By Arne Sjostedt
Hailing from Jervis Bay, the Debbies are the real deal. Honest, forthright, with a take no prisoners approach to tackling their rock.
A two piece with a raw, massive sound - they are the type of lads who will wait to be offered the rest of your rider, and make sure there is nothing left at the end of the gig.
We previewed their latest single Sinner a couple of weeks ago, and recently caught up with frontman Noah.
Grab a beer, or a peppermint tea to slow down. It’s time to take a seat, and get to know what makes Noah's rock and roll mind tick.
"We don't give a fuck"
Rock City Jester
You’ve had some good success already, with some air play on Triple J and so on. Can you talk me through how you got to that point.
Noah
Back in 2019 when me and Robbo were in high school, we got in the top five of Triple J Unearthed High, which was pretty awesome.
That was a pretty big step up sort of thing, so it kind of gave us a bit of that exposure to Triple J and all that sort of stuff. We didn't win but ever since we've just been really lucky with the shows we've gotten and the opportunities we've had. And we've kind of just kept doing what we're doing.
But it's just been really good with Sinner because I think it's kind of our best one yet.
Rock City Jester
Talk to me about how you belted it out?
Noah
I had the intro line for a while and the lyrics, “I fell asleep by the river”. But I had it in a real country, it was kind of a mock kind of song. I'd kind of sing it in an accent and try to make it funny. But then Robbo was just like. 'No, actually that's really cool. We should use that.' And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, maybe I should take it a bit more seriously’.
So I kind of worked on it a bit more and wrote out a bit more, and we went up to the studio just to do a bit of a writing day with our producer in Sydney. And we ended up, like the pre-chorus of the song now was originally the chorus of the song. But after we'd been up there, we took a song that was completely random. Like just a demo I had from a while ago, and we took the chorus of it. And we were like ‘No, that chorus fits for it so well. To each area of the song.’
It came together heaps nice and then we went back to Sydney again and spent two days recording it. And it was heaps good.
Rock City Jester
Where did you record it?
Noah
In Dead Pool studios in Cronulla. It's yeah, so real cool.
Rock City Jester
That was my introduction to you guys. Like, it's one of those songs where I sat back and thought it's like a young Screaming Jets or something, with a really integral Australian pub rock, pop rock voice.
Noah
I'm stoked that you came across it through that song. Because I haven't really talked to many people that have come across us through the latest song.
Rock City
And it's a rare thing to actually really perk up and think, 'Who are these guys?' And I want to know more right now. Tell me about your shows? How have they built from when you first kicked off, after getting in that top five?
Noah
When we first kicked off we were pretty DIY. We still are really DIY but I guess we didn't really have an idea of live sound. Because it's a bit harder with two people, because you don't have that bass guitar or that sort of stuff.
But then, as we played more and more. We played a few times at Rad Bar in Wollongong, which isn't there anymore. But that was a really like good spot for us. And played a couple of times there and learnt a lot from the people who worked there. And the other bands that were playing. And I guess like through experience, learned a bit more and then lately we've just been playing really good shows. And it's been heaps fun.
The crowds have been wild. Like, our last show at North Gong Hotel the crowd broke the deck for the first time ever. So that was pretty fucking sick.
Rock City Jester
That's about the most rock ’n roll thing I've ever heard.
Noah
It put the deck out for a couple of weeks so there was no gigs on. So the other bands were a bit...I think they were a bit salty, but it was pretty funny.
Rock City Jester
So what happened, you were just rocking so hard? 350 kids just...
Noah
We played Sinner for the first time. It wasn't out. We played it there, it was nothing how it sounded now. But we gave it a go and people thronged and then we played our last song, which was a cover. We did Stacey's Mum. We always do Stacey's Mum. Sometimes we say like, 'Debbie's mum' or whatever. We kind of like mix up the lyrics a bit. But no, it was fucking epic and then the crowd just was going hard and they were just, apparently they all stopped and they were pointing at me. And I thought I did something wrong and then they moved and you could just see a big hole in the floor. People had just fallen down there.
Rock City Jester
Heads disappearing.
Noah
That's it, yeah.
Rock City Jester
So how did you get your band name?
Noah
Before we did really anything, before we had any songs we were called Debbie's Disco Biscuits.
When we were in school we saw code names for ecstasy and like MDMA, and one of the code names was Disco Biscuits. So we were like, Debbie's Disco Biscuits sounds pretty funny.
But then we kind of thought after a time, when we started going to record, we we're like 'Fuck it, let's change it to Debbie's.' We'll just keep it nice and simple for everyone.
Rock City Jester
That sounds pretty sensible. So what's happened in Sydney, have you done many shows there?
Noah
We played the Metro Lair. We supported another band there. We haven't done heaps. We played at this space called the Arthouse Hotel once. That was pretty cool, that was a headline show and that was sold out, which was sick.
Rock City Jester
How old are you now?
Noah
I'm 20.
Rock City Jester
How does a young rockstar like you get formed and come out with such a wonderful, integral voice. What happens to make that?
Noah
Yeah, thank you. I don't really know to be honest. I still am under the impression that I can't sing. I don't know, I've never had a singing lesson. I started playing the guitar when I was probably like 15. And I was heaps influenced by, like, I love Rage Against the Machine. I just love all that raw kind of just like music. And I don't know, I just tried singing I guess.
Rock City Jester
The best part about your singing voice is that it's natural and it's you. It's like when you plug in a guitar and turn the fuzz on, what more do you want?
Noah
At the end of the day it's meant to be pretty raw and it's not meant to sound exactly how it might sound on your phone. And that's kind of like what we like.
But when it comes to our live shows, we like being kind of you know, it's a bit out the window for being too professional. It's a bit raw, and we like having a good time. We just want everyone else to have a good time.
Rock City Jester
You grew up in Jarvis Bay. What river were you singing about in this single?
Noah
Shoalhaven. But the song isn't really about that kind of location exactly. It was kind of more about when me and Robbo went to a party once and we just weren't really vibing at the party, so we left. And we ended up finding this little river spot. There wasn't exactly a river, but there was kind of a river, and we sat down and we were just drinking beers there, and we stayed for the rest of the night.
Rock City Jester
What's your philosophy on playing guitar? As a two piece, what sort of things have you thought about with your set up?
Noah
I've got a lot of pedals and I go through a bass amp and a guitar amp. So I've got a bit of a split thing going on. I'm not actually fully aware of how it works but it does work and I kind of like it. So it's been good for that.
Rock City Jester
Any more songs in the pipeline?
Noah
Oh yeah, for sure. Been doing a bit of that. We actually just finished a song not too long ago. A couple of days ago and we're that stoked with it. It's definitely a bit more punk and it's a bit more American sounding.
Rock City Jester
College rock sort of stuff?
Noah
Yeah, that sort of shit but we're heaps stoked on it hey. We don't give a fuck, I think it's probably my favourite song. We haven't been able to jam it live, but we've been making it kind of together remotely and it's been really sick. So yeah.
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