FAN GIRL have never been a band defined by a single era. From early uni‑formed friendships to devastating loss, shifting line‑ups, and the strange dislocation of writing across continents, their story is one of constant reinvention. What’s remained is the spark: a commitment to making music that feels exciting, challenging, and defiantly their own. In this conversation, the Melbourne/Naarm outfit dig into the memories that shaped them, the chaotic colour of their sound, the buoyant local scene they adore, and the wild, distance‑warped process behind their latest EP 8HRS. They also lift the lid on recording with Andy Savours in London, dream festival lineups, and the kind of dinner party only FAN GIRL could host.
For readers discovering you for the first time — how did FAN GIRL originally come together in Melbourne/Naarm, and what were those early creative sparks that shaped the band?
TD: We all came together in different ways; Vince and Luke met at uni, I was a long-time friend of Vince and (founding member) Jack, and Noah was recruited directly into the band.
After Jack sadly passed away, there was a long break before we all began working on a bunch of different new music together again. Between that, line-up changes and COVID, there’s been a few distinct eras of the band sonically, but the main goal has always been to write music we find exciting, challenging, and fun.
Who’s currently in FAN GIRL, and what does each member bring to the overall sound and live energy of the band?
LT: As it stands, Fan Girl is currently - and has been for a time - myself, Vince, Noah and Tom.
We have our dear friend Dave on drums back home, and have had the incredible pleasure of borrowing Unlucky’s brilliant Cam on drums for the UK/EU tour and the album.
TD: There’s pretty diverse musical interests across us and we all bring a bit of that into the live set. The set itself is always a bit of a reinterpretation of what we’ve done in the studio, and we tend to go off on our own and find ways to emulate or recontextualise our parts in ways that’ll work in a live setting, then bring it all back together. The only hard and fast rules are have fun, and play the shit out of it.
Can you take us back to your earliest musical memories — what were the first instruments, scenes, or artists that made you want to pursue music seriously?
NH: My grade one teacher was an Elvis impersonator, and she would come to school fete dressed in the full silver phoenix suit look and do all the Elvis classics. I thought it was the coolest shit ever, and fell in love with all the songs and moves. I quickly talked my parents into getting me guitar lessons. That being said, I have lots of memories before that of my mums playing a lot of David Bowie, Nirvana and The Smiths in their old Saab, so I think that might have slipped in too.
VM: I think growing up in the parts of Melbourne we all grew up in, music and art has always been a constant. My old man is a musician, and mum a massive, avid appreciator. Being surrounded by it from an early age definitely makes this all feel a little more inevitable in a way. The Melbourne scene has always been incredibly strong and inspiring, so that has definitely played a big part in it for all of us too.
Your sound blends chaos, colour, wiry guitars and sardonic delivery — who are the key musical influences (past or present) that have shaped FAN GIRL’s sonic identity?
TD: It’s a bit all over the place influence-wise, there was some jungle, and trap-y stuff we touched on for one of the new tracks, another was a real Harvest-era Neil Young vibe for part of it, it changes song by song. There’s a couple throughlines, we reference Sly and the Family Stone, The Drones, Deerhoof, Blur a lot when we’re roughing out the songs.
VM: Everything all at once honestly. Can’t have Westside Gunn without Glen Campbell. Can’t have underscores without Nina Simone. Can’t have Lip Critic without Gillian Welch. I mean I’m sure YOU can, but I definitely can’t.
You’re part of the Naarm/Melbourne scene, which seems incredibly vibrant right now — how buoyant does it feel from your perspective, and which local artists or venues are inspiring you at the moment?
TD: It’s always vibrant. We’re very lucky to live where we do, there’s never a shortage of new and exciting music. There’s the same issues facing artists everywhere, but even as the squeeze gets ever tighter, it’s a privilege to be part of a community that is extremely proud and protective of its art.
Please share the names of a few local bands that you are loving right now....
We collectively implore you to check out Spouse, Public Figures, Ecca Vandal, Gigi, Obscura Hail, Lucky, Merpire, Elizabeth M. Drummond, Gush, Miss Kaninna, Dogworld, World’s Best Neighbours, XS, d.b. Longing, Local The Neighbour plus about six thousand others.
Your recent EP 8HRS feels like a wild, inventive leap — what were you exploring thematically and sonically across tracks like “Easy Now" and "Echo Grey"?
TD: The previous EP (real or staged) was finished at the end of a massive period of touring round Australia, and was, in a way, kind of the culmination of that sound for us. We were pretty ready to do something else. When work began on 8HRS, Noah had moved to Paris, Vince was in Guadalajara, and the physical removal forced the way we worked on music through this time of zoom meetings and time zone overlaps to change completely.
