Welcome back to DUM DUM Zine’s Text Message Interviews! This month we interview the band Iress hot off the heels of their album release show for Sleep Now, In Reverse and UK tour.
DUM DUM Zine’s creator Taleen Kali joins Michelle of Iress in text message excursions about touring the U.K., playing in ancient churches, and living the L.A. band life. Read on and #GetDUM before their next L.A. show coming up at a DIY venue near you.
Photo by Morgan Demeter
Taleen Kali (DDZ): Hey Michelle! Taleen here, I just saw you guys landed in the U.K. Ready to get our epic text message interview started?
Michelle Malley (MM): Yes we can do it babe 🙂
DDZ: First question is, can you send me an image that’s currently inspiring you? Here’s one from me from Azad Archives at a cool vending event I went to in L.A.
MM: A picture of the venue we just played.
DDZ: Second question: how did the 1st UK show go? I just saw footage of it on IG!!
MM: Kind of a double answer but it’s such a beautiful venue so I thought I would share. First show was very inspiring and so beautiful!
It was a sold out show in Southampton with Green Lung. No AC with 400+ bodies so it was sticky and sweaty and wonderful 🙂
DDZ: Oh my god that sounds heavenly. Is this a converted church venue?
MM: Yes!!! No ac because they cant make modifications
DDZ: Oh wow cause it’s a historic site?
MM: Yes! I was like wow what an honor and perfect way to begin the tour.
DDZ: What city are you guys in now?
MM: We’re in Leicester. Here’s us having dinner at our air bnb
MM: I’m home
We’re home
DDZ: Welcome home champions! Love doing some time traveling via text message interviews, hah, this will make for a fun read. How was the plane ride?
MM: Both trips were a little wild because we end up staying up like 24 hours
First flight was harder for me than the flight home
That’s hardcore all nightering
Yeah it was wild haha but all worth it I miss it already. Here’s us in London
DDZ: I love this! Let’s do an emoji blast. What are your post-tour vibes rn? Here’s mine: 🌀💿🖤👀💙🫖📸❄️
MM: 💅🩷🫠☠️🤷♀️🤌🪰
DDZ: Let’s go back full circle since you’re back in town. I was at the L.A. release party before you headed out and it was so amazing to celebrate your new album and crowdfunding success and send you off to the other side of the pond. What inspired you guys to do your first U.K. tour?
MM: Arctangent Festival is what motivated us to tour 🙂 Once we got that we were like okay let’s do this! It’s also one of the places in the world with our highest streams. The UK and Germany.
Photo by @lbphoto.uk
DDZ: Arctangent looked simply wild from the footage you guys were posting on that day. Can you give us a quickie recap of what it was like?
MM: There was a lot of build up to Arctangent. I was really nervous about my voice lasting for tour and being rested for this specific performance. We were on the road at 5am that day, with interviews at 9am and by the time it was showtime we were beyond ready and excited. Looking out into the crowd, I wasn’t even nervous anymore I was like…this is what I wanted to do everyday. It was the most incredible feeling. It set the tone for the rest of the tour. We were riding that high and loving life the rest of the way. Such an unforgettable moment.
Photo by @lbphoto.uk
DDZ: It also felt unforgettable seeing you play L.A. before heading out on tour. I remember hearing some amazing tunes Justin played that night and the selection and bands playing was so mixed genre. I don’t think we get enough mixed genre bills in L.A.! The scene just kinda ends up being grouped by similar sounds which can also be nice, though it risks becoming myopic so easily so I was so happy to see the lineup. Especially with our good friends Twolips and dum dum veterans Slugs!
MM: It was so moving to be at The Echo with our community, a place with so many memories. The lineup was friends we’ve known for years along with new friends, and our DJ being our label, it was just a beautiful night all around. So many beautiful people and so much support. It was the perfect was to leave LA on our tour journey.
DDZ: You guys have been a huge part of the la music community for awhile now. You’re also dum dum veterans since 2016 echo park rising and 2023 dum dum fest. How did it feel to have your L.A. community show up for you?
MM: I mean it’s honestly so humbling. We were so scared to do our Kickstarter and the amount of people who contributed, gave us advice, and helped us make our goal and then showed up at the show to celebrate with us…it’s making me emotional just thinking about it. We love our community, we love where we come from, and we can’t wait for our next LA show.
DDZ: Do you have any advice for diy bands stateside who want to tour the uk?
MM: Advice for bands….DO IT. Make it happen. I know touring overseas is daunting but it was a magical experience and worth every penny. On a practical note, get yourself a driver! It was a game changer, we would have been lost without ours and we also made a friend for life.
When you book hotels/airbnbs, look up parking because sometimes the closer ones to the venues don’t have any for your van. I could go on and on with advice, just so your research with airlines and travel and it will all work out 🙂
DDZ: Tell me about the “Sleep Now, In Reverse” album cover. What’s the image, who created it, and how did it come into being?
MM: The cover was created by Filthywitch, a member of the band Faetooth. We met because we are label mates and I came across their work and fell in love. I told them I wanted something dark and feminine; an image that represented our music; soft, delicate, wispy, heavy. The final product just blew us away. They are incredibly talented and we plan to work with them again in the future.
DDZ: This is a question we ask everyone as part of our 1 question interview series: what inspires and astonishes you as a creator?
MM: Life inspires me. Love & Pain. I’m a water sign, and so is most of the band so we are ruled by emotions and I’m the most inspired when things are complicated and hard. What astonishes me is how one tiny idea….a melody and guitar riff I wrote in my room can morph into something so powerful. The chemistry of my band is what inspires and astonishes me the most truly.
Photo by Morgan Demeter
Iress is headed into the studio to prep some exciting new things. The band’s LP Sleep Now, In Reverse is now available via Dune Altar.