The Music is Talking with Alexander Hallag

The Rock N' Roll drive of Jimmy Christmas & Dion Lunadon of The D4

• Alexander Hallag • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Get ready to plug into a high octane rock and roll adventure with Dion Lunadon and Jimmy Christmas of the New Zealand punk rock band The D4. This is not just about music, but about friendship, perseverance, creativity, and following your gut.

Dion and Jimmy recount their experiences performing in Japan with Guitar Wolf, and the renowned South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas where they were one of the first New Zealand bands to play there. Listen in to hear some of their adventures whilst on tour and how their relentless work ethic turned dreams into reality. 

But this episode is more than just tales from the touring life. It's about the process, the grind, and the sheer determination that fuels creativity. Dion and Jimmy talk about the importance of standing by your ideas, no matter how daunting they seem. They both agree - trust your gut, and let authenticity drive your performances. It's all about finding that raw, unfiltered energy on stage, and sharing it with the world.  

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Alexander Hallag:

Hi, this is Alexander Halak and welcome to the Music is Talking podcast. For over three decades now, I've been an internationally published music photographer and in that time I've met and worked with some amazing creative people. To see some of my music photography, check out instagramcom slash the music is talking, or visit my website, which is wwwthemusicistalkingcom. So join me as I speak with a wide variety of creatives, including musicians, filmmakers, authors, artists and many others, to talk about their personal creative journeys and their unique ways of making innovative and original work to help connect the wider creative community through shared experience. On this episode of the Music is Talking, I will be having a conversation with Dion and Jimmy of the Rock and Roll Band, the D4, from New Zealand. We will be talking about the early beginnings and their explosive live shows, along with their thoughts on creativity. So sit back and hang on for this Rock and Roll adventure with the D4. Thanks for joining me today. Thanks for having us man.

Jimmy Christmas:

Hey, alex.

Alexander Hallag:

Hey, so let's talk about the D4. How did you guys start and a brief history of the D4?.

Dion Lunadon:

It's a long story. I guess I'll keep it short. Me and Jimmy first met when we were teenagers playing in our respective first bands. I was in a band called Nothing at All. He was in a band called the Goodies and we used to play halls in the North Shore in Auckland. We'd hire out halls and we'd play them to local teenagers Cut to a few. Maybe 10 years later I'd left Nothing at All. I don't know if Jimmy wasn't playing the band at that time, were you no?

Jimmy Christmas:

I was in Cranking Drinks, cranking Drinks. He was in Cranking Drinks. I joined as a singer.

Dion Lunadon:

I just wrote Cranking Drinks one more time. I had been kicked out of a band called the Snitches. Nothing at All was no longer going, so I kind of started getting my own songs together and met Jimmy at a party we were just hanging out playing spin the bottle, I believe, with a couple of girls.

Jimmy Christmas:

That's how the story goes.

Dion Lunadon:

Yes, that's how the story goes. It's Mandy and Adria. I was thinking about forming another band. I had a bunch of songs and I knew Jimmy was a great singer. He had a real powerful voice and he could sing and tune. We decided to have a jam and see where that took us.

Jimmy Christmas:

I think, as Dion says, when we started everybody you know we're putting bands on the North Shore, the bands that I was in. What cool. I was joining established bands because I wanted to do it but I could see the bands like Nothing at All were particularly notable of guys that were doing it. I'm into that. That's the sort of music and the sort of ethos and the culture that I wanted to be a part of. I went closer and closer into Dion's circle and then became friends with the drummer from Nothing at All over a Buzzcox cassette that I found in his girlfriend's bedroom. There's no reason why she had that cassette, you know, it's like what the hell is this? And so I ended up being in a band with him. Actually. So from post the Cranking Dream, we were in A Bit Off, which was an offshoot of that. So it was like a punk outfit and I was just singing in that.

Jimmy Christmas:

And started to get closer to what we'll call the Frisbee scene, which was a collective of musicians organized around this guy Cup guys, but Bob Frisbee was recording these bands and John Baker was putting on the shows. John Baker was putting on the shows and there was, you know, various setups of recording and live spaces and practice rooms and it was very much a unique environment that was going against the grain of what was happening in the wider musical A clear DIY collective.

