FULL FLOWER MOON BAND AT NORTH GONG

Film development courtesy of Crown Art & Design

When Full Flower Moon Band’s Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon agreed to sit down for a chat, a resounding WOO rang out through the studio. Yes—it came from me. I hate to admit my tardiness to the FFMB train—I first was lucky enough to see them live at the Teen Jesus Sydney show in November. And boy do they know how to put on a show. Their music is like if an electric shock was sexy as well as lethal. And if getting zapped gave you some sort of supernatural confidence boost.

Before sitting down to talk to Kate, we joined the band at their picnic table for some hearty laughter and plenty of do something cool being said as they were pointing our camcorder at each other—talk about unmatched pre-show energy.

Kate is someone I have an unmatched amount of admiration for. Going far beyond her musical and lyrical talent, she is open, welcoming and encouraging. And she can PERFORM. Five reasons why you should listen to her latest album Megaflower with your windows down next time you’re in the car—if it’s not too hot or wet outside.

WANDERER: I thought as usual, we might start with some quick fire questions, if that's okay. 

KATE: I'm notoriously slow at quickfire. But I'll be as quick as I can.

It's okay. It's not quick. Do you have any tips or tricks for New Year's Eve?

All I can think about right now is whether we're saying ‘New Year's’ as plural, and why we would say that. Or if you say ‘New Year Eve,’ singular. Once we get to the bottom of that, I think you'll have a great night.

It confuses me too. I never know what to say. What vocal warmups do you do?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That one.

I liked it. Do you have a favourite interview question?

My favourite interview question is usually…[very drawn out pause]. My favorite interview question is…not this one.

I love that answer. What's the best month of the year?

November, because it's my birthday month and I also named Full Flower Moon Band against the Southern Hemisphere version of the Moons. That is the full flower moon.

Do you have a celebrity crush?

So many. I just can't get past Brad Pitt. He's just aging better and better.

Is he?

I've been doing a lot of YouTube downloads and editing, like fan videos of male celebrities.

Of who?

Brad Pitt. And there's some new ones entering the chat [including] that guy from the Bear. And then also a lot of Austin Butler.

What do you do with the videos?

I just make music to my fan edits. That's where we get the heat. There are definitely female celebrities I'm crushing on as well. I just haven't been editing as many of them lately. 

I feel that. I hate when you have a crush on a celebrity and they just age like lettuce. Next, Iggy Pop. What happened there?

Iggy Pop said our band name on BBC Radio Six, and we all lost our minds. Friends and fans and family—we all just lost it, and we didn't know it was happening, and I wasn't ready, and getting through it just consumed my whole day. It's a lot.

Isn't that awesome? I wish he would say my name. So we've made it through the quick fire and I'm impressed. 

Oh my god, cool. 

We can breathe. Honestly, that was as stressful for me as it was for you. 

Yeah, I'm really slow. Thank you. [Sees Emma's upcoming questions written under 'Slow Fire'] Wait, 'Slow Fire'—hahaha. This section is called Slow Fire.

Slow fire. We breathe.

Just more of a kindling.

A simmer for the next 20 minutes. So you released your second album Megaflower in July, which obviously topped the ARIA charts, which is fucking awesome. So now you have a six month old...

Wait, what? Oh, I have a six month old album, hahah.

Congratulations. I didn't get an invite to the baby shower, but whatever. So how is she maturing and how's it going for you so far being a parent?

Well, can I just go on a little campaign moment here? The ARIA charts introduced a trophy that they give any Australian artist who reaches number one on the Australian charts. And they introduced it the week after we topped the Australian charts. So I'm on a bit of a campaign to back date that one week, so I can get a trophy maybe?

Surely.

And I'm also considering—you can go to the person who makes them and just be like, make me one.

Do you know who makes them?

Well, there's trophy makers. I'm a dance student originally, like an eisteddfod kid, so I know they get made and—yes, it's in the shape of Australia, but like, someone's making them. And I think we could get to them.

Who do we email?

I'm not that far into the plan yet. But the six month old beautiful, beautiful baby is so, so good and has exceeded all expectations. Heavier weight than anticipated. Also the 'Illegal Things' track off the record was something that I had released as a demo that I had had a bit of fun with. And now it's really taken on its own life, which has been super cool. I do think Iggy Pop had a bit to do with that because that was one of the songs he played. I'm really grateful that each song on the record has found its own kind of audience because that was definitely the idea behind Mega Flower: that we'd expand sonically and reach people that might have assumed we weren't gonna go there. I feel really proud that the record is reaching those people. And I'm not worried if someone's like, ‘I just love 'Baby'.’ I'm like, Great. I love ‘Baby’ too. So just having a record that has such a range has been really satisfying because the whole album is giving a lot of different things. So it's growing well, I think. And everyone's finding their own moment with it.

