HOW DUST BROUGHT THEIR DEBUT ALBUM SKY IS FALLING TO LIFE

WORDS: SAVANNAH GALLIMORE

After a string of explosive singles and a steady rise through Australia’s alternative scene, dust are finally ready to let their debut album, Sky Is Falling, take flight. Temper had the opportunity to sit down with Liam Smith, bassist of dust, to discuss the process of building an album that balances intensity with atmosphere. Born out of late-night jam sessions, genre experimentation, and deep creative trust, Sky is Falling is sure to become your new favorite album.

Photo credit: Charlie Hardy

Temper: How are you feeling about your debut album coming out soon?

dust: Really good. We’ve been sitting on it for a while, so if anything, we’re just eager to get it out. We recorded it last year in December, so it’s been sitting there for quite a while. It’s been nice to get such a positive reception from the singles so far, and now we’re just keen to get the whole thing out. It’ll be really good. 

T: What was the reasoning behind sitting on it for so long? 

d: There was just a lot of back and forth with what we wanted to do sonically. We wanted the album to flow nicely, and there were moments where we went back and remixed certain parts to make some elements stand out more than others, just little things like that. It was a very back-and-forth process. 

T: And you guys wrote this whole album collaboratively? 

d: Some of the songs, yeah. Justin and Gabe came in with a couple of tracks already pretty fleshed out, but once they brought them to the rest of us, we restructured them together and added our own bits and pieces. 

The first single, “Drawbacks,” was actually all of us together in a room. It came together really quickly. That was one of the first songs we finished and were ready to record straight away. For others, Justin already had the structure, guitar, and vocals ready to go because he’d been sitting on them for a while.

T: Do you prefer creating everything together from start to finish, or is it easier when someone already has parts figured out? 

d: Doing it all collaboratively has been quite a new thing for us. With the EP we released previously, most of the songs were already fleshed out and ready to go, people had been sitting on them for a while. 

But with the album, it’s been really fun working together in one room, figuring out ideas and little details as a group. Of course, there’s also a sense of security when someone comes in and says, “This is it, just play this.” We all trust each other, so we know it’ll be decent either way. 

T: How did you guys meet and become a band? 

d: Justin and I went to preschool together, so we’ve known each other for a really long time. Then we met Adam, our saxophonist, in high school, where we all did music together. We’re all originally from Maitland, which is about half an hour inland from Newcastle. 

Justin later went to a performing arts school in Newcastle, and through the music scene there, he met Gabe and Kai. They were jamming together for a bit before needing a couple more members. Justin introduced us, and we started playing together. 

We recorded our first two singles, which are probably still floating around on Bandcamp or SoundCloud, and then jumped straight into making our EP. Things took off from there. We were jamming a lot during COVID. It was kind of our excuse to get out of the house when everything was locked down. It worked out really well and helped us bond quickly. We played a few shows, and we’re still riding that wave now. 

T: Who would you say were your biggest influences when making this album? 

d: Personally, I was listening to a lot of hardcore at the time. Bands like Drug Church, they had a killer album that I was obsessed with. Also Title Fight, and Aussie hardcore bands like Speed. UK-wise, we’ve always loved Shame, Fontaines D.C.,their album Romance went huge, and The Murder Capital. I’m a massive fan of them. Dry Cleaning, that spoken word delivery with those intricate guitar riffs and crazy basslines really stuck with me. Those are the bands we’ve loved for a long time and still find inspiring.

T: This album blends a lot of genres. Is that something intentional in the studio, or does it just evolve naturally? 

d: It kind of just evolves naturally. Sometimes it’s intentional, like adding an atmospheric section or a jazz groove, but mostly it comes from what we’re listening to at the time. During the album, Adam was listening to a lot of Bossa Nova and world music, which you can hear in some of his sax parts. Pauli and I were into jazz, and I’ve always been a big Madness fan. Everyone brings something different to the table, and we’re all open to experimenting. It’s really easygoing, no one shuts down ideas, so it all just comes together naturally. 

Photo credit: Charlie Hardy

T: Would you describe this album as a cohesive story or more like a collection of moments? 

d: Probably a collection of moments, but it still tells the story of how we got here. After releasing the EP, we were crazy busy with touring and other stuff, then we stepped away for a while to focus on writing. The album really captures where we were at during that period, with a few ideas we brought back and reworked from before. It shows who we are now as a band and what we want to keep doing; pushing boundaries with new genres and influences on the next one. 

T: When you’re in the studio, do you think about how the songs will sound live? 

d: Definitely. Before recording, we try to play songs live at least once or twice to see what works and what doesn’t. For example, “Restless,” which comes out tomorrow, we’ve been playing it live since October or November last year. It used to go for ages before we cut it down. Once we recorded it, we went back with our producer Wade to adjust the mix, bringing certain parts up or down. A lot of songs evolved that way; we’d play them live, then realise we needed to add or change something to make a section more powerful or impactful. 

T: You’ve played both festivals and smaller club shows. Which do you prefer? 

d: Definitely the intimate shows. There’s more connection with the crowd when they’re right there in front of you, rather than being way up on a big festival stage. We played this show in Maitland, in an alleyway next to one of the only record stores there. It was packed, everyone was right up the front, bumping around. Those moments really stick with you. Of course, festivals are incredible and we’re lucky to play them, but the smaller rooms have a special energy. 

T: Is there a stop on your upcoming tour that you’re especially looking forward to? 

d: We’ve got some stuff planned for next year that’ll be really exciting. On the Australian run, there are a few venues I’m stoked to play and headline. We just played the Newcastle Foreshore on Saturday, which was surreal. They built a stage right on the water, which was amazing. We’re playing Phoenix Central Park, which is such an iconic venue. I’m really looking forward to that one, though I’m pretty nervous too. It’s a huge milestone for us. 

T: Looking back on the making of this album, what do you think is the biggest lesson you’ll carry into the next project? 

d: Probably to keep the collaboration going. We’ve been experimenting with that even during rehearsals, just jamming, recording little ideas, and building from there. I also want us to go in next time with a really solid idea of how we want the album to look and sound before we start smashing out songs. But yeah, keeping that collaborative spirit is definitely something we’ll carry forward. 

T: You said the album was finished in December last year. Have you tweaked anything over the past 9–10 months, or has it been ready to go? 

d: We recorded it in December at Adam’s farm in Wollombi. It sat for a couple of months before we got the first mixes back from Wade, our producer. Then we spent about four months going back and forth, sending mix notes, visiting Wade to add little bits, getting new versions back, and finally sending it off for mastering. Once that was done, we focused on planning the rollout, how we wanted to release it properly. We ended up going with Virgin Music for the album, which has been awesome. They’ve been a huge help in getting everything ready. 

T: Anything you’d like to add about upcoming shows or the album?

d: We’ve got a Melbourne pop-up show coming up, plus a few other things we’ll be announcing soon. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming. It’s going to be really sweet.