Five Favourites with Broken Waves
Emerging Adelaide five-piece Broken Waves have just released their first single of 2025, ‘The Chase’. Answering some questions over email about the release, the band opened up on their current influences, what the rest of the year has in store for the band and their five favourite local underground acts.
Interview Tobias Handke // Image Nick Astanei
Image supplied
Congrats on the release of your new single, ‘The Chase’. In press material, the band has said it was influenced by your interest in electronica. Where has the recent obsession with that type of music come from and how has it informed the band’s songwriting?
As a band, we have always made a point to find our inspiration outside of our comfort zone. The goal has always been to get people dancing and EDM is where most people are going for that kind of experience. We’ve been doing covers of artists like Fred again.. and David Guetta for a while and those influences have naturally seeped into our own music.
Are there any artists who have been a big influence?
Recently, it would have to be Parcels and the 1975. Both of these artists have been really inspiring for our writing. They both approach those funk techniques differently, but a lot can be appreciated from both styles. Both artists nail their live sets just like the recordings and that’s saying something; a lot of those funk bands tend to lose some of the magic on stage.
‘The Chase’ has an upbeat disco vibe, yet lyrically deals with themes of emotional unavailability, internet dating and the detachment associated with the search for modern love. How do you pair the two together into a seamless song that’s both easy on the ear and thoughtful, or is that at the core of all good songwriting?
This isn’t the first time our lyrics have made a point of pushing against the mood of the instrumental. It’s really important to us that the words add new flavour rather than sit in the background. The upbeat funk vibe is just the surface of the song's themes and the lyrics let you see the darkness that might be hiding underneath.
The track was also written from the perspective of a character, telling a story through the lyrics. Was this a challenge to write this way and did it enable you to find deeper meaning in the song?
It’s actually a lot easier to write with a bit of healthy distance from your own thoughts and feelings. Creating a character that doesn’t need to entirely represent yourself in the real world lets you explore themes a bit more freely and try and see the world from a different lens.
READ MORE: Five Favourites with Playlunch
Are ‘The Chase’ and the previous single ‘Do You Understand?’ what we can expect from Broken Waves moving forward?
To an extent, yes. We’re pretty happy with the more cohesive sound we’ve found recently; in saying that, we’re always getting bored of ourselves and trying to reinvent the wheel. We all think it’s really important for any band to be push themselves out of their comfort zones. Both of those singles are actually lyrically inspired by a similar thing, so some of that probably seeped into the writing. In saying this, we may go slightly more ‘dance-y’ next single… or not!
Going back to your debut EP, Turning Point, Broken Waves received a CARCLEW Project & Development Grant to help with the writing and recording of the record. How important are organisations like CARCLEW and these types of grants to aspiring artists?
Ah… CARCLEW, the saving grace of this town's youth music scene. Organisations like this are absolutely vital for aspiring artists. CARCLEW specifically with their Project & Development grant for [those] 25 and under. For us, it gave us a sense of ‘we can actually do this thing we’ve been pouring ourselves into’.
What more do you think needs to be done to keep the Australian music scene healthy?
I think just a push for audience attendance/exposure for more amateur band shows. It really is so cheap to go and see some really incredible acts that haven’t ’made it’ yet; a lot of them are better than the big dogs. Shining some more light on these underground acts in mainstream media would be a good first step.
Can we expect more new music in the coming months?
We should have something ready and out in the world by the end of 2025 for sure. We’re not too sure which one of the new kids will grow the quickest but we’re not done with this year yet at all.
What does the rest of 2025 hold for Broken Waves?
We’re in the middle of writing a new EP at the moment. This will definitely be our most confident body of work once it’s ready, we’re really honing in that there truly ‘ain’t no party like a broken waves party’!
‘The Chase’ by Broken Waves is out now.
Broken Waves’s five favourite Local Underground Acts
Ben’s choice: ‘King of Spain’
Easily some of the best grooves I’ve ever heard, heaps of flair and imagination on display with some incredible drumming and virtuosic vocal performances to top it off. ‘Ferrol’ is my favourite.
Daisy’s choice: ‘Close Friends’
Imagine boygenius meets cottagecore whimsy. Lush vocal harmonies, emotive lyricism and genuine fun. Having not even released music yet, you’d be able to say you were an OG fan, hop on the train now!
Heath’s choice: ‘Birds are Spies’
Their music has a lot of depth and the rhythmic flow is super locked-in and explosive. The vocals tend to sit perfectly in a sweet spot of floaty but also still in the pocket. Their new tune ‘Undercover Island of Other’ is a winner!
Dec’s choice: ‘Grace Vandals’
She makes some super groovy, dark ‘n’ moody fem music that’s touching on some really cool modern elements. My favourite at the moment is ‘Tobacco’.
Will’s choice: ‘Kara Manansala’
I saw Kara play the other day and by the first minute, I was immediately impressed with her level of talent. The way she navigates melodically through very groove-based music is so cool. I'm keen to hear this one song, ‘Spoons’, released one day.
