Dez Dare on Brutalised Robotics and humanity’s fragile relationship with progress

Transmission 156: Interview with Dez Dare

Dez Dare is the project of Darren Smallman, an Australian musician and producer who emerged from the punk and rock scene of Geelong in the early 1990s. Smallman performed with bands like Thee Vinyl Creatures, The Sound Platform, and Warped, sharing stages with acts such as Fugazi, Cosmic Psychos, and The Dirty Three. Transitioning from performing to running independent record labels, he founded Low Transit Industries and later God Unknown Records, facilitating the release of music across diverse genres.

Title: Brutalised Robotics
Artist: Dez Dare
Release Date: 2025-01-24
Genres: Experimental Music, Garage Rock, Noise Rock, Post-punk, Psychedelic Rock
Label: God Unknown Records
Description: Dez Dare discusses Brutalised Robotics in an exclusive interview, addressing humanity's contradictions, sentience, and the ethics of technology.

Relocating to Brighton, UK, in the 2020s, Smallman established Dez Dare as a solo endeavor, crafting music in his home studio. His work combines lo-fi aesthetics, heavy riffs, and electronic elements, addressing existential themes like humanity’s relationship with technology and the environment. Dez Dare’s new release Brutalised Robotics will be available on January 24 through God Unknown Records.In 2025, Dez will be joining forces with Thee Alcoholics, The Jonny Halifax Invocation, and bushpilot for a series of shows in March and April, marking the start of a UK and European tour. Plans are also in place for an Australian tour in early 2026. At the bottom of the interview with Dez Dare, the first dates of the tour are listed.

Featured image: Steve Gullick

Growing up in Geelong, what initially drew you to the punk and rock scene of the early ’90s?

At school all the freaks, nerds, weirdo’s and arty kids all hung out. Me being weird and arty started skateboarding, cause it was the 80s, and I was introduced to punk and rock. I quickly ditched the skateboard for bass guitar and off I went. I loved the DIY community that the scene had. I loved the idea of being creative without bounds, breaking things to make beauty. I spent my early years making art and music in grotty pubs, sharing houses with too many people living in them and old warehouses, avoiding growing up. Something I have still managed to do. Not grow up!

Can you recall the first gig you attended or performed at that made you feel music was your calling?

First gig I went to I played. I was 15 and played at a biker venue in Geelong with Bored! and The Dirty Lovers. We loved it, our parents were shocked. All mohawks and leather jackets and long hair and tattoos. We played shit but put in a decent performance. The Dirty Lovers climbed the rafters with their blistering garage rock, beer cans flying, profanity rife. My introduction to rock’n’roll.

Shifting from playing in bands to running record labels, what motivated that transition? How did your experience managing labels like God Unknown and BATTLE WORLDWIDE influence the way you now approach music production?

Impatience and necessity. Each band has a member who does all the business stuff. That was always me. Early on I started making merch and booking gigs. Starting sound engineering to pay for beer. Started putting out records because there were few labels and someone needed to… one band turned into loads over the years. Low Transit Industries was my first label, back in Australia. We ran that from 1999 – 2010. I think my influence is the opposite. Running labels has given me a better understanding of the market but it was my DIY upbringing that influenced my career path, not the other way around. I like to get my hands dirty, and I like to move fast.

When creating Brutalised Robotics, what sparked the exploration of themes like consciousness and the relationship between humanity and technology?

I tend to think about this stuff a lot. Existentialism is the closest thing I have to a belief structure and I wouldn’t even say I am that. From the development of community and farming to the industrial age to the digital age, humans have developed very fast. Faster than I think we are able to. Kinda like an infant in a V8 car with a shotgun. We have built a vision of ourselves as something separate to the rest of the world around us, something special. Something unique. The irony is we will shine the brightest and burn out the fastest. The woolly mammoths of London were there for 4 million years and there is barely any evidence of their existence. Look at what we will leave in our brief time on this rock when either we kill ourselves or something does it for us. Plastic, cables and trinkets will be our fossils. How strange will it be for future archeologists trying to work out what humans were!!

What was the starting point for the single? Did a particular concept or riff set the tone for the single?

When I write I tend to build tracks from the bottom up with a rough idea of track names and concepts. I will start with a riff and a beat and layer from there. I try not to overthink production. Just start and see what happens.

Collaborating with Laura Loriga on this latest single, how did her contribution influence the final track?

Laura came into a studio in London right at the end so it didn’t influence the writing, but it did change my production. I shifted the focus of the backing vocals to be more airy and melodic, which is easy when you have a beautiful voice like Laura’s.

Were there any books, films, or current events that influenced the lyrical content of Brutalised Robotics?

It all stemmed from the constant talk at present around AI and how it will impact humans. The question I find more interesting is how will we impact AI. At what point does something become sentient? Considering our history of how we treat ourselves and other animals, I am gonna assume the robots won’t be happy.

Are there any experimental techniques or unconventional methods you used on this record that you hadn’t tried before

Not really, I am always tweaking how I produce music. Apart from a few basic rules around the end product, I like to break all others. I want to make weird sounds and unique soundscapes in rock and I guess I approach all songs with that in mind. How do I make a catchy, thoughtful track that has unique sounds and atmosphere?

Reflecting on past collaborations, are there any sessions that stand out as particularly transformative for your sound?

Dez Dare is really a solo project. I make everything from scratch and involve few people. Maybe that might change in the future, maybe not.

What role does experimentation play in your writing process? Do you often let accidents or unexpected ideas shape the final sound?

I love accidents! I try to be as fluid as possible when recording and rules are out of my process. If it sounds good, it stays.

How do you approach the visual aspects of your projects, from album art to music videos?

My general aesthetic to psychotropic / existential / nerdery. I tend to use illustrators for the covers as I can’t draw to save myself, but do all the design and videos myself. With my videos and design I am building this weird world of characters and places that are cut and paste from the past and current day. A community of ideas and bits snatched from all over to make a Frankenstein’s monster type of representation of the world I see.

What’s next for Dez Dare in 2025? Any plans or ideas you’re especially excited to explore in your music or beyond?

Just getting on the road more. I have some release news later in the year and a load of shows!!!

Tour dates

Thu.13.Mar /// The Prince Albert, Brighton
Featuring bushpilot + The Jonny Halifax Invocation + Dez Dare
Sat.15.Mar /// Hyde Park Bookclub, Leeds
Featuring bushpilot + Dez Dare + Lymon Willis
Wed.09.Apr /// New Cross Inn, London
Featuring Thee Alcoholics + more to be announced…

Photo courtersy of Dez Dare

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others