Interview - Dinner And Whiskey Next week


Dinner and Whiskey Next week (DAWN.w) is a rock band from France/Switzerland blending various influences ranging from progressive rock (Pink Floyd, Muse, Mars Volta) to modern metal (Deftones, Gojira, Stake) and new-wave rock (The Cure, Four Stroke Baron, Depeche Mode).
Since its beginnings in 2017, the formation has played a number of concerts, evolving, learning and finding its own musical identity.
After the release of their first EP - The "w" is silent - in 2020, the band has gone back in the studio and is working on a new full-length album entitled - Gravitational Pull - released in October 2021.

Hi and welcome to this interview. Tell us about your latest release Falling in the Sun.
Tim: We actually composed this track directly in the studio, after a long session. We had this riff stuck in our head the whole time, we just had to make something out of it.

Kieran: Initially the song was called Mercredi au soleil, which means Wednesday in the sun in French. Yeah, basically it was Wednesday, and the sun was shining.

How would you describe your sound?
Giulio: Atmospheric, eclectic, and unpredictable. But also deeply inspired by a lot of music we love.

What do you write about?
Giulio: Our lyrics are often referencing sci-fi literature, but like in a broad sense: its themes, atmosphere, aesthetic. We like to talk about what it feels like to be a human, how shit can go wrong but also how some of us escape this negativity.

Kieran: Through space! [laughs]

What do you listen to when you are home?
Tim: Those days, mostly jazz, Ryo Fukui for example.

Kieran: Post-rock, like God Is an astronaut.

Giulio: I listen exclusively to this band called Dinner And Whiskey Next Week [laughs]. But for real, a lot of lo-fi and some Idles of course.

Your favourite live performance so far? 
Tim: Personally, my favourite performance was when we played for Kieran’s end of year concert at his music school. There was some black magic happening in that room, I left the gig half crying and shaking. It was holy music, as Santana would say.

Kieran: At L’Ecurie, in Geneva. The audience was really welcoming, which is rare for Geneva or Switzerland [laughs]. I lost my shit when I saw the crowd going into a pogo.

Giulio: I loved our gig at Caves de Versoix in 2018, because that’s where we recorded the live version of our track The Mule. And when we started to believe in our project.

Tim: Oh my god I hated that show, I didn’t hear shit the whole time [laughs].

Tell us a funny story that happened in studio or on stage.
Kieran: Well, there was that one time, we had a gig at a festival in Lyon (FR), and it was fucking hot, so we went to buy some thrift shop jeans and were planning on cutting them into shorts. But we couldn’t find scissors anywhere. And just then we noticed an axe-throwing stand… Yeah, you can guess the rest [laughs].

Tim: Also, at our gig at Makhno in Geneva, Kieran was nowhere to be found so we just started playing without him.

Kieran: Right, I was drinking beer and then heard my own music playing, took a moment to realize what was going on.

Giulio: He wasn’t happy about it [laughs].

Your favourite albums?
Giulio: OK Computer by Radiohead….

Kieran: You basic bitch! [laughs]

Giulio: …and Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia. Also, Origin of Symmetry, by Muse of course.

Kieran: White Pony by Deftones, Think Tank by Blur and Favourite Worst Nightmare, by Arctic Monkeys.

Tim: The Beatles’ white album, 20/20 by The Beach boys, and Disraeli Gears by Cream.

A musician you would like to meet for a beer ?
Tim: Dave Grohl, clearly. A thousand times.

Giulio: Steven Wilson, without hesitation.

Kieran: Gwen Stefani. Don’t ask.

What would you ask for backstage, if you were the most important band on earth?
Kieran: Closet full of drugs. That’s a nice title for a song, actually.

Tim: I’m gonna show off my hippie side here: I’d want a super comfy backstage with comfy sofas and big plants everywhere. And Kieran’s closet will already be there, so I wouldn’t have to ask for weed.

Giulio: What was the question again?

Tim: Steven Wilson.

Kieran: In the closet.

Giulio: A swimming-pool, clearly. A jacuzzi. A sauna.

What are your plans for the near future?
Tim: Not killing each other.

Kieran: Going back to l’Amalgame to finish the residence we had to abort because one of us got covid. I want to do more gigs.

Giulio: Getting the merch going, making new music.