Premiere: Meet The Dreggs, who make pop-infused folk with Call Me Home

There's a lot of talent in Australia's more acoustic side of indie-folk which often has to battle for attention; the music world's gatekeepers seemingly only interested in a handful of acts within this sound – your Ziggy Alberts' and Riley Pierce's, for example – to spotlight and 'level up' to the next sense of commercial break-out, while everyone else is left to prove their worth in entering this phase of their career. It's a shame, because there's a bounty of talent captured within this class that are worthy of your attention, including some of Australia's most brilliant songwriters and the music that allows us to make calls like that.

Sunshine Coast duo The Dreggs – made up of Paddy Macrae and Zane Harris – definitely count in that class of brilliant songwriters just beginning to capture the attention of greater Australia, with singles littered over the last three years showcasing their ability to keep consistency across a large quantity of songs, without watering down the quality of them. It's a remarkably difficult tightrope to walk across, but The Dreggs seem to do it with all-class, such as in their two singles for 2020 thus far – Postcards and last month's Simple Question – and those yet to come throughout the year.

Today, we're premiering yet another brilliant song from The Dreggs which show how exactly they balance that quality-meets-quantity tightrope. Opening with a little nod to each other, Call Me Home soon captures that colourful charm The Dreggs give off with their music, forging a swirling combination of stripped-back guitar melodies and subtle feet stomping to emphasise the single's vocals, which really wash over you with a certain warmth and comfort that's often characteristic with this more subtle, indie-folk sound.

It's lush with pop sensibilities though, with Macrae and Harris seemingly embracing the hooks that earworm themselves into your brain and don't let go. Combined with this acoustic, indie-folk shading that's somewhat trademark of their work and this aforementioned bustling next generation of musicians, Call Me Home is a really beautiful and wonderful moment, worthy of your attention.

"As a musician, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of making something that should be fun and simple, so complex," the duo say on the single, which is one of many they have planned throughout the remainder of the year. "Call Me Home is – simply put – a happy and energetic track that should be enjoyed lightly. Whether you’re road-tripping down the coastline, thinking about your lover, or just wanting to dance around the house, we feel Call Me Home is the perfect theme."

It really is, but if you don't see believe us, see so for yourself as you take a dive into Call Me Home below a day ahead of its official release – you can pre-save it here – and further introduce yourself to The Dreggs underneath – they're worth keeping an eye on, these Sunshine Coast boys, there's plenty to be excited about here.

Tell us about yourself?

We are Paddy and Zane and we’re an Independent folk duo From The Sunshine Coast, Australia. We grew up on the east coast with the ocean as our home. We got together in 2017 and since then we have played a number of shows around Aus.

What’s the ‘vibe’ music-wise?

Acoustic folk with a little ‘singer-song writer’ in the mix is the direction we take our music. Typically, we are super upbeat and fun, however, we also have a couple of slower, sombre and emotional tracks. For the most part, we write our songs based on how we are feeling at the time and then strive to express that through writing. We feel that because of this, we have a range of dynamics between our songs, whether it be live or in the studio. Between the two of us, we perform with only two guitars and a foot-stomp and because of this we try to make our sound as big as possible. (By that we mean Paddy just yells in the mic at everyone hahah).

What are your production and writing processes usually like?

We have a different writing process every time. Most of the time we co-write our songs but then there’s times where Paddy will write 95% of a song and we will finish it together or vice versa. When it comes to production we’re so lucky to record our music through our Booking Agent/Friend/Manager/absolute legend, Brian Goodworth, at Big Rock Studios on the Sunshine Coast. During studio time we typically start by laying down the basic foundation of the track and then furthering the production by adding other instruments where needed.

Can you tell us about your new single, Call Me Home?

As a musician, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of making something that should be fun and simple, so complex. Call Me Home is — simply put — a happy and energetic track that should be enjoyed lightly. Whether you’re road-tripping down the coastline, thinking about your lover, or just wanting to dance around the house, we feel Call Me Home is the perfect theme. 

What does 2020 have in store for you?

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic a lot of our schedule had been postponed or cancelled. However, we have used this period to really smash studio-time and get more content to release for our fans. So far, we have a number of releases for the year, including Call Me Home, as well as national tour at the end of the year to kickstart the following single, Keepsake. As well as this, we are also playing a few low-key shows, such as a drive-in festival on the Sunshine Coast and a headliner at The Zoo in Brisbane, while the restrictions are relaxing. We are super excited to see where this year takes us as we have been given an opportunity to reconnect with our fans and prime everyone for a huge 2021.

What do you want people to take away from the project?

As with all of our releases, all we want is for people to appreciate the track and feel their own experiences from it. We love nothing more than people knowing the lyrics to our songs, singing, dancing, and enjoying listening to them. 

Where can we find more of your music?

Spotify, iTunes, Triple J Unearthed, YouTube, Deezer, Amazon, Soundcloud, just to name a few. The amazing guys from Ditto make sure that our music is available on a wide array of platforms for our listeners.

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