Alexander Hallag:

Right, right right.

Jimmy Christmas:

And so that's how we crossed paths. And then they had some songs and in a way we went and I think the start of that was recruited as the singer and there was another guitarist, and that didn't kind of work out. And I think Rich I remember Rich Mixtia saying hey, jimmy, why don't you have a go? And I had a go.

Alexander Hallag:

Right and here we are now. And so there's been obviously some breaks in between things.

Dion Lunadon:

Well, I need one. Well, yeah, when I want a major break, I guess yeah.

Alexander Hallag:

And that's because you moved right.

Dion Lunadon:

Well, yeah, it wasn't just because I moved. I moved because we'd stopped, we'd stopped. And basically what happened is we made the first album, you know, did really well, we got to travel the world and live a bunch of stuff that we'd always dreamed of doing. You know, playing David Letterman Meeting our heroes.

Dion Lunadon:

Meeting our heroes, playing with them, blah, blah, blah. And then we made the second album, which is very hard to make. You know, second album is always a bit tough, especially if there's some success of the first one, because you've got this thing to live up to. Then you've got these people in your ear telling you what to do. You know you were surrounded by managers, labels, friends, you know, telling you what you should be doing. So it's a confusing time. But we ended up making the album and putting it out and things were just not quite as.

Dion Lunadon:

Times had shifted. By that time we lost our management, we lost a bunch of our labels that we were on. So it felt like the wind had been taken out of us a little bit and it got to the time where it was like oh, we've got to make a third album. Now. This is the time. And me and Jimmy looked at each other and just kind of thought I don't know if we've got it or not. You know, like you know we, you know there was a lot of work putting that second album together. We knew how much work it took to put an album together and it just seemed like a time to you know, let's just try something. Let's just leave this where it is at the moment and go do separate things.

Jimmy Christmas:

I think we, because we lost momentum and some of it was our doing.

Jimmy Christmas:

I think and some of it was stuff out of our control where we would try. You know, they really wanted to sign this record, to be picked up by this big American label that had got the first record, and there was a lot of waiting around and we wanted to say, well, if they don't want it, we'll take it somewhere else and we'll just go back out and start doing it. You know, we organised ourselves our own tour. We had gone through Europe with the Hives and had a really successful tour in that regard and yeah, that side of things sort of killed a momentum and I think perhaps maybe we should have yeah, I don't know maybe had taken a break between the two records, like a short break, and then come back focused. We kind of we would run and felt like we were just on the go for years, right, yeah, yeah. So it's kind of but that's okay.

Dion Lunadon:

I mean you've got to be on the go. You know, if you're in a band, you kind of got like, or you're an artist, you make art like a job. You know, you don't take a year off, you know, and people don't take a year off their jobs. If you can't, you got to lend some money and shit. You know.

Alexander Hallag:

Of course. Well, it's interesting because, you know, for me, I remember first hearing the name of the D4 when I was living in the States and then when I moved to New Zealand, I actually put the two and two that you guys were in New Zealand band and then I remember that I'd never knew that you guys were from New Zealand. And then when we you guys do this show a few years back, pre-covid at the Bath House it was actually my first time seeing you guys as the D4.

Alexander Hallag:

But now to last night's show. I talked to quite a few people in the crowd afterwards and they were telling me from different experiences that they had. Some guys say from Belfast, some people saw you in different places. So if we can talk about that because I know it's quite difficult for bands in New Zealand to break onto that international circuit how was that for you guys?

Dion Lunadon:

Well, I think we did it because we were driven and we were all. You know, as a teenager playing my first band, my dream was to play overseas and we were both pretty driven, hardworking people, and that's what it takes. That's all it takes, really. You know even more than you know. What do you call it when you're good at something?

Jimmy Christmas:

that's weird. It's natural building.

