DIVERS
- May 5
- 6 min read
Words: Keeley Thompson
Images: Ben Schoonderbeek
Dave’s Ford Fairmont, despite the endless wish list list of extremely necessary repairs, glides along the coastline like an olympic figure skater . His windows are down, mostly because they don’t go up, but also because every day is a “passport shredder” in his world.
He's one of those guys with an unshakable zest for life - if you punched him in the face he’d probably thank you for waking him up. Though it’s yet to be determined if this state is chemically induced or naturally derived, you can’t help being jealous of his immunity to apathy.
People like Dave are impossible to pin down. He’s equal parts profanity and profound. One moment he’s trying to teach pelicans sign language, the next he’s telling you how reality exists only within the mind and that that because life has no inherent meaning, you might as well give it a meaning you like.
This is Divers.
The Naarm based group of Ben Bray, Scott McQuilten, Jake Green and Tom Evans, their discography is unpredictable and undeniable. Their music is fresh, crunchy and light - like a hot pastry that’s 50/50 if you’ll burn your tongue or fuck up your clean car seats. Either way, it’s delicious.
We spoke to Divers ahead of the release of their album, Odd Dog in the Capital.
KEELEY: Tell me a bit about how Divers began, and your journey as a group.
GREENY: We've been friends for a really long time. Ben and I met each other at a party when we were like 16 or so, which is a while ago now. Ben and Scott went to school together and we picked up Tom along the way. In 2018 Ben and Scott had started chipping away at some songs and then we all kind of naturally came together. It was just before COVID when we started working on an EP together.
Like a lot of other people, it was the perfect time to get stuck into a big chunk of work. Scott, Ben and I were at Scott's parents’ house when the lockdown kicked in. That's pretty well where it kind of began.
KEELEY: It's funny how COVID was the demise of some bands but was the birthplace for others.
GREENY: I Think we got really lucky because we were primarily a studio band, so we didn't have worry about live shows and sets in that way. It was also a lot easier as it didn’t rely as heavily on us all getting together and being in one space.
KEELEY: Listening to your full discography, you've gone through a bit of a sonic transformation. Do you think there is a reason for that?
BEN: I think it felt like we were making songs because that was the type of song you had to make - the happy indie song. Don’t get me wrong, they're great and I love those songs, but we were doing it over and over again to the point where it wasn't fun anymore.
It was fun to take a different approach, and start having fun again. Rather than approaching it with what we thought we should do, we’re now just playing with things and finding what we like.
GREENY: We’ve always been self-production as well, so I feel like there's been a lot of learning along the way, and that’s probably helped change the direction as well. We’ve all just improved.
KEELEY: Was there a defining moment in your journey that inspired that change?
BEN: Tom has this plugin called Guitar Rig and it’s basically just all of these different sounds. You just load in and play, and they’re all there. There was a time using that that we ended up with some Mac DeMarco / Men I Trust type of sound. I think that kind of opened up our world, and we’d have so much fun playing around. Instead of playing chords and really filling the song up with all the different sounds of flat out guitars, we approached it more with sounds that we liked and built from there.
KEELEY: Your most recently releases are a little absurdist, but very fun. Where does that inspiration come from?
BEN: Just from having fun, and choosing to go in a different direction while you're making a song. Like I said before, it can get a bit repetitive sometimes just writing verse, chorus, verse, sometimes bridge. It's fun to just let the music give you an idea of where to go next. We also do a lot of our music on a computer, which is quite freeing because we have the ability to really experiment.
GREENY: I suppose the characters too. The Great Tree is about a character that's the great tree, and Head Chef is obviously about a chef and The Mouse, which you can probably guess what that’s about. We were talking about how with those kinds of things, you could lean into the idea a little bit more when you're thinking in the frame of a character as opposed to something internal. It opens up a whole new thought process.
KEELEY: Where do the characters come from?
BEN: We got away to Sandy Point, and I remember Tom was talking about this mouse Scott and I had at our sharehouse. The mouse was always running up and down the house. We thought it would be funny to do a a shout out to the mouse.
It's just a funny headspace, I suppose, and it was just a fun idea because all four of us were together, and it was more about having a laugh. I think we’ve tried to take a similar approach to the other characters.
I know I keep saying it’s all about having fun, but I think it truly is.
KEELEY: So what is your process with creating music? Do you go in with a bit of a formula at all or is it more just playing around?
BEN: It changes every single time. It always starts with some sort of idea, even if it’s small. Today I was at work and recorded the scissor lifts. I just uploaded into the computer it’s all sort of formed from that noise and the thoughts you have at work, but that was lucky. Sometimes you get an idea and you think it’s solid but it turns into nothing, sometimes it turns into something. Sometimes you just decide to write something, and it comes. It changes like every time.
KEELEY: ‘Odd Dog in the Capital’ is out! How are you feeling?
GREENY: Feeling excited and relieved. It's been a long time coming.
I think it's the first song we've ever felt truly happy about a release as well. Do you agree, Ben?
BEN: Oh, fuck yeah, 100%. Yeah, I'm very proud of this album, like ridiculously. I want to show people, whereas in the past, I’ve felt a bit guarded on uncertain about releases. I think this is a very diverse album, and I think we’re all super excited and proud.
KEELEY: What's your favourite track off the album ?
BEN: Blue Paint
GREENY: I think Holiday for me.
KEELEY: Head Chef's really taken off and gotten quite a lot of attention. I want to ask you, what is your signature dish?
BEN: Actually, to be honest I’m not sure I have one. If I had to do it and it was meant to be decent, it would be a spaghetti bolognaise.
KEELEY: That’s a good fail-safe. Best I can do is like, scrambled eggs.
GREENY: I'm in the same boat, probably scrambled eggs. The best thing I can do.
KEELEY: What would everyone else be in the group, do you reckon?
GREENY: Oh Tom can actually cook. He's good at like smoking meats and all that stuff, so I feel like it’d be a brisket. Scott would be a cheese toastie or something.
KEELEY: What is the best biscuit in the Arnett's assorted cream packet?
BEN: Monte Carlo, who's in?
GREENY: Shortbread Cream probably. They’re serious trouble.
KEELEY: What's up next for you guys, what's happening in the future or near future?
GREENY: We're gonna do a couple of shows for the album. We're playing Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide over June and July.
Beyond that, probably just really trying to hone in on finding our audience and connect with people. We’ll stay on the gas and do as much as we can after the album tour, and keep going after that - make new music and keep things rolling because we love doing what we do.
BEN: Nailed it. Absolutely.
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