Interview with McDermott & North: ‘The song lives in that space – not thinking about the past, not being too worried about the future either’

Melbourne-based indie folk duo McDermott & North have released their feel-good track ‘All Things Come And Go’ today (21 January) about getting through a rough time and finding happiness in the little moments.

The duo comprises Paddy McDermott and Rhys North, who have just moved to Melbourne after a six year stint in Brisbane: ‘We met in Oakland in 2015 when we were both solo artists and started a rock band, Chesterfield,’ North said. ‘It was the name of a street I used to live on, I thought it was a cool name (laughs). The rock band doesn’t exist anymore but we decided to keep on singing together.’

They describe ‘All Things Come And Go’ as being about ‘coming to terms with the fact that whenever you’re going through a rough patch, a ray of sunshine is just around the corner’: ‘As we grow older, we learn how to let go of the things we once held closely in order to make way for the next part of life’s journey,’ North said. ‘You also start to realise the finite nature of life and the importance of finding a sense of contentment living in the moment. The song lives in that space – not thinking about the past, not being too worried about the future either.’

‘We decided to make the harmonies our main thing’

It’s their gorgeous harmonies that set them apart from many other acts, a move that was deliberate, according to McDermott: ‘Rhys had a lot of songs at the start and we decided to make the harmonies one of our main things after people complimented the harmonies a lot.’ 

‘All Things Come And Go’ opens with a burst of nostalgic feel-good, Beach Boys-style energy, fusing rustic guitars with gentle percussion. Led by a consistent melodic build created with rising vocals and weaving guitar layers, classic rock elements melt into sunny indie-rock as they harmonise in rounds in the chorus. It’s catchy and uplifting in equal measure: ‘It was a co-write,’ North said. ‘Basically, Paddy had a few chords and I had the melody. We had the majority of the lyrics when the melody came but we didn’t know what they meant at the time. I think it’s one of our happiest songs.’

As the pre-chorus goes: ‘It comes and it goes like the rain and the snow and stars falling under me. I was the man with a plan but it slipped through my hands, falling under me. Fine, I feel grand, won’t you please understand, don’t you know, all things come and go.’

‘The melody guides it and the lyrics just need to make sense’

It has a different feel to their single ‘Ally’ (2021), which is more wistful. ‘It’s not based on a real-life Ally, it’s more of an analogy,’ North said. ‘We were sitting around with our guitars and it just came together. We mainly write by ourselves and when we get stuck, we bring it to the other person. Half of the time, we sit down together. It’s normally the melody first and then the lyrics. The melody guides it and the lyrics just need to make sense. We’re cool with that.’

However, it turns out their song ‘Georgia’ (2021), one of their most old school blues-tinged tracks, was inspired by a real-life Georgia: ‘So I used the dating app Tinder,’ McDermott laughed. ‘I wrote the song about a girl I matched with on it. We were talking for a bit but the conversation never got that far. She never heard the song, I never met her.’ Other tracks have been inspired by former relationships, such as ‘Broken Girl’ (2018), which I tell them is one of my favourites. It could easily be a song from the 50’s or 60’s and McDermott’s lead vocals really shine against the gentle, melodic strumming. ‘It’s basically about my previous relationship and us breaking up,’ he said. ‘I wrote it before it all happened but then six months later, it played out as the song goes, it was quite freaky!’

They plan to release another two singles this year, with an EP slated for the last quarter of the year, although they are keeping all details under wraps.

Locally, North recommends his friend Harry Broome: ‘He sings really cool country-folk.’ McDermott mentions Sydney-based dream pop singer, Julia Jacklin: ‘She sings sort of slow ballads, 50’s, 60’s-style, really calm, a bit like The Beach Boys,’ he said. If they could put together their dream-line up, they plump for The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Oasis and Neil Young.

‘He was the only musician there, he was so happy to meet us!’

They’ve had some entertaining moments on the road and they recount one that’s as sweet as it is funny: ‘We’ve done a lot of busking around Australia in little country towns,’ McDermott said. North is laughing: ‘We went to a town in Queensland and met a bloke about our age. He was the only musician there, he was so happy to meet us! He’d never left his town and he packed up all his stuff and followed us to Melbourne. He was busking at the same time as us in different parts of the city.’

During their five years together, they have received both national and global radio attention from the likes of Triple J, National NZ Radio and BBC Radio, as well as their multiple live performances across the country including Bluesfest 2019, supporting Ben Lee’s Queensland Tour, playing two 2021 shows with Alex Lloyd and performing a sold-out headline show in Brisbane.

They have grand plans for which show they’d like to hear ‘All Things Come And Go’ on: ‘I’d like to hear it on a show with lots of action,’ North said. McDermott agrees: ‘I’d like to hear it on the new Star Wars show (The Book of Boba Fett). ‘When they’re flying around shooting lasers at everyone and we come on!’

(Photo from left to right: Paddy and Rhys.)