Dion Lunadon:

Even more than ability or skill. It takes hard work and focus and drive. We were both about that and we just made it happen. We worked hard. We played a lot of shows in New Zealand. We did get the opportunity, through bands like Guitar Wolf, to go to Japan. That was the first place we ever went outside of New Zealand. They said we'd love to have you over there, and we were just like we're going to make this happen. We were invited to Japan and we were going to Japan. So we saved up a bunch of money and we went. That was really started at all. That was the catalyst for us to become the band we were, by playing in Japan, going overseas for the first time. Not the desperation, but the opportunity had been given to us and we weren't going to let that go. So we put a lot of work into those shows, and playing with those Japanese bands too Made us raise the bar on ourselves because they're all so wild and crazy. We were like this is what we want to be.

Alexander Hallag:

How did Guitar Wolf hear about you guys?

Jimmy Christmas:

John Baker had brought Guitar Wolf to New Zealand. He was bringing over bands like Dead Moon, guitar Wolf, helicopters. We were at the time where we were cut and put our show together and started to develop a good set. We got the support gigs for these because it was part of the scene and part of the vibe. Then we took the opportunity and these bands saw something in us that peaked their interest and said you guys should do this, or this is the opportunity for you. This exists out there. There's an audience for you. This is how you get to it. We did other things, like we recorded a 7-inch cover of a Devil Dogs song. Devil Dogs was a big influence on us and we sent it to the guy that wrote it at, the bass player, steve Bass, who was in Virginia. He said we love your band, we covered your song. Here it is. He said great, if you're ever in America, come and see me, I'll book you some shows.

Dion Lunadon:

Record you, record you, yeah.

Jimmy Christmas:

Then John came to us and said hey, you guys should play this festival called South by Southwest Us, and the Datsons were the first Kiwi bands to go and do it.

Alexander Hallag:

What year is this that we're talking 2000.

Dion Lunadon:

I would say 2000, yeah or 2001.

Jimmy Christmas:

Some 2001 maybe yeah, and we applied to South by Southwest. We got accepted.

Dion Lunadon:

As did the Datsons.

Jimmy Christmas:

Then we shipped our gear together to the venue, to that beer land, because we couldn't afford visas, working visas. Then we just came into LA Fortunately, I think, because my stepmom ran it like she did some freighting company stuff. She freighted our stuff there. We arrived and our gear arrived. That was great. Then suddenly we were on the street. I remember it was on 7th Avenue or something, south by Southwest. You're walking into One Bar. There's a great rock and roll band. You walk into the next bar across the street and there's a great rock and roll band. You go another door down and there's a great rock and roll band. It was like this is out of it.

Dion Lunadon:

Yeah, that South by Southwest trip was very important to both us and the Datsons. Another step in the evolution. Japan was the first step, then going to the United States for the first time both bands went. That was definitely the second step Because on that trip both bands went to England straight after without coming back to New Zealand. That's when things just took off a bit.

Alexander Hallag:

These two opportunities presented themselves, and you guys ran with it.

Jimmy Christmas:

We were also getting support as well. At that point, the guy that had signed our first EP got us the album deal for Flying None a guy called Paul McKessor. He had gone to the UK to work in infectious records and took our record with him. He said hey, this was the time when white stripes strokes. All that stuff was starting to happen.

Dion Lunadon:

It was almost just pre-that.

Jimmy Christmas:

They signed us and said hey, we ended up doing this crazy North American tour where we went up through America from Austin up to Virginia to meet this guy, steve, and record and do some shows. But in between we had nothing planned. We met some other bands, a band called the Deadly Snakes, who were for a Canadian band. They said when you go through this town, go to this venue, ask for this guy, tell him that we sent you and maybe you guys can play. We literally would show up at a venue going, hey, we're from New Zealand with a D4. The guy's seen us, can we play tonight? We'll just do 20 minutes or something Everywhere. They said sure, we went to both places.

Jimmy Christmas:

We'd go. We don't have any gear, Can we borrow the gear? And so we had some insane experiences doing that, as we worked our way up to the top and then Virginia was just off the scale and then we got the call going hey, if you guys want to come over, we're going to put your record out. And Fu Manchu, do you want to come open for Fu Manchu on a tour of England? And so we did that.

