Three vocalists. One seismic rhythm section. A maelstrom of shoegaze, post-punk, and unrelenting DIY spirit
Emerging from Melbourne’s vibrant underground, The 1980s have cemented their reputation as sonic visionaries, transforming existential collapse into anthems that resonate with raw urgency.
Since their 2024 debut Welcome to … The 1980s—a raucous introduction marked by standouts like Grapes and Gravy—the band has honed a signature blend of shoegaze grandeur and post-punk ferocity, a duality that reaches its zenith on their sophomore EP, Decade of Decline.
What sets The 1980s apart is their collaborative combustion.
The band now features three vocalists, weaving dynamic layers into their wall-of-noise aesthetic, while Julian Hammond’s metronomic bass and Ben Rankins’ thunderous drums anchor their explosive sound.
Their music is a testament to Melbourne’s DIY ethos, polished by mixer Matt Voigt and mastering engineer Chris Downer into a raw and rhythmic musical storm.
Their evolution is palpable. Listen to their music here and catch our interview with them below.
HAPPY: Your new EP Decade of Decline has a punchier, denser sound compared to your debut. What inspired this shift in production, and how did working with Finn Keane, Matt Voigt, and Chris Downer shape the final result?
THE 1980S: We were really happy with the sound of our debut EP Welcome to… The 1980s, and for that we also worked with Finn (engineering at Head Gap), Matt (mixing) and Chris (Digital Downz mastering).
The growth in the sonics of our new EP Decade of Decline not only reflects us as a band better understanding the sound we are seeking, but also the production team having worked with us already and getting to know The 1980s with more depth.
During the recording process at (the sadly-missed) Head Gap Studios, Finn really locked in the rhythm section and pushed us on fuller guitar sounds to set the tone.
His guitar and effects pedal suggestions made for a more layered, mature sound on this EP.
As an aside, our two guitarists Dan and Old Gold immediately invested in a range of new guitar pedals to reproduce these sounds for our live set!
With Matt Voigt’s vast experience in the industry (working with acts like Cat Power, Midnight Oil, Hoodlum Shouts), he just nailed a clarity and punch in the very first mix of each of the EP’s songs, crystallising The 1980s’ guitar interplay, rumbling bass and nuanced drum arrangements.
This allowed us, with Matt, to rapidly shift focus to refining specific sonics for the instrumentation and vocals, to accentuate the highlights and darklights in each song, and to have them jump from the speakers (or headphones if that’s your poison).
Matt’s expertise, patience (!!) and collaborative nature gave such a lift to the sonics of this EP.
Then Chris stepped up to put on the cream, giving all four songs a consistent richness without compromising any of Matt’s timbre.
An amazing three guys to work with!
HAPPY: The EP features three different vocalists across the tracks. How does this dynamic influence your songwriting process, and do you think it gives The 1980s a unique edge in the indie scene?
THE 1980S: As a band, if you want to make the most of all the talents and ideas that emerge in the songwriting process, you’ve got to leave your egos at the door.
And that mindset provides the freedom in The 1980s for any of us to input into the lyrics or singing of a new song.
For example, the song ‘Decade of Decline’ was brought to the band room by guitarist Dan with lyrics and music almost fully formed, so he rode the vocals all the way on that one.
Dan also brought the bones of the ‘Everybody’s Fine’ melody, and during months of its musical development, guitarist Old Gold recorded vocal demos at home.
When he circulated those to us all, the song then evolved itself to fit around that storytelling.
In contrast, ‘Way Out’ began with Old Gold’s guitar riff, with drummer Ben this time laying down vocal demos at home, then giving them to Old Gold to sing.
Ben’s first verse survived along with his simple yet super-catchy ‘loose’ chorus … where he also managed to squeeze in words with five syllables (quite a feat in the world of rock)!
Old Gold went about re-writing the second verse and added lyrics for the song’s frenetic finale.
Meanwhile, ‘Sun Beats’ started with Dan’s musical arrangement and Ben again writing the initial lyrics, then handing them over to Old Gold who re-wrote aspects to suit his singing approach.
But when recording ‘Sun Beats’ in the studio, we decided that Old Gold and Ben should join forces on the mics, and that’s what you now hear on the EP – a duet as sweet as I’slands in the Stream’ (with Old Gold playing the part of Dolly Parton)!
And with three of us willing to experiment vocally, this means we can also interrogate a range of backing or accompanying vocal ideas to add layers and atmospheres to our songs.