True. I feel like I am too. You probably get asked a lot about your alter ego Babyshakes. I might hop on that train and ask about her significance and how she came about.

So around the time that I named Full Flower Moon Band, I had a boyfriend and he started calling me Babushka, actually. I don't know how I got to Babyshakes. I think it's an endearing word and I think it's a bit bratty and a bit naughty. I do shake a bit on stage and so it started. I just really like having a layer between who's sitting at the table right now and who's on stage. And I think fans like that too, because I've met some people that I idolise and it's kind of scary when you are meeting them. And so I thought it would be nice to have some gap between: Kate who's gonna have a beer, and Babyshakes, who's in the spotlight. I'm not inventing a new thing here. There's so many celebrities with alter egos or just celebrity names and I enjoy that. It's a bit more drama. It also helps with songwriting because I'm not saying those words. As a writer, particularly coming from a small town, it helped me free the shackles of what might have been expected to come out of my mouth, and then what I wanted to write about. Like, I don't necessarily endorse everything Babyshakes says.

It's so cool to have a rockstar persona. But it is you, of course. 

Yeah, just a different part of me.

Exactly. And can you bring her out whenever you're up there or does it take some time?

It wasn't a practiced thing. I just knew I wanted a buffer and now whatever happens under that buffer is allowed, you know. I don't have to worry about any personal consequences. I’m still the same person, but it feels different.

Yeah. We should all have that.

Totally. We should! 

Now: club names.

What would be your club name?

I have an embarrassing online alias, which is Dr. Steeze

Nice. That's a club name.

I know. It's just my Instagram username. 

But you know, I now refer to people as their Instagram handles so often.

So I'm just becoming my alias.

Can I do a shoutout?

Please. Yeah.

Shout out Salty Trash Rat. Sorry—Ainsley.

Salty Trash Bag. That's a good one. I'm surprised that was free when they took it. 

Of course, we have spoken about Mega Flower and its range and how there's something that appeals to everyone. And I've also read about your endeavors to be genreless and not really exist in one space and to avoid being placed inside a box. How do you act on this? And then how does it extend into other facets of your life?

Well, I respect genre. I love that we can play with it. So I'm not wanting to eradicate the idea of genre, but as an upcoming band, I just didn't wanna be pigeonholed. And, particularly in Australia, I didn't wanna be just a one trick pony from our biggest song,  Roadie. Roadie is very much a great song in the hard rock space. But I also wanted to show younger artists that it's okay to do the other things that are close to your heart. And I don't think I'm being disrespectful in the way that I'm doing it because I'm not randomly dropping a trap record. I've felt liberated from previous artists who have shown me different sides of their writing. And I didn't wanna shy away from that lineage of the artistry. I'd rather be considered an artist than a person inside one thing, I guess. And I think everyone does. Right? That's not a unique feeling. Everyone wants to be able to do everything in their heart. So I'm just trying to wave a flag to it, and good on the listeners who are down for that because we didn't know if they'd stick around. They opened their hearts and minds and that's so encouraging. And that then gives me more confidence to do that again next time. It’s exciting that people can hold more than one version of a band. And all my favorite bands do that too.

And I feel like we've also got enough belief that whatever you put out there is gonna be something that's enjoyable and amazing.

Oh, thank you. You have faith.

So how does that thinking extend into other parts of your life?

It fully extends into other parts of my life because, as a music listener, I’m listening to KNEECAP one second and Lana Del Rey the next. And I think, as listeners, we're more accepting of that idea that we will just do whatever we want. And I wanted to take that liberation into my own writing. And some people might be listening to this saying, ‘Dude, that's so easy. Everyone does that.’ But personally, I had some fear around it. So I am grateful that I got to let go of that a bit.

Why were you scared?

Because once you have something, it's hard to imagine it going. And, for example, when I put out a soft song like ‘Baby’, there’s some demons [in my head] being like, They're not gonna stick around and they're gonna forget about you and leave. But thank goodness they didn't. And those demons are just part of being an artist. I think you go through those demons with everything: the creative process, the ups and downs. Like, even if I was doing a straight rock album, I'd still have demons being like, They're gonna leave you in the ditch. Ya Done. But I think that's natural and you gotta push through. The real ones push through. 

They're just in your head. I know we think a lot about when a big band has a hit and then they can't really stray from it, and they stick to that same thing. But having a range and evolving as a band is so awesome. It's good to be a listener and then see how your favourite band grows with you.

