INTERVIEW: Dropper shares debut album

Born out of collaboration, grief and a shared hunger for creation, Dropper have been quick to gain a status as one of the most exciting new acts in the alternative music scene of New Zealand. The band began around the end of 2023 as a partnership between Jude Savage, frontman of Bleeding Star and River Hann-Ellen from Debt Club. A mutual admiration between two songwriters soon became something deeper, a songwriting project that developed into a full band endeavour. Jude’s emotionally charged songwriting, often compared to Bob Mould’s Hüsker Dü and Greg Dulli’s Afghan Whigs, found a new dimension in River’s intricate arrangements, forging a sound that’s highly original and thoroughly compelling.

With the addition of guitarist Carlos Bellamy, drummer Walter Martin and bassist Toby Gracewood-Easther, Dropper’s lineup fell into place with a chemistry built no friendship, mutual respect and a mission of “serving the song,” as the band describes it. Their magnetic live shows have already earned praise from both fans and critics and that intensity has carried them to stages across the country, supporting acts such as There’s A Tuesday, Shame, Office Dog, Twine, Wunderhorse and The Lemonheads.

Unveiling their sound in May with the debut single “Your Face Says It All,” they followed it up in July with their sophomore outing, “Didn’t Want to be Your Light.” They’ve been going from strength to strength during their breakout year and now Dropper brings us their debut full-length album titled Be A Little Kinder, released via Bigpop Records’ boutique imprint, Particle Recordings. It’s a powerful and profoundly personal record that brings together the appeal of alternative rock grit with impact of post-hardcore energy and midwestern emotionality.

Penned by Jude and River during a period of intense personal reflection, the album captures the tension between hopelessness and healing, confusion and understanding, all while confronting the grief of losing their bandmate and friend, Otis Hill. Be A Little Kinder became both an outlet and a tribute; “It all happened over a very strange time, and the friendships and common focuses got us through,” Jude shares. That emotional context runs throughout the album’s eleven tracks, where bright melodies are twisted and frayed until they reveal something aching beneath the surface. “It’s angry and frustrated, masked behind happier melodies,” he explains.

The album’s opening track and lead single, “Anchor,” sets up the record with airy, clean guitar tones as the steady march of pulsing bass, clapping drums and jangly lead notes form a delicate backdrop for the impassioned vocal leads to ring out above. Surging with anthemic energy, the track builds with charging guitars and splashing drums capped by gripping vocals spinning engrossing melodic lines. “Through Your Teeth” captures a moment of detachment and disorientation framed in an atmospheric soundscape of charging energy and infectious vocal hooks.

“Pinwheel” presents a duet with Lilith Ercolano of Eveline Breaker, offering a blissfully melodic moment on the album while still injecting bursts of driving rock energy. But it’s “Breathe Through the Wire” where everything comes together. Built around a guitar riff from the late Otis Hill, the song stitches together fragments of old Bleeding Star material into a heartfelt farewell. “It’s almost the final Bleeding Star song. A thank you to Otis.” Closing the record with the title track “Be A Little Kinder,” the band serves up a thrilling slice of uptempo pop-tinged rock that rolls with lively drums and overlapping vocal lines, resulting in a spectacular finale to the band’s incredible first album.

Recorded and mixed by River Hann-Ellen and Arran Cargill-Brown at Massey University, Be A Little Kinder captures Dropper at their most honest and expressive as a band transforming grief into strength. As they prepare for a summer tour across New Zealand and look ahead to 2026, Dropper have emphatically staked their claim as a must watch band on the rise. “I hope people can find something to relate to in the lyrics and enjoy the intricate instrumentals. I would love it if someone obsessed over the record as much as I’ve obsessed over other New Zealand bands’ records,” Jude shares.

We caught up with Dropper to find out more about their musical journey so far, their debut album Be A Little Kinder and what they’ve got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with Dropper below.

Hey Dropper, how’s things?

We’re good! The pace has been a bit insane at the moment. We came off the back of the Wunderhorse support shows and then straight into filming a new video for our song Anchor, finalising artwork for the album and getting ready for the New Zealand album release shows.