Having three vocalists does bring a uniqueness to how our songs evolve and solidify, but we wouldn’t say it brings us an edge in the scene per se.
What is important is that none of us in the band is precious about our contributions, so our lyric and vocal ideas will live and die as needed.
And that ability to let go of an idea that’s not progressing a song to a better version of itself is the real edge in The 1980s.
HAPPY: Can you tell us about the creative process behind the opening track, ‘Everybody’s Fine,’ and how it sets the tone for the EP?
THE 1980S: It is not by chance that ‘Everybody’s Fine’ opens the new EP.
It really captures the multi-facets of The 1980s’ sound – times of space and melody, layers of effect, periods of sonic assault, a metronome of a bass, drums signalling changes, and vocals that rarely adhere to a verse/chorus arrangement.
It’s how we love to play live and in the band room.
The creation of ‘Everybody’s Fine’ was a patchwork of songwriting processes and tough decision-making, right to the very conclusion of the mixing phase.
Never straying from by Jack Black’s mantra in Tenacious D, “always record, always record!” we captured some loose rehearsal jams over several months.
As an experiment in his home studio, Old Gold cut-and-pasted different sections from these recordings into a single song idea, and we liked it immediately.
We then went about learning this new arrangement and started road-testing it in our live sets, and audiences really dug it.
Back in the home studio, Old Gold was trialling vocal arrangements which helped bed-down much of the song’s final structure.
However, when it came to recording at Head Gap Studios, two vocal sections weren’t quite sitting right.
So the night before climbing into the vocal booth, new lyrics with new phrasing were written for the two sections in question.
After listening to the rough mixes post-recording, we realised that some sections needed a subtle lift.
So in the mixing process, a back-and-forth with Matt Voigt ensued over weeks, where Matt made real a slew of enhancements that we felt were needed.
We added the atmospheric guitar wash of the opening, removed a section of verse to allow a throwaway backing vocal (‘Everybody!’) to come forward anthemically, and added reverse guitar throughout much of the song’s first stanzas.
Later in the song, we stripped out a whole section of lyrics, and some guitar melody, to create space for the bass and the song itself, to better set up the song’s cathartic finale.
Then we had to re-learn this new adaptation to faithfully deliver it live!
As a side note, we love placing trainspotter moments in our songs.
At the time of re-writing the lyrics, Old Gold was immersed in the Get Back documentary, so there’s a subtle nod to The Beatles buried in the words – can you pick it?
And after watching Get Back’s almost 8 hours, Old Gold commented that “The Beatles’ writing process is exactly like ours … the only difference is, they had more money, more time, and everything they wrote was a worldwide hit!”
Well, ‘Everybody’s Fine’ might not become a worldwide hit, but we are proud of our almost 8 minutes of indie pop/shoegaze bliss!
HAPPY: You’ve mentioned that ‘Way Out’ is lyrically darker than the other tracks. What’s the story behind this song, and how does its intensity reflect the band’s evolution?
THE 1980S: I don’t think ‘Way Out’ signals anything specific about our evolution as a band, because we’ve always swung between light and shade with our songs.
But it is the most compact song of our two EPs, and knowing what we’ve currently got in the works, it is a forerunner of some tighter, less sprawling songs to complement the shoegaze epics we love to dabble in.
‘Way Out’ is simply a song about a relationship in free-fall, searching for strands to pull it back from the brink, but all the while knowing that there’s really no saving it – “I can’t see a way out!”
We really loved the simplicity of Ben’s lyrics from the get-go, especially that kinda chorus with its “You! … Me! …”
And like any disintegrating relationship, there are moments of hope, “Can you make it spark?” And then there is Old Gold’s ambiguous last line before the frenetic ending, “Can I see a way out?”
Is it a way out of this mess for good, or is it a way of out of the darkness to save the relationship?
Then again, ‘Way Out’ could be about a coughing fit, in a crowded restaurant, in the midst of flu season, when you’re on a first date, and she lights a cigarette out of embarrassment, and her smoking sets off the ceiling sprinklers ….
HAPPY: The title track, Decade of Decline, feels like an anthem for the times. What message or feeling were you hoping to convey with this song, and why does it close out the EP?
THE 1980S: This song of Dan’s was spawned from a night in Hong Kong, drinking baijiu, dipping soy sauce, and listening to Stevie Wonder.
Think Lost in Translation. After too many rounds of karaoke, a friend launched into a backspin, came up limping and cursing, then hobbled off into the night … but not before extolling these parting words, “40… it’s the decade of decline, that’s when the shit starts to unravel.”