The restriction focused the songwriting in a lot of ways, but also opened up a lot of room to play with sounds and influences that we’d definitely flirted with previously, but didn’t think we had much space for as an otherwise standard guitar band format.
VM: Yeah, making it with such distance between us all kinda meant that we couldn’t really consider what the “band” had to be, and just got to focus on whatever the song was hinting at.
You mentioned before the Sebright Arms show that you’d been recording in London — what were you working on while you were here, and which studio/producer were you collaborating with?
TD: We’ve had the rare, and incredibly lucky opportunity to be the first band to cut a full album in the new studio of the great Andy Savours (and his assistant/incorrigible problem solver Cormac Caines). Andy’s worked on some wild records, and a suspicious amount of our favourite recent UK releases, and we were real chuffed to be able to work with him.
VM: Andy (and Cormac) were truly brilliant to work with. And it is all sounding mega. Very chuffed indeed.
Let’s do a FAN GIRL Come Dine With Me: if you were hosting the perfect dinner party, what would you serve for starter, main course, and dessert — and which bandmate would cause the most chaos in the kitchen?
LT: Maybe in the spirit of having been in London this past month - I think we’d start off with a smattering of Morley’s finest - absolutely top shelf chicken and chips, and just enough of a snack to get dinner going.
For mains, I’m thinking we lean in with some Tayyabs style lamb chops! The kind of delicious chop one would only dream of sending to space.
And for dessert, each guest would get their very own private Snickers bar! A favourite on and off tour, outright delicious.
I think if we actually had to cook this whole decadent banquet, the kitchen would be total chaos. That said, everyone can hold it down in the kitchen individually, so who knows - maybe we’d be collecting some stars if we all cooked together.
TD: Noah would be ejected from the kitchen for trying to wrestle whoever is chopping the onions.
NH: Hey hey hey, I would never wrestle around knives.
If you could curate your own festival — any artists, dead or alive — who would headline, who would support, and why are these the acts that make your dream lineup?
LT: I just want Lenny Kravitz on the line up somewhere…ICONIC!
TD: Prince and Björk
VM: Prince and Björk. And it would just be Tom & I in attendance. Private show.
After a run of huge shows and new releases, what’s next for FAN GIRL — more touring, more recording, or something completely unexpected?
LT: Feeling very excited about the album and this run of shows - I think we are all just really looking forward to getting some new music out, and playing as much as we can!!
VM: Definitely keen to jump back into the swing of it all. Very excited to get the record finished and start running around making noise and playing shows around that. Truly can’t wait to be back in the UK and Europe next year. Shall be a big 12 to 18 for us all I think. And from there, who knows. A mystery to me, at the very least.
Finally, would you rather box a kangaroo or wrestle an alligator?
LT: 100% rather get pummeled by a kangaroo. Have you seen a crocodile death roll? At least there is YouTube evidence that you could maybe land a punch on a roo and get away with it, so there is some hope in that I guess. I love kangaroos though, they are so cute!
TD: DO NOT box the kangaroo, they fight dirty and will sit up on their tail and try to disembowel you with their disemboweling claw.
That said, I don’t know about alligators, but a saltwater croc weighs about one Vauxhall Astra and will centrifuge you into a bag of soup whilst drowning you, so probably box the kangaroo if those are your options.
VM: I’m option out of this violence. All my kangaroo trauma (even as an Australian) is to do with Kangaroo Jack - although credit where credit is due, the film took home the Kid’s Choice Award for ‘Favourite Fart in a Movie’ which is pretty astonishing. Sorry, what was the question?
NH: My Dad was killed wrestling an alligator while boxing a Kangaroo, so I find this question too difficult to answer.
Across the interview, one thing becomes clear: FAN GIRL are entering a new chapter with momentum, mischief, and a sharpened creative edge. The upcoming album — their first cut in Andy Savours’ new studio — already feels like a major leap, shaped by distance, experimentation, and a refusal to stay in any one lane. With more touring on the horizon, a return to the UK and Europe, and a run of shows they’re itching to play, the next 12 to 18 months promise to be loud, busy, and full of surprises. Whatever comes next, FAN GIRL remain a band fuelled by curiosity, community, and the joy of making noise together — even if they’re still undecided on whether to box a kangaroo.
Fan Girl are
Vincent McIntyre
Noah Harris
Tom Dowling
Luke Thomas
Cameron Black (UK touring member - from Unlucky)
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