Made up of brothers Tom and Ned Broadbent alongside their longtime friend Darcy, Fool Nelson have spent years building their sound together. "We've all known each other pretty much our whole lives," Darcy says. "Tom and Ned are brothers, so they obviously go way back, and I've been friends with them since primary school." In Fool Nelson, "Tom is vocals and guitar, Ned's on the tubs, and I play a bit of bass and guitar."

The first spark came early. "We did a talent show when we were really young, and I reckon that feeling gave me a bit of the bug."

Since then, there hasn't really been one giant movie-montage breakthrough moment. Fool Nelson have instead built steadily, picking up support slots with Spacey Jane and Skegss, dominating triple j and gradually gathering crowds that now stretch well beyond Australia. "It's been a slow process for us, and we're grateful that we've been able to slowly build an audience and prioritise making music that we are passionate about and actually enjoy playing."

One early turning point came while writing 'Falling Apart'. "That felt like a bit of a new direction for us," Darcy explains. "Since then, we've just tried to keep chasing that feeling of doing stuff that feels new and interesting to us." He reckons the band's growth mostly comes down to getting better at communicating with each other. "Hopefully, it sounds a bit more like us now."

Despite Australia's size, Fool Nelson describe the country's indie scene as surprisingly close-knit. "You'll kinda end up seeing bands on lineups or just bumping into them at the airport when you're going to shows," Darcy says. Back home in Perth, that feeling gets even stronger. "Everyone kind of knows or knows of everyone," he says, which means bands naturally "support each other and see your friends do well."

That distance from the rest of the music industry still shapes the band, too. Tom and Ned grew up in Busselton, a coastal town three hours south of Perth, and Darcy says travelling overseas still feels slightly surreal. "When we travel to big cities, we feel pretty out of place just because it's all so different from back home."

Luckily, this weekend's Dot To Dot is tailor-made for a band like Fool Nelson: the kind of festival where you accidentally walk into your new favourite act halfway through the afternoon and spend the rest of the weekend aggressively recommending them to everyone you meet. The band are already planning their own schedule too. "I've been listening to NewDad a bit over the last couple of months, so excited to see them," Darcy says. "And we actually just saw Ratboys the other night, so keen to see them again."

Festivals are still a huge discovery tool for the band themselves. During a recent stop at The Great Escape, Fool Nelson wandered into a set by Irish group Madra Salach while waiting to see Westside Cowboy. "I was blown away," Darcy says. "There's a pretty cool feeling when you find an artist in that context when you've got absolutely no expectations."

That excitement for finding new bands still hasn't disappeared despite Fool Nelson now spending most weekends backstage rather than standing in the crowd. "We definitely still try to go to as many shows and festivals as we can," Darcy says. "This tour has been so good for that. There were a bunch of bands that we would have tried to go see in between our show days, but were able to watch at a few different festivals, so that's been very convenient."

As for latest single 'Keepsake', the track nearly never made it out at all. "The original idea had been floating around our voice memos for probably about a year or two, and we just couldn't finish it," he explains. "We knew there was a good song there." Eventually, the pieces clicked into place. "It feels like a nice full stop on the 'Bad Dreams' EP. It's a song for all the day ones, the people around us who we love."

If Dot To Dot attendees are wondering what exactly they're in for this weekend, Darcy keeps the sales pitch simple: "They should expect a rock'n'roll show. Us jumping around on stage, having some fun, singing some songs. Other than that, I dunno really, just come and have some fun, hopefully they enjoy it."

Fool Nelson already have one eye on returning, too. "We've been having an awesome time over here and would love to come back," Darcy says. "We've got plenty of new music in the works… hopefully we'll be back and can catch you at a show next year."

Fool Nelson's EP 'Bad Dreams' is out now. Dot to Dot will take place on 23rd and 24th May; visit dottodotfestival.co.uk for more information.