Dan liked it, took it for what it was without reading too much into it, and used the phrase as the starting point for a new song, which grew into Decade of Decline.
Whilst we’ve never really thought of this song as delivering a message, it certainly delivers a feeling!
‘Decade of Decline’ is often our gig-opener, so it felt natural to start the EP with it as well.
But after the mix and mastering, we couldn’t go past ‘Everybody’s Fine’ as the first track. From that epic, the EP drifts a little darker and more intense song by song … until ‘Decade of Decline.’
Its bouncy, buoyant nature, with jangling guitars of bright delays and warm distortion, gave us the loud, joyous pop song needed to close out the EP.
And why not end an EP chanting the anthem, “Black Cab fried my ears on the inside!” ?
Maybe there’s a message there after all?
HAPPY: How does ‘Decade of Decline’ build on or diverge from the sound and themes of your debut EP, Welcome to… The 1980s?
THE 1980S: Our debut EP, Welcome to… The 1980s”more heavily leaned into our shoegaze element, with guitars laying on reverbs, delays and sweeps, whilst bass and drums simply drove through that wall-of-sound.
Vocally too, the lush, reverbed backing vocals really cemented that EP’s shoegaze quality.
Two of the EP’s tracks, ‘Come For You’ and ‘Nothing So,’ received regular comparisons to bands like Interpol, Ride and Bailter Space.
And it’s no secret that we love those bands.
But one song on that EP, ‘Grapes and Gravy,’ captured our audience’s attention for different reasons.
Right to its very last strum, Dan’s rolling, story-telling vocals, backed by a cleaner, grittier, straighter-edge sound, is a slight departure from the EP’s three other songs.
It’s also one of those songs that, once you reach its end, you’re not quite sure how you got there given its simple beginnings.
For these qualities, it would have comfortably sat as part of our new EP’s playlist.
It was also the last song written for our debut EP, so in hindsight, Grapes and Gravy probably signposted the direction that our Decade of Decline EP was to take.
HAPPY: You’ve collaborated with Melbourne female artists for both EP artworks. Why is this partnership important to the band, and how does visual art tie into your music?
THE 1980S: After playing a nearby benefit show, we attended an exhibition opening by Melbourne female artists, and one artwork immediately leapt off the wall at us.
That work by the artist Nicole Kemp, sister of our guitarist Old Gold, brandished a slogan in four parts, and that slogan read, “Stop! Stop for Lunch. It takes a lot of energy to smash the Patriarchy.”
The design and attitude was so punk rock. And despite the family connection, the artistic and sociopolitical sensibilities of the work absolutely aligned with The 1980s.
So it was a no-brainer for that work to adorn the cover of our first EP, “Welcome to… The 1980s”. The response it received from our audiences was incredibly satisfying as they communicated their connection with the artwork.
Since then, we’ve continued to collaborate with Kemp, on posters, video projections and, of course, using another of her works for the cover of the Decade of Decline EP.
This cover art has again garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback from our audiences.
The artwork continues to invoke the punk aesthetic, but we also regarded the work’s ‘red curtain’ as a homage to a band hero, David Lynch, who passed away during the final stages of the EP’s production.
If you dive deeper still into both EP covers, you realise that the original Kemp works are not painted, drawn or digitally designed, but are textile artworks – an art medium largely ignored by the male-subjugated art world.
Their photography for the EP covers was executed by Melbourne artist Leanne Poole, who superbly captured the essence of the original creations.
Check out more of Nicole Kemp’s work on Instagram.
Serendipitously at that same exhibition, we struck up a conversation with a patron dressed as a slice of pizza – we kid you not!
His partner soon appeared, and she was the fashion designer Tess Hoenig (check her work here).
She dug our music, we dug her designs, so we too began collaborating.
Many of her works have become part of our gig projections alongside other local female artists.
These generous collaborators have now established a visual aesthetic for The 1980s, from poster imagery, to T-shirt designs, to the video art used at gigs.
And we are always seeking to extend our network of contributors, so feel free to drop us a line!
HAPPY: The band’s live shows are known for their immersive video art and high-energy performances. How does this resonate with your audience and what kind of feedback do you receive?
THE 1980S: After a recent show, a punter declared “Your sound is huge, you should be playing stadiums!” to which our guitarist Old Gold dryly replied, “Well, that’s never gonna happen.”
But audiences do love the wall-of-sound that we produce on stage.
