Start Listening To: The Gnomes

Fast, scrappy and full of personality, The Gnomes lean into chaos, hooks and the simple thrill of playing loud.

The Gnomes might only be a year into life as a full band, but they already carry themselves like one that’s been road-tested for far longer. Formed out of Melbourne’s local scene and evolving from Jay’s solo project into a four-piece, their sound pulls together ’60s beat, garage rock and power pop without getting bogged down in nostalgia. ‘Magic Man’ captures that shift perfectly, a track that’s grown sharper, faster and heavier through constant live play. Here, the band talk about trusting instinct, finding the balance between discipline and messing around, and why energy matters more than getting everything exactly right.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We’re The Gnomes, a four-piece rock ’n’ roll band from Frankston, a bayside town near Melbourne. We all met through te local scene as teenagers and have been playing as The Gnomes for just over a year now. The band started as my solo project, Gnome,  and over time we turned it into a fully fleshed out band, playing local and interstate gigs and releasing our first album at the end of 2025. - Jay

‘Magic Man’ feels like a proper statement of intent. What made it the right introduction to the More EP?

Honestly, it’s just the best song on the EP. The song has been kicking around since 2023, when The Gnomes was still my solo project and the guys were my backing band. We retired it for a while and then revived it halfway through last year and started playing it live again. - Jay

I was always a big advocate for the song, so I fought for it to come back, and it’s changed a lot  over the last six months. It’s faster and heavier than it started out, which makes it really fun to play live. Audiences really dig it. - Olly

The story behind ‘Magic Man’ is brilliant. How often do real-life characters like that make their way into your songs?

I mostly write about myself, to be honest. There’s usually some personal angle to the songwriting. (I’ve written way too many love songs, according to my manager.) But Magic Man went in a different direction, and really leaned into the fictional character and storytelling side of songwriting, which was cool. I'd like to do more of that. - Jay

The video is just as chaotic as the track itself. What was that shoot like out in The You Yangs?

It was very last minute, I packed all my sixties psychedelic clothes into a suitcase and drove up with the rest of the guys, and our old manager and good friend Stu, in Ned's parent’s van. We spent the sunny, thirty degree day wearing polyester suits and chasing a very drunk and hungover Stu around, and he made us listen to this grindcore band, Blood Duster’s entire discography for the sweaty two hour car ride home. Maybe his payback for us putting him in a wizard costume. - Jay

You’ve got this mix of ‘60s beat, garage rock and power pop. Where did those influences first come into your orbit?

I discovered most of the artists and music that inspires me probably around early highschool, I just started digging. The obvious ones like the Beatles had always been played and heard from when I was a lot younger but it took my conscious 14 year old self to decide what music i thought was cool or lame. Surrounding yourself with likeminded and cool people helps you discover cool music that you enjoy as well. - Olly

I grew up listening to lots of early punk, and then as an older teenager I discovered The Beatles and fell in love with the whole British Invasion scene. Then I kind of pieced the two together, realising if it wasn’t for ‘She Loves You’ then the Ramones would have never existed. We try our best to have as much fun and bring as much energy to our songs as we can 'cause I think the most charming parts about 60s garage is the energy in the songs. - Jay

There’s a real sense of fun and looseness in your music. How important is it for you not to overthink things?

May be hard to believe but everything we do is heavily thought about and we rehearse a lot. Although 80% of our time is spent messing around and taking the piss, we do practice hard enough so we don’t have to think about our playing or performance, so the music is completely ingrained in the four of us and we just know what to do. - Jay

We don't let things get too serious. We are all super silly and a lot of band practices turn out to be more of us just hanging out and laughing and being idiots than actually practicing. We know when to lock in and get something right, but if there’s too much straight rehearsal time, we all just get frustrated. It’s good to have a balance and I think that translates really well with the way we play live. - Olly

Jay, you started this as a Bandcamp project. At what point did it shift from something casual into a full band with momentum?