How did you get together as a band?

Our hometown Wellington, has a really great alt guitar scene. There are so many interesting musicians, songwriters and bands here. There’s a lot of crossover too as we are all fans of each other’s songs, so everyone ends up playing in each other’s bands. Dropper is a product of that community.

I had been playing with a band called Bleeding Star, which had built a strong local following…That band was really formative …but it came to an end when our guitarist, Otis Hill passed away due to a rare cancer. Bleeding Star had recorded an album called ‘Dropper’, so when I was ready, I decided to start a new project using the name as a kind of homage to that time. Walter (drums) and Toby (bass) were playing together in another Wellington group, so we had seen them play a bit. My old friend Carlos (who also played in Bleeding Star) stepped in on guitar. The band has moved quickly, and the musical chemistry between us feels really intuitive and natural. We haven’t really looked back.

Which artists do you draw most inspiration from?

Personally, a long-time time favourite has been Bob Mould and his work in Husker Du and Sugar. His music showed me that distorted and heavy could also have killer songs. Noise can still have melody intertwined within it. The Afghan Whigs were massive for me too. The Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers have super anthemic choruses and have always been really interesting rhythmically. Melody is what makes each of their songs different to the last, and Greg Dulli’s work in those bands showed me that. A lot of that era of music was energetic, raw and beautiful all at the same time and that is something we feel we’ve always pushed to achieve with Dropper. Closer to home, there is a lot of incredibly amazing 80s/90s New Zealand music. Particular bands on the Flying Nun and Failsafe record labels (The Dunedin Sound) have been hugely influential. Jangly guitars crossed with wall of sound open chords. Bands such as Throw, Bailter Space and JPS Experience have been big ones for me to name a few.

As for the other guys in the band, Carlos takes massive inspiration from this band called Turnover. Their album Peripheral Vision rocks. Carlos brings a lot of this flavour to the band. It may not show on this record, but a lot of the new demos we’ve been working on lately have a lot more textural and chorus effect guitars provided by Carlos, which definitely has a passing nod to how Turnover incorporates that kind of guitar work.

Walter and Toby like pretty similar stuff, which has really helped them be such a cohesive rhythm section, and I think explains why they’re so in tune with each other both on stage and in the studio.

The influences are fairly broad amongst us all, hanging out together, driving to rehearsal, we will jump from Beabadoobee ‘He Gets Me So High’ to ridiculously complicated hardcore songs like Vein.fm’s ’Doomtech’. In line with our love of melody we’re also certainly suckers for great pop music, though. Artists like The Hellp and The 1975 definitely get their fair share of play.

How else do you find inspiration for your music?

I wish I knew. That’s a real mystery to me. I write about my experiences, but there has also been a compulsion to try to create really specific guitar tones. I’ve always been drawn to drone music which is kind of meditative, and that music inspires me. But to be honest, it is chasing the song that keeps me coming back. I don’t go looking for inspiration, but often find myself responding to things I see or an experience by making songs.

What’s been your highlight of 2025?

That’s a difficult question! There’s been plenty – I think foremost it’s been the recording and completion of our debut album, solidifying the band lineup and the fact that we made a body of work that we are proud of this soon in the life of the band.

Opening for Wunderhorse has also been a major highlight. We got so lucky with that support slot. The shows were awesome and we played on the biggest stages we’ve ever played (including Auckland’s iconic venue The Powerstation). With this full Dropper lineup up only existing for a few months, we knuckled down and prepared our set with 3 weeks before the shows. It all paid off as we played really well and got an awesome crowd and industry response.

On top of that, our experience opening for shame was great. Easily some of the nicest people we’ve met through music. Sometimes, when we support an international act there is an unspoken barrier between the opening act and headliner. shame made us feel as equals and were genuinely kind to us. The experience meant a lot to us as a band. They clearly understood how it is being the openers and knew the importance of treating the support acts with grace. They played a killer show and the night left a lasting impression on all of us. Overall, our experience opening for UK bands has been nothing but great. It is a massive dream of ours to be able to play in the UK/EU. We’re currently discussing various Australia and UK/EU options for next year, and we’re totally keen to get there as soon as possible.

