fans?
We just have this big version of the show where we’ve added little parts to make it magical and more music theater-ey. There’s a big version with props and we’ve built a little bedroom for me to sing the more intimate songs in. Specifically, there’s a moment in “Sorry” that bursts through, and Gret (Greta Isaac), my creative director had this brilliant idea of having snow fall down from above, and it just looks amazing! I just want to bring it to everyone.
Just before we wrap up, if you could go back and meet year one Dodie, spending a minute to chat with her, what would you wanna say?
I’d wanna be like, “Save some things not to be shared online.” But I’d probably tell her it’ll all be okay. I wouldn’t wanna change anything since I think everything happens for a reason.
Watch Dodie perform their ‘Hot Mess’ EP live:
Photos by Dominique Berns-Blackwell.