Dion Lunadon:

It's kind of like a. I think there are three things kind of involved in getting us to that level. It was pure hard work and focus and taking opportunities that arose, timing with the landscape of the music and the good old right people making things happen Because you kind of need that. The hard work, ethic and playing shows that helps and that'll get you so far. But if you can get some movers and shakers on board that also believe in you, that know the right people and I would imagine, bands from the Strokes of the White Stripes to us, they all had, oh, they saw the band and they believed in it, but they happened to be connected.

Alexander Hallag:

And those key connections helped.

Dion Lunadon:

Those key connections. Well, they take it from one level to the next level.

Alexander Hallag:

You know what I mean.

Dion Lunadon:

The hard work touring around is like an honest man's way to do it, but it's a long, slow process. An honest process.

Jimmy Christmas:

You think about, like DC's, timing and so much of it, and then being able to take that opportunity when it's presented. But I remember the example of being the set of Hives before they blew up on that main offender stuff. They've been doing it for 12 years, trucking around European bands and playing the cost?

Alexander Hallag:

Absolutely not.

Jimmy Christmas:

And essentially that was. What's so good about that period, I thought, was that suddenly all these bands were arriving and were fucking great, and because they had their songs, they had their stagecraft, they had been doing it. You know you want watching a band trying to work out its kinks. You know, maybe there's something in this sort of thing. It's like suddenly a door opened and you know it was. It was awesome.

Alexander Hallag:

Yeah, so you're playing with people experienced and polished, who know that craft and assume that would just up your guys game. Exactly right, exactly Right.

Jimmy Christmas:

Exactly Right. I mean, I think that was one of the good things as well, bumping into the dats and from time to time as we cross paths, was that you're always going to raise the bar on the other one, and that just, I think, made for some pretty great, pretty memorable nights. Yeah, and I think also, you know, like the other thing, they took the combination of the, of the personalities within the band and, like when Beaver joined he has worked great in school was just phenomenal and just became another part of you know, he had the same desire and work ethic.

Jimmy Christmas:

Yeah, and you know that was a big one, and so he was the engine room. You know, pure. He was the pure, pure engine room in so many ways, physically and also, you know, emotionally. In that regard, you know, and I think, another thing, I thought you know, respect retrospectively as well. I think Dion and I we had, we thought we we covered it like more specifically, like you know, there's in our songwriting. I think the way that I approach songwriting, the way D approaches songwriting, was collectively made it. This thing, obviously, and then also our personalities. We worked together in our business quite well. You know we were able to deal with different situations, some would be more. You know, this is Dion's time to drive it, and then sometimes it'd be my time to drive it and we were able to navigate lots, of, lots of things doing it that way, yeah, especially because we maybe weren't super experienced at doing it there were some, but like between us we could kind of get through there.

Alexander Hallag:

Was there ever a time, like, where egos kind of got in the way of that, or were you guys always pretty level together?

Dion Lunadon:

I really I don't think there was a time where egos really got in the way between me and Jimmy. I feel like we were always pretty even Sure. We had slight ups and downs and a couple of little tips here and there, which is always going to happen, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't think that I didn't.

Jimmy Christmas:

No, I can't remember. I agree, I think maybe we had sharp words twice or something, and that was more due to being tired and like toured and grumpy, you know rather than any real conflict of perspective or, you know, angle.

Dion Lunadon:

I think we were always this is the thing we always listened to each other because we knew that we both had valuable input, so we wouldn't just be like shutting each other down or anything like that. We'd always try to keep an open mind and, you know, as you said, navigate this whole thing together. You know, because we knew that that's always working.

Alexander Hallag:

Well, communication, I think, is paramount in anything and you know, in some ways you see a band as a small family.

Jimmy Christmas:

Sure, you have some days you have your tits but overall you try to run a good family. We lived in each other's pockets for a long, a long time yeah, a long, long time, and I think you know that's testament. The ability for us to come back and do something like this and what we did in 2000 and then come and play these shows around this album is because that it's still tight. I mean, we've been in communication pretty much constantly since then anyway right.

Alexander Hallag:

So let's talk about different projects for a moment. You know, are you guys. What's new for you guys on the album?

Jimmy Christmas:

What horizons take the lead on that one?

