When Pete Tong sings your praises, you’re doing something right. And Tong has big praise for Dom Dolla.
“Dom has good A&R instincts, he’s really good at figuring out the next move as he grows as an artist. That’s a really special quality,” Tong told Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “He has great instincts as to who he wants to collaborate with and he’s careful and thoughtful about the process.”
Those collaborators have included Nelly Furtado, Kid Cudi, and Tove Lo.
Tong spoke with us for the Dom Dolla story that covers our June-August issue, the first time a solo electronic artist has done so.
“I liked a few of his early releases,” Tong continued. Among them, “Define” and “Love Like This”, both from 2015. The latter used a sample from Faith Evans’ “Love Like This”. “There was an urban influence that appealed to the soul boy in me,” he recounts.
Then, when Tong heard Dolla’s 2018 track “Take It”, that theme continued. Dolla “brought the funk and the west coast Dre influence and I thought he was developing a real personality and character in his music… he was starting to carve out his own lane and he was rapidly growing a fan base in Australia via his shows,” noted Tong.
“Less is more, quality over quantity,” he added. “It’s actually surprising looking back over the last five or six years how few records he’s actually released but it hasn’t slowed down the process of consistently building that fan base. I think other artists feel that when they work with Dom and he learns a lot through every collaboration and takes that into his next session.”
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The British DJ, label chief, and Radio 1 host isn’t just a household name in his homeland Z — it’s an indelible slice of Cockney rhyming slang.
As their friendship formed a decade ago, things nearly went ‘Pete Tong’ for Dolla. “The only association I ever had with him was listening to him on the radio every week,” Dolla explained. “Chatting to him on the phone is a very surreal because he obviously sounds the same.” Tong “went off on a bit of a monologue, and I forgot that I was on the phone. I felt like I was listening to a radio show.” When the voice at the end of the line went silent expecting a response, “my heart skipped a beat,” he recounted.
Never mind. Pre-pandemic, Tong named Dolla as a Future Star.
Today, he describes Tong as a good friend, and recently sought out the Brit’s advice on a collab with Kid Cudi. “We went back and forth on structure. I sent to him about three or four options,” Dom told us.
Dom Dolla will tick off another bucket list item when he plays Allianz Stadium in Sydney on December 20th. The Grammy-nominated electronic music star is already a card-carrying member of Australia’s music elite, according to Tong.
“It’s crazy how prolific the Australian music scene has been over the years. From the all time greats like INXS and Temper Trap to the current generation of Tame Impala, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Dom, Flume, Sia and Troye Sivan. It’s impressive. What’s consistent about all of them is that they are unique, they are the real deal, great songs, great singers, performers. Top level,” he explained.
“There is clearly something in the water. Most often something a little darker, melancholic and soulful. Australia has a special musical heritage.”
