A Quick Chat With SIDELINES

SIDELINES returns with Sleep Alone, a moody, hook-laden emo-pop anthem. A growing figure in Melbourne’s alternative scene—fronting Snark and performing with All Regards—SIDELINES channels his solo energy into something raw, melodic, and deeply personal. Sleep Alone is soaked in post-breakup clarity, with soft guitars, punchy pop drums, and a chorus built to echo through midnight drives. It unpacks the quiet collapse of a relationship and the choice to embrace solitude as a form of survival. We caught up with SIDELINES to talk about the track, his evolution, and what’s coming next.

Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?
The song is about staying with someone when you don't really want to because you don't think you can be alone. It touches on loving the idea of someone or the idea of being with someone more than the reality of actually being with them.
I've seen it happen to close friends of mine and it's a rough situation to be in – sometimes you just have to choose yourself and get out of there.

I'd love for Sleep Alone to be on someone's playlist as they're driving around at night after a big, overdue break up. That's the vision I had in my mind writing the song. In a moment like that, the right song makes all the difference.

Who are some of your influences, and why?
It's a pretty varied mix of artists to be honest. I'm having a real Gracie Abrams moment right now (like everyone else I guess) and I've been listening to heaps of Mallrat, beabadoobee and Darcie Haven. I feel like that's influenced my writing, especially with my lyrics. I've been trying to channel some of the atmosphere and synth sounds of the likes of CHVRCHES and MGMT in SIDELINES, those were the bands that inspired me to put the guitar down for a second and lose myself in synthesizers – I swear you blink and hours have passed when you're mucking around with them!

And then finally, I've always been a huge fan of emo and punk music from your classics like blink-182 and Fall Out Boy to the Aussie scene. You can definitely hear that angsty influence in all my music, it's part of my DNA at this point.
I think one of the cool things about SIDELINES is that the music sits somewhere in between all these different influences – I'd like to think there is something for everyone.

What's the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?
Writing this out has made me realise how hard my phone is carrying the process – so many songs start their lives as voice memos or lyrics in my notes app! You never really know when you're going to have an idea for a melody or a lyric so often I'm on the train home at night, or walking around the city or somewhere out in public and I'm trying to really subtly sing or hum a melody into my phone so I don't forget it, or absolutely unleashing and venting in my notes app.

I have a laptop, guitars/keyboards and some very basic recording gear at home, so once I have an idea I'll "sketch it out" by recording and re-recording parts as I write, arranging the song, adding more layers and production ideas as I go along. The writing and recording kind of happen at the same time. Then I send through the song and all the individual tracks to my producer (shout out Levi Russell) who takes what I've tracked and elevates it with extra production, mixing and mastering. He's based up in Brisbane so we send each other notes and ideas back and forth by email until we're happy with how everything sounds. Super grateful to be working with such a talented producer – it's made the process a lot of fun and I couldn't be prouder of the song we ended up with!

What do you think makes a great song?
I think the most important thing is a melody that gets stuck in your head. All my favourite songs are absolute earworms, you'll just find yourself humming the melody hours after you've listened to it. If you pair that with some really heartfelt lyrics that feel authentic I feel like there's no beating that.

A producer I worked with once spoke about the "Campfire Test" and it really stuck with me – basically, if a song could be stripped back to an acoustic guitar and vocals around a campfire and get people vibing and make them feel something then you're onto a winner. From there good production and some ear candy really elevate a track but that base has to be there first.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
I feel like a Mallrat x SIDELINES collab would be amazing. Mallrat is such an incredible songwriter and all her songs have such a distinctive, otherworldly vibe. There are some Mallrat songs that have a really special place in my heart. Her songs sit in this really cool place between electronic music and pop music that I think would blend so well with what I'm trying to do. There is a (half-finished) song sitting on my hard drive right now that would be a great starting point – I'm refusing to finish it because I'm manifesting this collab!

When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
I love to take photos, usually of sunsets or city skylines at night. The honest truth is that most of the photos I take are pretty trash but occasionally a good one sneaks in. It's something I'd love to get a bit better at but I'm not taking it too seriously, it's just a bit of fun.
A photo I took on a city street at night in Tokyo is actually included in the cover art for Sleep Alone. I thought it captured the late night vibe of the song nicely!

Who are some local bands we should check out?
I am utterly obsessed with Sumner and EGOISM at the moment! They're two Aussie indie-pop bands that are doing really cool stuff and both have such unique sounds.
Sumner recently dropped an EP, Retrograde, that is genuinely a no-skip release, every song stands on its own and does something different. Half Myself Without You might be the song of the year!
EGOISM have been a key part of the soundtrack to my life since 2021. I adore the dual-vocalist thing they have going on and their lyrics always land – Lonely But Not Alone or You You are my absolute favs.

And of course my emo heart demands I recommend some awesome local pop-punk bands: Cordiform are releasing amazing music (Doomsday is a must listen) and are doing great things in the scene like running their own pop-punk festival, Pizza Planet. Tiny Red Houses are one of the best live bands around at the moment and are going to absolutely blow up, suss out their debut EP Start This Over. Finally, a special shout out to All Regards, my family and the other home for my music. All Regards dropped an EP we're super proud of last year called All Our Dreams Turn To Nightmaresand have some awesome new music dropping later this year!

Winter or summer and why?
Summer forever! Long days, late nights, good vibes – it's got it all! I feel like there are better shows on, there are more people out and about and more fun to be had. Life is just better in summer.
Winter is a bit gloomy, it just makes me want to rot at home. I will say I do think I write more songs in winter though, just because it makes me feel more introspective.

What do you have planned for 2025?
I've got a couple more songs that I really love up my sleeve so I'd love to drop at least one more single this year. I've also been plotting and scheming, and I'd love to play my debut show as SIDELINES this year. There's some logistics involved in making that happen but I think it will be a great time and that a lot of these songs will translate really well to playing live – I've even thought of a couple of cool covers I could do (check my TikTok for a sneak peek!).

Interviewsaustralianmusicscene30 May 2025