“Are we going into the fucking jungle?” Harry Hanson calls out, pushing through leaves and branches as NME loses sight of the Adult DVD vocalist. “Have you got a machete?” grins Greg Lonsdale (synth), their self-appointed navigator. The band has wandered off course at The Hollies in Leeds, a woodland site known as much for dog walkers and tennis courts as for the photographs it has hosted. Lonsdale, who considered bringing his dog, wishes we had captured their directionless search. “I feel very at peace,” he says once the group finds the path again.
These days, Hanson’s main encounter with greenery is usually in the dressing room. Over the past few years, Adult DVD have expanded their touring schedule, and word of their loose, untamed dance-punk has spread. After the Leeds band played their first international shows at Rotterdam’s Left Of The Dial in 2023, they returned home with a European booking agent. Domestic demand soon caught up, with NME joining long queues outside Brighton’s Komedia in both 2025 and 2026 for performances at The Great Escape Festival.
Each of the six performers drives the live arrangements through pulsing synth riffs, constructing songs from blocks before tearing through their structure in one decisive movement. They retain close control over the tension, stretching their musical peaks until the floor erupts, while Hanson narrates in his dry, commanding West Yorkshire accent. ‘Dogs In The Sun’ can transform a grimy basement into a chanting football ground, whereas ‘Real Tree Lee’ builds into an animalistic acid-house odyssey. Leeds City Soundsystem, anyone?
The music has found an audience among BBC 6Music listeners and, increasingly, younger fans. “It really does feel like every show is different, in terms of who’s coming to see us,” Hanson says. Asked how the band maintains world-class standards across such varied lineups, he deadpans: “Make sure everyone goes for a wee before – and chill out on the rider.” “It’s a job now, isn’t it?” Lonsdale replies. “So, 100 per cent, all the time.”
Even before their crowds began swelling, Adult DVD maintained a relentlessly upbeat outlook under the guiding principle that “if it’s a bad gig, it’s a good practice”. Hanson, a Leeds native, met Lonsdale, who hails from Stockton-on-Tees, while they were both working behind the bar at the Brudenell Social Club—“the best venue in the world,” in Hanson’s estimation. When their guitar bands, Glass Mountain and Uncle Buzzard, came to an end, the pair met at a creative turning point in 2020 and chose to venture into dance music together.
“We only started hanging out when we started doing music,” Lonsdale reflects. His musical path ran from Faithless and The Prodigy to hardcore punk and techno, while the slower, more minimal sound of Mount Kimbie was also on his mind at the time. “I remember you being like, ‘Nah, LCD [Soundsystem] is the way.’” Hanson nods. “Me and Greg were both naturally gravitating towards electronic stuff, so it made even more sense for us to [start the band].”
They then brought in Jake Williams (synth), Hanson’s housemate Jonathan Newell (drums), and Lonsdale’s friends from home, Danny Blackburn (guitar, synth) and George Manson (bass), completing the six-piece lineup. “We had a funny interaction with Getdown Services,” Hanson recalls. “They’re like, ‘You’re a better version of us,’ and I said, ‘You’re a financially better version of us.’” But the scale of the sound they wanted meant cutting members in favour of cheaper backing tracks was never an option. “We always said, ‘No laptop on stage.’ Partly because we’re clumsy and we’ll end up spilling a pint, but also, I think it looks shit.”
Both men had played guitar since childhood, but Hanson discovered production while studying at Leeds Conservatoire, and Lonsdale fell in love with his Korg Electribe—the same instrument he still uses. LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax supplied early reference points, yet Adult DVD developed their own framework by following arpeggios and riffs into unfamiliar territory and seeing where they led. Their lyrics add another layer of absurdity, from the supermarket drama of ‘Cowboy On Aisle Three’ to the FOMO experienced by a ‘Coffin Dodger’ at his own funeral.
“We’ve always stressed that we’re creating our own music, not our own sound” – Harry Hanson
“We’ve always stressed that we’re creating our own music, not our own sound,” Hanson says. That distinction seems apt. The meeting point between dance music and rock is familiar across the current scene, from Luton’s The Itch to New York’s Model/Actriz and Glasgow’s Vlure, yet Adult DVD’s version feels sharply defined. Why does it resonate now? “We’re very sure of what we’re doing, but we’re also not sure why we’re doing it,” Hanson admits.
Shaped decisively by performance, Adult DVD’s self-titled debut album, due September 25, establishes that identity with unusual clarity. The record—nearly titled ‘Never Mind The Blu-Ray’ or ‘Gromit And Wallace’—opens with guitars before gradually twisting into breakbeats and techno-tinged frenzy on tracks including ‘Ghillie Suit’ and ‘Rolling Face’. “The album is like going from 10pm to 3am in 40 minutes,” Hanson summarizes.
‘Coffin Dodger’ and ‘Real Tree Lee’—the latter mocks “a right-wing dude who’s isolated himself”—introduce several of the album’s larger-than-life characters and their enormous, self-absorbed egos. “None of these songs are written from our point of view, because people would think we were absolute dickheads,” Hanson clarifies, explaining the observational approach. “It’s totally a business tactic, so we never run out of ideas! It’s so much easier to write like that. None of us have to go through heartbreak, heartache or any trauma.”
Could Hanson use music to confront his own personal baggage? “We don’t rule anything out,” he replies. “We’re not going to start doing ballads, but I think music is a good outlet for people, and it might be a good outlet for us.” Lonsdale, who works freelance in film and television, adds: “There’s always undertones – the news, people that you speak to and disagree with. There’s a wide range of characters in the film industry.”
Hanson works as a gig promoter in Leeds and now doubles as the band’s tour manager. Does the possibility of full-time creative work—and an end to part-time employment—appeal? “It can work two ways, if you have too much time,” he replies. “Working a job you’re not into, knowing you’ve only got three hours when you get home to write, [can help with] productivity.” “Being bored at work helps,” Lonsdale adds.
Once our walk is over, Lonsdale heads to a talent show with his parents, while Hanson returns to a day of Zoom interviews. For now, the band are embracing the experience of releasing a debut album, energised by lively crowds, new artistic friendships and the prospect of connecting with their Japanese audience. “It still feels like we’re getting paid to go on holiday, and it’s not worn off at all,” Hanson says. Adult DVD has given him a clear sense of purpose. “It sounds super lame, but it’s the only thing I really love and know.”