I've been writing and recording for Gnome since early high school and started releasing music under Gnome (and many other names and Bandcamp acounts), but it wasn’t till late 2024 when started gigging consistently, and Ethan joined the band as drummer, that we realised it was a lot more than my little solo project. The name change was pretty easy. We started recording together as a band and here we are. - Jay

You’re all still pretty young, but you’re already playing big shows and selling out runs back home. Has anything about that rise surprised you?

Not really. It feels like our work is just starting to pay off. There are many people involved with us behind the scenes who help make so much happen and we are very lucky to have so many great opportunities handed to us. It would be stupid not to go for it. But we really just love making music and playing shows together, so whether its to a sold out pub or a mate's backyard, we're going to make the most of whatever we're doing. It's nice that more people are interested. - Jay

It’s definitely been an amazing ride so far. I think there’s things that we hear or opportunities we get that surprise us everyday but we just feel super lucky and fortunate to be doing it. I think we’re all so ambitious. We take everything as it comes and try to enjoy every show or opportunity we get to rock and roll. - Olly

You’re about to head out on your first UK and EU tour, including The Great Escape. What are you most looking forward to about playing over here?

I guess just seeing things we don’t usually see back home. Hearing the different accents and meeting new people. Playing in front of a different crowd is going to be really fun and definitely one of the things I’m most looking forward to. - Olly

Everything. I’ve only ever traveled to New Zealand with family so I’m keen to not only be in another country but to play shows, meet people and empty as many record stores as I can! - Jay

Your live reputation seems to be building just as quickly as your releases. What do you think makes a Gnomes show click?

I think the fun we have and energy that we bring on stage is pretty important. When you watch a band and you can tell the members up on stage are genuinely having a good time, it makes it more enjoyable for the audience as well, I think. So maybe the fact that we are geuinely having a ball is what makes everything click. It's joyful. - Olly

I like to think we don’t fuck around and we have fun. We get up, plug in, play as hard as we can, screaming, jumping, sweating all over the stage and play as many songs as we can in thirty minutes. We really love playing, and talking to fans, making friends, talking about music, gear, food, places whatever. We are there to have fun and play rock ’n’ roll. - Jay

With everything moving so quickly, what does the next step look like for you after More?

Hopefully just being able to grow and get our music in front of more people and play more shows and tour more places we’ve never been. Working on a second album together is in the back of all of our minds too, we wanna keep evolving and writing good music. - Olly

We’ve been in the studio with a 61 piece orchestra working on the next album, planning on a double concept album about the life and times of the Magic Man…Nah I don’t know haha. We'll probably play more shows and try get another album done this year. I’ve been writing heaps trying to push myself and hopefully we can make something that pushes The Gnomes in ways people wouldn’t expect. - Jay

What do you love right now?

The fact that I get to go tour the UK.  - Olly

Hot chocolates (Hot Milos in Australia). And I’ve been listening to Depeche Mode's first album heaps (Speak & Spell). That album rocks, I feel like everysong on that album would make a great power pop cover. - Jay

What do you hate right now?

Being bored. - Olly

I hate those little shitty plastic sleeves that come inside old records, the semi circle ones that are all crinkly and hard to use, I don’t know why people still use them. - Jay

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Kerplunk by Green Day, one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I remember buying the cd and literally listening to it every single day, trying to learn the songs on guitar, recording covers of the songs in highschool bands. The songwriting, harmonies and song arrangement is pure power pop goodness. Although a “punk” band, I think Green Day would have made a great 60s pop band. - Jay

Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles. Amazing songs that are fun and it just makes you feel something different every time. I feel like each time I listen, I pick up on an instrument or sound or lyric I hadn’t heard the previous time. It's just very fun and cool music.  - Olly

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

The energy. I think in this day and age authentic spirit and energy is getting harder to find and I want the listeners to have as much fun listening to our music as I have making and playing it. - Jay

High energy rock and roll that just gives them a feeling that kinda makes you wanna boogie or stamp your foot or nod your head. Anything that makes you wanna move your body in a way you can’t really control. - Olly