With “Danger Zone” out now, we took some time to hear from Disco Lizards. Read below to learn more about Disco Lizards, the story behind “Danger Zone,” and what’s to come.
Hi Disco Lizards! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?
Hi! I wanted something that was fun and visually stimulating. After many bad ideas and listening to ‘Science Fiction’ by Arctic Monkeys, the name, Disco Lizards, jumped out at me.
What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?
Matt is a Londoner born and bred, and Jack is from just outside of the capital. The rest of the group make up a strong international base with Nino from Palermo Sicily, Mo is from Egypt and Josephine from Switzerland. We are all based in London apart from Josephine who still resides in Geneva and comes back for gigs/recording.
When and how did the band form?
In the summer of 2019, the band was originally formed by Matt with a completely different line up through a mixture of friends of friends. The vision and basis of the first album was written in this early period, but the pandemic turned everything on its head very suddenly and resulted in the original line up leaving London. Matt managed to keeping things ticking by over the years with a mixture of friends standing in to help out with gigs and recording, but in 2024, we finally got the current gang together.
How would you describe your band’s sound to readers who may not be familiar with you all?
A fusion of gritty garage rock, infectious grooves, with an explosive stage presence. We are loud, loose, and laced with attitude — the kind of band that gets you dancing on tables and screaming every lyric. Or as one person once described us – ‘balls out rock n roll!’ That made us laugh.
Who are some of your group’s main musical influences?
Currently, we pull inspiration from bands like The Hives, Sports Team, Spring King, The Strokes and Viagra Boys. We are real lovers of the late ’60s and early ’70s sounds too.
There are some really great up and coming bands who are friends of ours and we love to shout out too – Fuck Fuck Fuck – a great band from Amsterdam, Rolodex and Murman.
Is there a band or artist that you all would want to support?
Wow, wow, wow, yeah of course – The Hives would be awesome, I think we would really be a good fit. But any of those other great bands that we mentioned earlier – Sports Team, Arctic Monkeys (that would be a dream come true), Maccabees, now they are back around, Bloc Party, Foo Fighters. There’s actually so many!
What’s one of the proudest moments of your band’s music career so far?
We organise and promote our own headline shows in London and the four of these we have done over the last year or so have sold out. Dead proud of that! We have been booked for a few small festival slots, which we love to do and then our music release plan starting with ‘Life Lessons’ and now ‘Danger Zone’ has been a success.
What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?
Take it serious, be respectful and always have fun.
Now onto the release, ‘Danger Zone.’ What inspired this song?
We wanted to add some diversity to the kind of song structure that we were writing at the time and had an idea of what kind of guitar tones that we wanted to use. Basically the goal was to come up with a sound that could describe a person.
What is ‘Danger Zone’ about?
It’s about chasing a good time and having a final summer of freedom before being tied down to the general constraints of life.
What was the creative process like when making ‘Danger Zone?’
We wanted to make a classic sounding rock song with big riffs and entertaining visual lyrics. It was one of those where the basics of the track were knocked out in about half an hour – when we took it into the studio it took more of the shape that you hear in the track today and that’s where we decided to include this instrumental build section led by that classic organ sound. It ended up being our alternative summer anthem.
How long did it take to complete ‘Danger Zone?’
Generally, it took a couple of days to finish the basics of it – we almost immediately started trying it out live about a week later. We polished it up properly when we recorded it. We recorded it over two days in the studio.
What message do you all hope fans take away from your band’s music and from ‘Danger Zone?’
We hope that people have a really good time and let loose when they come to see us at a gig or listen to us. We want to be the band that you recommend to your mates.
What’s next for you all? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
We are busy! We are writing and recording the remaining songs for our 2nd LP which will be released in 2026. We have more singles to release between now and then, and we have our next big headline show on 07th November at The Victoria in Dalston. Tickets go on sale on Monday 18th August! (So keep an eye on our socials for more info.)
What are your guys’ hopes and dreams for Disco Lizards?
We would love to get booked for some festival shows next year or an opportunity to support a bigger band at one of those dreamy big venues (Brixton O2 academy, Shepherds Bush Empire, Alexandra Palace or something.) I would love to hear one of our songs in an advert or movie or something too.
Where can we follow you all on social media?
Instagram – @discolizards
Thank you for the great interview; wish you much continued success!