Dion Lunadon:

I have. Well, after I left New Zealand, I went to America and lived in New York. Since then, I joined the band called A Place to Be Strangers and I was playing with them for 10 years, got to keep continuing, touring, meeting people, making albums, which was great. You know, I still kind of managed to keep this as a full time job, which is, you know, it has its ups and downs, as it has, but I decided to make a solo album in 2017 and I quit Strangers the week March 2020, basically the week New York shut down. The week before New York shut down, when we didn't I think the week before it we hadn't even heard of COVID, and then we'd heard of it, and then I quit Strangers, and then everything happened at the same time, and so then, yeah, I've just I decided to just go full blast with my own project.

Dion Lunadon:

That was supposed to be just a recording project. I liked how it was solitary, it was under my own name, and I just liked the idea of doing something where I didn't have to rely on anybody else, not because I didn't like working with people, but I just liked the challenge and of working, of making my own decisions fully, even if there was not a clear way through. That was what was good with Jimmy. If there wasn't a clear way through between us, we could find a clear way. But as a solo artist it's a little bit harder to do that and it just takes a bit more time. Sometimes you've got to sit back for a bit and wait for the answer to sort of present itself. So, but then, after you have Strangers spit up, I was like hey, then if I'm going to do this full on, I have to get a band together, because that's how I do it. Playing live is the key. So I've been doing it.

Alexander Hallag:

Now just to hear you with your creative process. It makes me think of the book that Rick Rubin just put out if you've seen it, the Art of Creativity and he talks about with the creative process.

Dion Lunadon:

And sometimes you've got to step back to see bigger, and there's a whole lot of Well, I've seen a few quotes from the book and it sounds like stuff that resonates with me now and resonated with me younger as well, when I was. It's the kind of stuff you know when you're super young, when you're making music. You know, I like this, this is what I want to do, and I'm just going to do it and not give a shit. And then you get into your 20s and you start getting all these voices and people around you confusing you. You're going I don't know about that, it doesn't sound like a great idea. And then so you get scared to try out your ideas, you know. And then I think full circle comes around and you're like fuck what they think you know.

Dion Lunadon:

And I was forced into a position where I had to make an album by myself and I realized again you know, what I like is good, that's what I need. I need to trust my gut and not, you know, don't take any, don't take too much advice from people. You know, just kind of. You know, go with what you like and just see that through. You know, if other people can't see that idea, if you tell them about it, then maybe best don't tell them about it and just do it and like present them with it, and then they'll see it, because I know from working with other people, you know that they'll tell me something, and I also think I don't know about that, and then they'll do the thing and I'll go oh, that was actually really cool.

Dion Lunadon:

So, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, create a process. It's a tricky one, but, fella, you don't take too much advice.

Alexander Hallag:

There's always those things that you can put it out. Maybe nobody will get it right away. Maybe it'll take a couple years, and then we'll go oh my God, why didn't we hear that? But then you're on to the next thing too.

Dion Lunadon:

You know it's a process of you know, not everything's going to be great. You know you might fail a couple of times or whatever. But as long as you're doing it all the time, then you're sort of and you're pushing yourself and you get into those brick walls and you're breaking your way through them. Then you're furthering your creativity, widening it and making progress. You know, I don't believe in sitting around waiting for the inspiration to hit. That's a bunch of bullshit. I think it's like what are you waiting for? It's everywhere, it's floating around. You just got to open your mind to it and use yourself as a conduit to let it just flow through. And just you know.

Jimmy Christmas:

Yeah, I would concur with that. I think that that was my experience, you know. I sort of got to a point post-D4 where the songwriting had become like just at that third record stage, songwriting was becoming a little difficult, you know. And then I made a couple of records with a project called Lugabar, and it was a different sort of process because it was just like Dion was saying I was working with a guy who was a really good producer, really enabled me just to be creative and not worry about the arrangements, sort of.

