Django Django: “You don’t need to wait for a producer or label to help you”
The electronic-guitar band explain the DIY production of new album Glowing in the Dark, synth option panic and why they always keep everything set up.

Drummer Dave McClean also serves as the band’s producer
“Imagine the lockdown without any music or visual culture. Releasing music during this time seems like it might feel insignificant, but it’s been so important for many.”
Producer and drummer Dave McClean and keyboardist Tommy Grace are one half of art-electronic-rockers Django Django. They’re readying themselves to unleash their latest record, Glowing in the Dark and it comes during what is perhaps the most turbulent time many of us have ever known.
“I remember growing up complaining to my parents,” says Dave, “They’d be like: ‘You have no idea how lucky you are to be in this time – you’ve never seen utter hardship’. You’ve got to be aware when you’re releasing music that all over the place, people are struggling.”
Many of the new record’s themes seem eerily prescient when related to the turbulent world it’s entering. From the pandemic to politics, there’s a lot going on behind some of the tracks’ mixture of art-house indie eclecticism, aimed at shifting perspectives beyond our current reality. The video to the new song Free from Gravity depicts someone so alienated by the world, that they’re actually from another planet. However timely the tuneful dystopia, the sense that volatility has always raged outside our Western bubble here in the UK isn’t lost on them.
“Lockdown puts everything in perspective but there’s horrible shit going on all the time,” says Dave. “The pandemic has just encroached on our sense of entitlement more. Still, you’ve got to put music out regardless of the circumstances. You hope that people appreciate it and it somehow enriches their lives during uncertain times.”
Beginnings
Django Django are an intriguing and successful musical proposition. They’re art-rockers with a love for panel-beating techno and house rhythms, with members split between London and Scotland. From their self-titled debut to 2018’s more assured Marble Skies and newest opus, they’ve become an even more engaging force over their four albums, with sharper songwriting, deft musical touches and a love for the leftfield.
Members Vincent Neff (singer and guitarist), Jimmy Dixon (bassist), Dave and Tommy, initially started Django Django as a lo-fi bedroom project inspired by their eclectic record collections.
“We had no gear, just a computer and a guitar,” recalls Dave. “I’d been making songs on a sampler and a four-track. I loved producers like the Dust Brothers, DJ Premier, weird dancehall artists, and the likes of Joe Meek. It was a wild mixture and one we used to help us navigate making that first album with little resources.”
The ear-catching psychedelia of their debut propelled the Djangos firmly into the limelight, top of festival bills and a Mercury Prize nomination with singles such as Default and Waveforms bagging them a sizeable and loyal fanbase. It’s meant their music-making and production process has ebbed and flowed between residential studios to the more DIY-ethos that steers Glowing in the Dark.