That immersion we strive for sonically, not just for our audiences but for ourselves on stage, is also what underpins our use of video artworks at our gigs – to enhance the immersive experience and push a sensory overload.
We ourselves love going to a show, big or small, where a band has extended themselves beyond their music to provide full-blown sensory candy.
So we are continually building a portfolio of absorbing artworks, contributed by our collaborating artists and designers, to deliver a visually bold, hypnotic, and cinematic experience.
Our audiences really appreciate the curated art projections, and different punters have different artworks that stick with them.
And after a show, they want to know more about particular works … and we gladly point them in the direction of our generous collaborators.
HAPPY: With members coming from different musical backgrounds, how do your shared influences (shoegaze, college rock, ‘90s indie) collide in The 1980s, and are there any unexpected inspirations that sneak into your sound?
THE 1980S: We are lucky in The 1980s in that our lives have been saturated in music.
This allows us to draw out reference points from our influences when communicating our thinking for a new song, or a particular part of a song, as we work through its development together.
These reference points become critical in the recording process when communicating certain ideas in sound or style to our production team.
The best examples to date of how our shared influences have collided are through our first two EP releases.
Whilst you mention shoegaze, college rock and indie, The 1980s’ band room sessions often drift into post-rock, art rock and krautrock territories, but always with a foundation firmly planted in the punk rock/DIY aesthetic.
It might sound cliché, but as a band, there’s not a music genre out there that we don’t engage with in some way, either through our personal listening, or the shows we see, or the films we watch, or what our friends expose us to through their music collections.
Whilst The 1980s is an indie rock band at its core, any genre can spark inspiration that manifests itself in the band room.
In fact, truly original songwriting is all about unexpected inspirations – they are (or should be) happening constantly and consistently in the process.
And if they’re not sufficiently present within a song’s DNA, then that song typically disappears from the repertoire over time.
HAPPY: As a band that thrives on loud, cathartic music, what keeps you motivated in Melbourne’s competitive scene, and what’s next for The 1980s?
THE 1980S: There is little external motivation needed to do what we do – it’s part of our DNA.
From a band perspective, The 1980s is not our first rodeo, having played together and apart in many outfits for more than a decade.
Simply put, we love playing in bands, and especially together as a band.
The 1980s has quickly become a special project for us because everything just gels.
Being in band and creating original music is the closest thing to being in a relationship with someone – it’s exhilarating at many times, frustrating at other times, there’s give-and-take all the time, and it requires unwavering energy, compromise and sacrifice to keep it on a positive keel.
But when you’re in a band where everyone understands this and is willing to commit, the rewards are never-ending.
Being in a band like The 1980s is motivation enough to keep rockin’!
Similarly, the Melbourne band scene is, in itself, motivating as an artist.
There’s just so many great bands with incredible longevity; so many excitable indie kids, or punk kids, or hip hop kids making music; so many flashes of brilliance that spark and then die just as quickly but leave an indelible mark.
And so much great community radio supporting the scene, and so many venues, big and small, where you can see legends, or discover new talent, or be part of it as The 1980s.
What a city to be in as a rock band!
So what’s next for The 1980s? We will be pressing a limited vinyl release of both EPs later this year, complete with an album sleeve splashed with more brilliant artwork.
We’ll be playing more gigs through this year to support the Decade of Decline EP and the vinyl release, backed by our ever-evolving video art projections.
And we never stop writing. With more than a dozen new songs written and demoed already, we’ll be back in the studio in early 2026 to record our first full album.
And while we can’t mention specifics at this moment – because we know in this industry that forces beyond our control often derail the best laid plans – we have been approached by a couple of well-known international acts and a number of festivals to join their 2026 tours.
So let’s wait and see what transpires …
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
THE 1980S: In all honesty, simply playing in a band makes us happy.
We love recording, we love playing gigs, and the band room is the happiest place of all for The 1980s.
We lug in our gear, we set up the drums and amps, we get the PA right, we tune up, we share some banter … and this all takes time and effort.
But when we pop in the earplugs, flick the amps off stand-by, and hit that first chord, there is no place else we’d rather be.
And you know it’s so because, when that session is over, you pine for the next one, to continue that process of working together to create something special.
The four of us have all played under different guises over many years before The 1980s, and in rock you often only get the one chance where the planets align and you happen across bandmates truly on the same page.
And when that happens, you do whatever it takes to make that moment last for as long as it can, because it will not likely come again.
And that’s The 1980s for us – happiness turned up to 11!