Jimmy Christmas:

You know, like we came back to that, like we just got a mic set up and I got a riff going and then I got a vibe going and I started singing what I thought was coming out, and then I went back and figured out what it was and then it was, like Dan said, you sort of hit a brick wall and so rather than stop and go, oh, wait for the inspiration, just move on to the next thing, put, start another track, do something, and then go, oh no, let's go back. We're going back now because I know where I need to go for that and it's my observation is, it's not sitting around for waiting for inspiration to strike, but just being, when it hits you, you have to be present to it and do something about it. That's, I think you know. If you get that idea, you've got to record it like write it down.

Dion Lunadon:

It was in the morning. You're in bed and it comes to head.

Jimmy Christmas:

Yeah, because it's not coming back.

Dion Lunadon:

You know like you're tired, but you've got to get up and like.

Jimmy Christmas:

You've got to do it because it's not coming back. Like you know what I mean. Like I feel like you get given that little seed going. There's a little idea and in these times where I've gone, oh that's great, I remember that in the morning. I never remember it. In the morning I've got to get up and I've got to sing into a microphone or write it down or roll over.

Alexander Hallag:

Yeah, see is it and see where it takes you.

Jimmy Christmas:

Yeah, I think I agree with Dion. So Dion the new project, if you want to check out what's it called.

Alexander Hallag:

How can we find it? It's just under my own name, Dion Lunadon.

Dion Lunadon:

It's. I have a label called In the Red Records, which I've been a huge fan of since I was in my first band, nothing at all. So it's just kind of like, yeah, like I say, kind of full circle, I've come around, I've, like you know, done the major label thing and now I feel like I'm kind of at a good place where I'm on a label that I really, you know, respect and they can find my music anywhere Spotify, any record store, you know pretty much. Yeah, it's usually a spot with Bandcamp. Bandcamp is good because it, you know, it allows me to directly earn money. You know it's cool.

Alexander Hallag:

Now, if we can shift to a moment, you know talking about stage, you know we're talking about stage presence. With the other bands that you're touring with, I've noticed you guys have a very distinct presence to you and one can say, like in your case, dion, you, you murder your instruments.

Dion Lunadon:

Right.

Alexander Hallag:

Visually it's glorious to watch and you know, jimmy, you've got your. It's almost, as I see it, kind of like two negatives coming together, like magnets, where for a quick moment one becomes a positive. So you have that little push, but then it comes right back together and when it comes together it's explosive.

Dion Lunadon:

Not that it's not explosive differently, but when you guys go separate you both go explosive in different ways and then it's like, yeah, like a larger Well, I think it comes back to the year and Yang Jimmy was talking to before about our personalities, and to me that's what my stage performance is about. It's about my personality. I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to put. I mean, I want to put on a show and have people enjoy it, but I'm not trying to be disingenuous and I'm trying to tap into something that's honest and real and that is Dion Lunadon distilled. That's what I'm trying to do and that's a lifelong search, because the deeper you go, the more layers you can cut through, the the the stronger and more powerful it is. And that's where I want to go, and I want people to see that and I want to express that. And the way to express that and to find that is especially on space stages, but being in the moment and not thinking outside of the moment.

Dion Lunadon:

You're in and you know it's, it's, you know you've got to just let everything else go and just fly like a bird or something. You're not thinking, you just got a little bit and it's hard to do. Sometimes alcohol helps people do that a lot, because you kind of you know, you kind of you do, you kind of let go and you're in this crazy sort of moment, you know. But trying to do that without alcohol is even more of a powerful thing because it's a little bit more honest. You're not using something to Is the alcohol more like a mask. It is like I wouldn't say it's a mask, it's more of a I don't know what the right word for it is. It's kind of like a Dutch courage thing a little bit, where you're trying to tap into somebody by using something outside of the truth.

Dion Lunadon:

You know what I mean. You're just using, basically a drug to create something that's very similar like that, but it's actually not really the truth, because the alcohol is just getting you drunk and kind of doing that. But if you're tapping into something that is more honest and you don't need that outside influence, it's a heavier place and it's a more honest place, but it's a lot harder to tap into and it's a lot harder to let yourself go too, because alcohol it's easy to let go and get crazy, but when you don't have a drug or something else to help facilitate that, getting into that mindset is quite difficult.

