drest Sucks: “I Used To Hate The Green Snake Lollies”
Naarm-based artist drest might just be Australia’s most unassuming future star. Earlier this year, he released wine drunk demos, a project full of bite-sized, guitar-driven pop. It’s one of the most charming projects I’ve heard in 2023.
It’s hard not to root for drest as he describes the situations he finds himself in day-to-day. On his new single, ‘motionsick’, he’s teamed up with in-demand producer Tyron Hapi, who’s worked with the likes of Masked Wolf, Will Sparks and more. ‘motionsick’ is glossier than much of drest’s discography to date, but it’s no less charming. The music video for ‘motionsick’ also features drest driving, which, if you read on, you’ll learn doesn’t always go to plan…
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing drest live before, and I think he really encapsulates what makes local music scenes great. As cool as it is to watch international acts command huge stages when they come to your hometown, or to be at a packed festival among thousands of music lovers, it’s a special experience to see an artist command a heaving room full of people that really, really want to see them win.
To mark the release of ‘motionsick’, Junkee spoke to drest about watching cats on TikTok, drinking a lot of caffeine (and I mean a lot), and realising that musicians need to live their lives in order to have things to write about. If you’re someone that needs a cup or two of coffee to kick start their day, then you’ll relate to drest’s routines.
Junkee: A mistake that turned into an opportunity?
Downloading GarageBand in high school. Did not do my sense of “cool” any good and the pre-made Apple Loops were so bad but I mean, here we are now. [I’m] essentially still doing the same shit, just slightly less bad.
Cringe quote you used to live by?
I used to always think “you only live once”, which is so cringe but low-key so true.
Worst advice you got and blindly followed?
Some industry person told me once that if I wanted to be an artist I couldn’t have a life or like any fun practically, like watch Netflix or go out or do anything that wasn’t grinding. Life sucked a lot less when I realised that wasn’t true, plus you’ve got to have stuff to write about right?
The worst failure you’re up for sharing, and what you learned from it?
I scraped the shit out of the side of my car in a parking lot the other day. I’m still tryna work out what I’m learning from that experience but as someone who thinks they’re a good driver, I can confirm I definitely felt like a failure.
Anything you used to be wrong about?
I used to hate the green snake lollies when I was younger, with a passion, but someone brought a packet round the other day and I’m definitely coming to the party.
Embarrassing internet habit?
My girl just got a cat so now she’s sending me TikToks of cat videos. It’s fully ruined my For You Page experience recently. The embarrassing thing is I’m actually starting to catch myself watching them now.
Ideal morning routine versus actual morning routine?
Ideal routine is to wake up when my alarm goes off, go to the gym, eat breakfast, read a little bit and get into the studio early.
Actual routine is going to bed mad late the night before (probably met some mates for beers), sleeping through my alarm, and then waking up with no time so I skip the gym and skip breakfast and grab a drive through Macca’s coffee and get to the studio barely on time and feeling grim.
Something very off-brand for you?
I don’t know if it’s off-brand for me but I’ve been blasting Olivia Rodrigo lately. You can’t tell me it doesn’t slap.
Bad health decision?
Energy drinks. I know how bad they are and I never used to get around them, but they started getting me through late and long studio sessions a while back and now the fridge here is constantly stocked up with those zero sugar Red Bulls.
What do you waste money on?
Dare iced coffees have me in a chokehold, like I could just make a coffee or buy a real one for nearly the same price but no, it’s gotta be these. I’m actually super caffeine-oriented now that I think about it too.
Worst procrastination habit?
So basic, but TikTok, I’ll be having a quick break and then it’s been half an hour and all I’ve done is scroll. I swear I don’t even enjoy it that much, it’s just a deep hole to go down every time.
drest’s new single motionsick is out now.
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Illustration credit: Matt Lauricella, @pigeonboyart
Image credit: supplied