I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME’s Dallon Weekes is casting off the carefully curated concept of previous projects with ‘Gloom Division’, a deeply personal and defiant record that flips genres, challenges expectations and embraces the unexpected.

Words: Ali Shutler.
Photos: MANICPROJECT.

“I’ve always felt like an outsider, but music has allowed me to connect with other people,” says Dallon Weekes.

At first, there was his power-pop group, The Brobecks, who existed on the edge of the 00s emo explosion but never had their breakout moment. Then, Dallon joined Panic! At The Disco as a touring guitarist in 2009 before becoming a fully-fledged member for 2013’s ‘Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die’ while also working on his own music.

At first, I Dont Know How But They Found Me performed in secret, with Dallon not wanting to take advantage of his glitzy connections before he quit Panic! and released his debut EP ‘1981’ in 2018. Debut album ‘Razzmatazz’ followed in 2020, with both the jaunty horror of ‘Choke’ and the flamboyant defiance of ‘Leave Me Alone’ becoming crossover hits. “It was fantastic to be validated in the public arena. I mean, what artist wouldn’t love to have a hit song?” he asks. “That’s been checked off the list, though. Now it’s time to get weird,” he grins.

‘Gloom Division’ does away with the carefully curated concept of previous iDKHOW projects, with the record unfurling to embrace glam, garage and indie rock with flourishes of goth for good measure. It proudly wears influences from The Strokes, Elvis Costello, Phantom Planets, Ben Folds Five and Weezer on its sleeve but never stays on the same path for long. “There’s a lot going on. I hope it’s not overwhelming,” he says. “But I’m a fan of songs more than I am of genres.”

Working with Dave Fridmann also helped Dallon embrace these different corners. “Of my ten favourite records, he’s made at least four of them. He’s worked with Tame Impala, MGMT and Flaming Lips, who are artists I’ve idolised forever. Being in the same studio as those records were made felt almost spiritual. There is a definite kid in a candy store vibe to this album.”

‘Gloom Division’ is also decadently defiant. “After that first record, there was expectation, and expectation is the thing I’ve never had to deal with before,” he says. Because of Dallon’s past with Panic!, people were quick to assume iDKHOW fit under the same banner when they heard vibrant, hook-driven choruses. “I understand the irony, but I was never really into pop-punk,” he admits. “I was always more into Britpop or alternative indie,” so he deliberately pushed that to the forefront with album two. “It’s great that people like what I did, but I’m not going to do it again. Part of my approach for this record was demand avoidance. You think I’m going to do one thing, so I’m going to do something else.”