Jimmy Christmas:

I would say it's interesting. This experience currently these shows that we've done, we do our 13 or so shows my observation of it I'm keenly aware of what Dionne is saying is like when you are in flow state. You know they talk about a creative or an artistic flow state where you are just you're pushing up against your limits, like you're testing yourself. It's not too hard, but it's hard enough, you know, and your concentration and your focus is on this thing and your awareness is present to the music and the experience and what you're doing. And that's when it's the sweetest, that's what you're looking for and I think that's when you get those moments of pure energy and those cohesive, magical moments where someone might be sitting a while.

Dion Lunadon:

The audience can feel it in a big room.

Jimmy Christmas:

And one thing that I was aware of in the at a period in back when we were touring. Later in the touring it was hard because you had there was an expectation of like where we were going or what was happening next. So there was like a part of me, I remember, like going how many people have we got in here tonight? Are they having a good time? We would like go hard out and then people would drop away in the middle of the set and, you know, sometimes we think are they not enjoying it anymore? I think we just wore them out because we're just so relentless, you know, and we wouldn't really pace our sets so much as just nuts. But there was like an objective outside looking at the present, the stage thing from, you know, and evaluating it. I would evaluate it while I was doing it, you know, and that is that that's not pure, and then so those moments when you find them are really good.

Jimmy Christmas:

Now, this time round, my expectation of this experience is different, you know, like there's nothing to prove. It's an opportunity to do something really unique with the unique guys that are involved in this, playing this music that we made, with people that are coming out to celebrate that. So the ability to get into flow and to just be present to the music is seems almost effortless. You know, for my it's just a different. It's just a different, it's just a different thing because I don't know, it's like maybe it plays back into what Dionne's saying. It's like you're taking your expectation or other people's expectations away, all of that, and just and just doing it honestly honestly, and I think you know it's all this being authentic, really you know Right.

Alexander Hallag:

So you're kind of dropping all those voices out there and there was no longer matter. It's now about you, yeah.

Dion Lunadon:

Yeah, it's an authentic thing. Yeah, it's authenticity, and that's what's always drawn me towards bands like Dead Moe.

Jimmy Christmas:

You know it's we don't have to prove to you, you know, convince you to like it. It's like, this is what we do, this is what we sound like, this is what we look like, this is how we interact and this is it. So you know we're doing it now and it looks, and it's this you know.

Alexander Hallag:

Now, seeing that you both have different projects, do you ever foresee another making of a D4 record of new material that you would take out? Or is that? Yeah, I don't know.

Dion Lunadon:

I mean, I personally don't really foresee that myself, but I mean you can never say never. You know what I mean. But and there's a lot of songs that we wrote that never made on albums like towards. You know the end of the second album and we're working on some new stuff, but you know it's there's a lot of things involved. You know, I live somewhere else, I have another project, we all have families, we all have other projects. You know, time is an issue and it's also kind of like. You know, the D4 was for me. I enjoyed this tour and it was great and it was fun, but there was a moment in time that was it was like really peaking for me, you know, and I don't know if it's going to happen again. You know, with this band that was, that was the time. It's my honest opinion of it, you know, I mean I don't think we're gonna be playing Jimmy Kimmel again. You never know. I mean, you know, or you know it was an amazing experience, but you know I'm into making new experiences, you know.

Alexander Hallag:

Right, well, you know. I go back to Rick Rubin. One thing that struck me is really interesting, as he's known for doing all these diverse albums, but when he completes one it's not the next one, doesn't even think about really what was before Doesn't go to award shows for the album.

Dion Lunadon:

Do you know?

Alexander Hallag:

one. So I'm wondering, like a few guys, you look at it in a way of that. We've done it and it was a great time and it's okay to do these off shows, but, yeah, I think so.

Jimmy Christmas:

I think exactly, exactly right. Expect that purity like this, that that that coming up period like when we got it together and we worked it and we we cracked it.