What do you love about the New Zealand music scene?

It is pretty impressive. There are so many diverse bands and approaches, and there has always been a huge amount of creativity and originality that comes from a country of 5 million on the other side of the world. You can meet your musical heroes quite easily in a country this small. I’ve been lucky enough to build relationships with musicians I obsess over. People are very supportive and want people to succeed – lots of people want to support the underground, and that’s great.

What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?

I think that our music comes across really well live as it shows the heart and energy of what we’re about. It’s instantaneous and raw. But we also love what we created in the studio. We were able to create a vibe and denseness which is unique to the album – it’s great to listen to full volume in headphones!

How has your own style and sound evolved since you started out?

I started out with way more punky songs. There was not a lot of melody and just wanting to be loud and fast. Over the years, I feel like I have become more song conscious and slightly less noisy, using the abrasive noisy parts for effect rather than throughout the entire song. I think there’s more sophistication in the new demos we’re writing, so we’re definitely exploring a development that will build off the ‘Be A Little Kinder’ sound.

Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

Bob Mould, no question. That would be a dream come true. And getting to play with Wunderhorse or shame again on their home turf would be amazing.

How did you find making your debut album ‘Be a Little Kinder’?

It was really cathartic and fulfilling. The album has an intensity to it born from loss. Songs like Anchor are a kind of defiant surrender. Breathe Through the Wire was written after being shared a phone memo of a guitar riff left by my late friend and collaborator Otis Hill. Then there are songs like Bleed Out and Through Your Teeth that disguise some pretty raw experiences by dressing them up in jangle and noise. We’re really proud of the record. I co-wrote it with ex-member River Hann-Ellen. It was my first time working with someone else on songwriting and lyrics etc. I used to write alone with my old band Bleeding Star and I kind of just mapped out everything for the rest of the band to do.. It was exciting and new for me to work in a more collaborative way. Before the album was written, I had been going through one of my longest writer’s blocks and working with River was exactly what I needed to get back on my feet again. I’m really stoked with this record as it got me back into wanting to write again after Bleeding Star ended.

What message did you want to get across with this release?

I feel like the record is far more of a diary entry than trying to send a message. I think if there is one, it’s in the title. Be a little kinder. The world is in a weird place at the moment, and some simple positive human interaction could at least go a little way to improve it.

What artist have you been listening to most recently?

Motor Ace. They’re a late 90s/Early 00s band from Melbourne. I absolutely love their album Five Star Laundry. No skips. I would recommend the song Lorenzo to anyone who wants to get into them.

What’s the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?

For people to like the songs and respond to them in a way that makes sense to them. If Dropper’s songs can connect to the audience and create a shared experience, I couldn’t ask for more than that.

What’s been your favourite live performance so far?

As mentioned, our Wunderhorse shows have to be up there. Otherwise, our most recent performance at All Saints Day festival was super fun. Smaller crowd for sure, but it felt special and everyone seemed really into it. Quite likely our loudest show to date too.

Who would be 3 artists to headline your dream festival? And where would it be?

In no particular order – Wishy, Sugar and with a total vibe switch probably Bladee.

Location: Edinburgh – Scotland. I loved the city when I visited and found it really impressive. I can imagine a show with the castle as the backdrop would be pretty dramatic.

Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow your footsteps?

As much as it’s a boring answer, sticking to your guns and doing what you want to do for you will always feel better than writing for other people’s agendas or expectations. Create for yourself, not for anyone else. Then you can only hope that other people will relate to the authenticity of what you’re trying to achieve.

Finally, what do you have lined up next?

We have our album release show on the 21st of November, followed by shows and festival slots around New Zealand to support the release. After that I think the focus is really going to be on finishing writing the next body of work. We’re already really deep into demo’ing new material and buzzed about the direction the songs and sound are taking

Listen to Be a Little Kinder below