Despite initial setbacks, which the members admit stunted their initial growth, the Wicklow fourpiece The Decades hit the ground running with the release of their first single “Electricity” in 2020, and the band have not waned on the traction set by this, as demonstrated by them hitting the iTunes Charts and selling out major venues, like Whelan’s and The Grand Social. Talking to Post-Burnout in May, the band told us about their backstory.

“Me and Rhys [Doyle, guitarist] and stuff, we have been in and out of bands now since we were about…probably about 11 or 12 [Laughs],” says drummer David Mulvey. “Myself and the singer – whose not with us here in the interview, Seán [Fox] – we were in college together, and we sort of met just through [being] in the same course and stuff, and Rhys – who’s in the call, here – we’ve been playing together now for over ten years. Seán came to me, and we were talking about music and stuff, and he mentioned he would like to start a band. The first person I recommended was Rhys here, just ‘cause…the first thing I said to Seán was, ‘Look, if you want someone who’s going to blend well, you’re going to want me and Rhys to work together, you know?’ So, Seán said, ‘Yeah. 100%.’ And then we got the bassist Myles [Keogh], who’s also been playing with us for a long while, and went from there.”

“We work better together, I think, than anything I’ve been in before,” says Rhys on how The Decades differs from the other projects that he has been involved with. “Like, I feel like we sort of know what direction we all want to go, and we work quite well, in that way.” He continues, “At first, Seán had a bunch of songs he wanted to try with a band, and then it sort of turned into, ‘Like, this is actually pretty good.’ Then we started working together… – like, writing together, I suppose, which we hadn’t done yet – and then I think we were sort of set on, ‘Let’s make a go of this.’”

The band formed in 2019 and their progress was immediately halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, they only began performing live last year. However, when they couldn’t perform live, they spent their time practicing and recording music in Seán’s house, and released two singles, the swinging, rock n’ roll cut “Electricity” in 2020, and the more traditional indie track “Fools Gold” in 2021. In May of this year, they released their third single, “OVERWHELMING,” to much acclaim, which surprised David. “I was shocked this done so well!” he quips. “Only because we hadn’t released a song in so long. Like, I was telling the lads two or three days before the release, I was terrified that this wasn’t going…I thought everyone forgot about us and we were never going to be seen again, but I’m shocked it’s done so well. [Laughs]”

Recorded at the iconic Windmill Lane Studios, Myles explains how the making of this track differed from their prior experiences. “I think the main difference between ‘OVERWHELMING’ and especially ‘Fools Gold’ [is] rather than just throwing down a load of different layers for guitars and stuff, we kind of really focused. ‘Cause we only had a little bit of studio time in Windmill, so it was kind of less experimenting on the day, more preproduction to recording, getting all the guitar bits and everything, and just everything, the whole song together, and then it’s going in and just banging it all out in one go or, you know, in one or two takes, and then, with that, it’s the same mentality afterward, with fuckin’ PR and doing photoshoots and managing our socials and just everything. It’s more, like, meetings and stuff before you actually do something, less figuring it out as you go along, ‘cause we’ve had that experience with the first two, you know?”

On how the track differs sonically from their other songs, Rhys says, “I think ‘OVERWHELMING’ is a lot more mellow, I think, compared to the other two. It’s kind of got an acoustic feel to it at parts and then, especially compared to ‘Electricity,’ where we recorded that…that’s actually a live take of us playing together. So, it’s definitely got a different feel to it.”

With their showcase of versatility on the three tracks they have released thus far, we asked the band if they had plans for an EP or an album. “We’ve talked about the likes of EPs and albums and stuff,” responds David. “It’s just I think, at the minute, it doesn’t help that we’re so bad at social media. I think we figured that out along the way, too. So, it’s sort of one of those things where we’d like to throw a load of songs out, but we want to make sure that we have a good audience and we want to make sure that everything’s right before we do, you know?”

“The main thing is, we don’t really write our songs all in the one go and about the same thing, like you would with an EP, about the one theme and stuff,” adds Myles. “They’re all kind of random collections and then it’s just like, ‘Oh, at the moment, what’s our best song? OK, let’s record that’ and stuff, rather than…So, you know, if we get around to actually sitting down in a writing session and coming together with an idea for an EP, with a theme and that kind of thing, I’m sure we’d bang one out pretty easily, but, at the moment, our creativity comes in little short bursts of [All laugh] random songs and stuff, so…”

The Decades’ latest single “OVERWHELMING” is available on all streaming platforms now. You can follow the band on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram.

Aaron Kavanagh

Aaron Kavanagh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Post-Burnout. His writing can also be found in the Irish Daily Star, Buzz.ie, Totally Dublin, The GOO, Headstuff, New Noise Magazine, XS Noize, DSCVRD and more.