Jimmy Christmas:

You know, we cracked the code and we got it going and we took what we wanted, what was inside our heads, at our hearts, and we put it together and we delivered it. And people went, fuck, that's great. And we went on this adventure that just took us all the places like down see earlier All the places we wanted to go, and we met people we'd never thought we'd ever meet. And then we're playing shows with bands that we were, you know, a formative for us, and they're saying, hey, your band's great, look what that's like. That's. You know, that was completion, and you know, and that it was best when it was new and changing every day and we were just like this freight train just Going through. Then it got to a point where it wasn't that anymore. It was kind of like More the same, you know, or more different, more the same, different, and that was that was great, but it wasn't.

Jimmy Christmas:

It wasn't that just that pure new experience, what Dion's talking about? I think that that's Life is about new life is about experience and the journey. So revisiting that doesn't seem to me, you know, like there's lots of things to do.

Alexander Hallag:

And music is one of them. You know, I think, when you, when it freight off, as you say, do you think that was because now you're listening to those outside voices when beginning it was?

Dion Lunadon:

you guys totally, that's totally, that's totally the truth. I mean, that's always the case with bands, you know. They form because they like each other and they have a common bond and they make music pure, purely because they like working with each other and they have a common thing. And then if a little bit of success comes, other things start to creep in and kind of ruin it. It always happens, you know, and but I think if you've been through that and you can realize that you can probably, you know, the older you get, you can sort of you stop that from happening to a certain extent, because, because you your, your focus is now just like Doing, you know, being creative and going. I'm gonna do something that excites me. This is what I, what I think would be really cool thing to do, you know, rather than Trying to.

Alexander Hallag:

I'm creating for these people. Yeah, creating for Sales and people single yeah.

Dion Lunadon:

Right with the radio single.

Alexander Hallag:

So going forward, we'll wrap this up. What's next for both of you?

Jimmy Christmas:

So for me, I'm going back to my little farmlet and yeah, we're the Hamlet, so I've got a little block of land and some animals and I've got lots of boys and I coach football and stuff like that and I'm working through a psychology degree at the moment, so I'm gonna get back into that.

Alexander Hallag:

Dr Christmas.

Jimmy Christmas:

Well, you never know, the doctor will see you now and I'm gonna continue to put together. I'm gonna found this whole. It's great to I've been inspired. It's inspiring being around Dion and beaver and and Jakey and and like coming here and hitting have this town and stuff. So I've got a little three piece with my wife, which I want to get More active as a vehicle to travel around and meet people and go places and play music.

Jimmy Christmas:

You know, and you know what, for me it's like that circle thing again, like when I was 17 dead moon came and I remember distinctly staying with Tony Brockwell dancing to poor born and upstairs at Luna, I think it was and and Looking at Fred and 2d Cole and just going, fuck, if I was their age doing that. That's success. That's what success I conscious. I remember seeing that success, you know, and we did all this other sort of stuff and now I'm an opportunity where my wife's playing bass and I play guitar and we got a band, we can write some songs and travel around and I like a fuck, there you go. So that's what I'm gonna do.

Dion Lunadon:

I'm gonna make a million dollars. I'm gonna. What am I doing? I Guess I'm going on a tour when I get back of Europe with the new Sort of finishing off the touring cycle of the last record I put out, beyond everything, I'm gonna plug the air yet.

Dion Lunadon:

And then what's happening? I've finished another record that's gonna come out in October, I think, on the same label in the red records, and I probably start touring that in November. I had a kid 11 months ago, so I'm doing that as well. Yeah, that's about it for the moment. I mean, my life is kind of six months at a time at this, six to eight months at a time. So that's as far as I can see. I want to make some more music again. I want to record some more music to you know, I guess, and I want to release More. You know, the aim is to release an album a year, but I want to do a bit more than that, maybe a few seven inches or something.

Alexander Hallag:

Very cool. I look forward to hearing your project, jimmy. I'm looking forward to hearing your stuff, thank you. Thanks, guys, and you know it's lovely seeing you guys after all this time and Till the next one. Thank you much. Thanks, alex.

Jimmy Christmas:

Love to talk to you.

Dion Lunadon:

Thank you.

Alexander Hallag:

Thanks for hanging out with us. If you like this and would like to hear even more about exciting and informative episodes, then please take a moment to give us a follow on Instagram at the music is talking, and don't forget to subscribe to our channel Wherever cool podcast can be found. Thanks again.