On episode 26 of Round the Ground, I interviewed Aisling O’Byrne, frontwoman of Brisbane dance/pop rock outfit Dizzy Days, fresh off the release of their latest single ‘Lately’.

For those unaware of Dizzy Days, how did you all get together, and how long have you been playing for?

I think the first show we all played together was at the end of 2021, and none of us knew each other before the band started.

I posted on Facebook and put the idea out for the project on Brisbane Music Scene—if you know, you know—and EJ replied. We did this really awkward audition thing, and then my housemates found Bridgette in another band, and I just slid into her DMs. And with Mikaela, I had a mutual, and we just messaged her on Instagram as well.

So we just met that way, which was kind of crazy, because I’ve never really met anyone else online like that before. And now we’re like sisters.

Was it intimidating to put out the call… like whoever responds, I guess we’re going to audition?

Yeah, it was, I wouldn’t like to have rejected people. The thought that it wasn’t going to work with anyone was so scary. I was like, “damn, if this doesn’t work out straight away…” Which, luckily, it pretty much did.

You’re well known across the Brisbane music scene by now—you’ve released an EP and now you’re touring, doing a bunch of festivals. Have local audiences been welcoming to your band from the very start, or did it take some time for you to develop that kind of community?

I think it always takes a bit of time, but we actually got so lucky, like we got our first show from a mutual friend, and then just played at all these local venues. We played heaps of shows in that first year just around Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. And we were always received really well, which is kind of scary.

I think being a girl band, especially in Brisbane… there’s a lot of heavier music and a lot of male-fronted bands. I mean, obviously that’s the way it is everywhere, but I think doing the genre that we’re doing, as well as being an all-female band, it was intimidating to play in front of some of those crowds because I’m like, “God, we’ve really gotta win them over.”

But we’ve had metalheads come up to us and be like, “I listen to metal, but you guys were sick.”

As an all-female band, when you were first starting to get gigs, did you see that as a barrier of entry into the Brisbane scene?

Honestly, I don’t think it was ever a barrier. If anything, people wanted to support that in Brisbane, which was really sick. We’ve only been to Perth once, but I got a similar vibe from Perth from the stories people were telling

I do think that Brisbane is one of the most supportive places for new music. Not only are the people all willing to help you come up, but also the venues are in such close proximity to each other. That’s why we have BIGSOUND and stuff, and that’s why it works so well—the venues are all walking distance between each other.

I do think that Brisbane is one of the most supportive places for new music.

So you can be out all night and find new things to do, and new bands to see. So it’s a really, really great spot to be coming up as a musician.

Do you have any favourite venues in the city that you love to perform at, or just visit?

Yes, I just feel like all the venues are so different. I feel like the two venues that are super great for starting out are Greaser Bar and Tomcat. They have their own crowd of people who like to come, it’s like a little community goes to those two venues. And it’s really nice because you can just go and meet a bunch of new people who are all super enthusiastic, or you’ll find photographers there.

There’s also Black Bear, that’s just a good vibe and you’ll always find something different there. It’s just all happening.

Brisbane has seen some of the biggest venue closures in the national scene, losing the Zoo, Bearded Lady and Stranded Bar in the last couple years, just to name a few. Do you have any stories from those particular venues?

Oh, The Zoo was so fun. I was really glad to hear that Crowbar was taking over its space, because I heard rumours that it was going to become office buildings and that was… scary.

Actually, I’m glad you mentioned it, because the Zoo is probably actually my favourite venue.

It’s like that perfect size—it’s big, but it’s got somewhat of a regular crowd, and then the artists that go there are like on the cusp of breaking through. You get to see some really amazing music right before it kind of explodes.

We played at the Bearded Lady a couple times and saw loads of friends play there… its closure was sad because it was one of the only venues in the West End that did live music.

You’ve just dropped a new single in the last week, and it’s a bit of a vibe change from the previous single, ‘It’s Me It’s Not You’. Can you tell us about ‘Lately’?

Yeah, it’s actually crazy when we were thinking about which songs to release. Doing ‘Lately’ after ‘It’s Me It’s Not You’ did feel like a bit of a crazy move because they’re literally polar opposites. We want to do both of those things, and I feel good that we haven’t tried to constrain ourselves into really tight boundaries—they both sound like us, but just in different ways.

I feel good that we haven’t tried to constrain ourselves into really tight boundaries.

‘Lately’ was very different for us, especially the writing. Normally we kind of get really hyped up, and we’re writing like a bit of a banger out, but it’s like something really fun. But we just lost someone close to us… the emotions were pretty fresh, and that song just kind of felt like it wrote itself.

And it is a bit of a slowdown for us, but I think it’s nice, and I think that’s an avenue we are definitely open to exploring more. We still really love the disco and funk side of things. So I think the contrast is nice, and in the set as well, it’s nice to have a bit of a breather. So yeah, it’s really nice having it in the world.

The fun music’s never gonna leave. That’s what we live for, we love a party.