I guess I just didn't know if we were established enough to make that swing.

And how would you even know?

Well, that's what made me realise: you're always gonna be pushing, you're always gonna be looking to feel more secure, so that concept's never gonna go away. You know? And this was my first album battling with that because we hadn't really had an audience before Diesel Forever. And Diesel Forever was made and we were like, ‘Oh, people are listening.’ And then those new Voices come in.

And we did hear a big evolution from Diesel Forever into Mega Flower which was really cool to see. And obviously we've seen you're pretty active on the content train, but it's in a way that is so authentic and so real. Do you find it hard to keep consistent with it? Or does it come naturally to you? 

It came really naturally to me before there was any pressure. I'd been making reels for a really long time on another channel called Dirty Power Studios. So I think of it as a muscle that I developed before there was an actual demand for it. And now that we actually do have things that we need to take really seriously, for our promotion, and for fans, and also just for the joy of connecting with people, it's easy to overlook, but it is fun. There is a job element to it, but it’s fun. The Iggy Pop thing is a great example because we didn't know that was happening and I had to really quickly decide the angle and the edit and how that was gonna feel. And honestly, I'm freeing myself up a lot more lately. Like I'm getting less precious about it simply because the demand is so much higher now. I used to spend a full day getting an edit right, and I think people don't talk about that enough. But now that the speed of what we need to put out is higher, I'm letting go of the reins a little bit, but it's after having done my time figuring out what angle we are doing.

You've had a massive year this year releasing music and touring. What are we leaving behind in 2024, if anything?

Oh my God, I'm so in the future that when you said 2024, I was like, We're in 2025. But we're not.

No, four more hours.

2024. I'm leaving behind worrying too much about what I look like online. That's one thing. This is so controversial but I'm leaving behind star signs. I'm sorry. I'm still in the camp of like, use it for therapy, 100%, take what you need. But I am leaving behind any superstition. And I'm also leaving behind a lot of clothes because I'm working on a capsule wardrobe.

Wow. Inspiring. I'm leaving behind this belt 'cause it's kind of janky now. I thought it was really good when I got it and then I realised it's just never been worn before. And as soon as I wore it, it got really gross. You guys don't even wanna see it. Anyway, can you give us a little teaser on what to expect from Full Flower in 2025?

We're branching into other mediums and new forms, which I'm really excited about. And also maybe just a little bit more sustainability on the touring route because we did three national tours this year and it was pretty freaking hectic. There's some things coming up that I can't talk about. That's exciting, isn't it?

I just realised I forgot to put my tie on.

Your tie! Nice. It's amazing. We need to start again, haha. It's really funny, a lot of things for 2025 haven't been announced, but our team has been working from like six months ago to make 'em happen. So it'll be a really good year. I'm just excited, now that the album's dropped, to branch into honoring it a bit. Which is what I'm talking about with different mediums. So that'll be fun. And looking at all the great Australian music that was released this year and what's coming up next year, it's all very good. So I hope nothing gets missed and we all get to see all the stuff that's coming out from other bands as well because Australia's punching so high. It's great. 

So awesome. I'm so excited to see it all. The other mediums—are you guys releasing like a G string merch line, a podcast? 

I would never take the space of the podcast because the people in it have worked so hard. I'm happy to be the guest, I feel like I have enough to sit on. And I wanna support the people who are like, ‘I'm doing podcasts.’ I would love to do one actually, but at the moment I just don't wanna stand on the toes of the Australian podcasters because they did put in the work and I'm happy to come on..

Is there any chance you could leave us with something to inspire us all for next year? I feel like you can come up with something great

You don't need a lot of equipment to do incredible things. In 2025 we don't need to buy into any sort of industry standard. We are the industry standard. We are making things in our bedrooms, on the streets, at bar tables, and it's all good quality now because we all have the means of production. So let's make, let's create, and the hardest part—let's edit

Let's trim it down.

Yeah. We really can all be our own artists now. The time is here and—oh! This was my goss. We were talking earlier about if I had any goss and I do, it’s that you can stem split your favourite songs now and listen to the baselines and the drum beats of your favourite tracks. And it's for free and you just have to Google stem splitting. Logic has an option, but you don't even need logic. You can just Google stem splitting. I've been stem splitting for days. You've caught me in the middle of a stem splitting binge. I've been stem splitting James Brown. I've been studying David Bowie baselines. They're way boppier than you realise. 

Can you stem split Coldplay?

I can. 

Of course you can. You can do anything.

Don't doubt. You can do it.

I can do anything.

That's pretty inspiring to me.

I'm inspired. Cool. Well we've done enough talking. Do you want to go get a drink?

Yeah. Yay.