Default Mode Network — or DMN — formed in Leeds in 2024, built around a simple idea: create music worth paying attention to.

Blending influences from traditional blues through to modern psychedelic rock, the band sits somewhere between raw live energy and carefully layered songwriting. There are flashes of grunge, moments of chaos, grooves that stretch and breathe, and melodies that feel both familiar and slightly off-centre in the best possible way.

At the centre of it all is songwriter James Wade, who originally started the project as a way to give structure to the songs he was writing — and an excuse to get back to doing what mattered most: playing live.

But DMN never felt like a solo project for long.

After creating a demo EP towards the end of 2023 to communicate the sound he was chasing, James went searching for musicians who understood the vision. Not just technically, but culturally. People who loved live music, improvisation, atmosphere, and the unpredictability that comes with building something real.

That search eventually led to drummer Jason Brits and bassist Aidan Marleet.

The chemistry clicked quickly.

Their first proper show set the tone immediately.

A Halloween gig at a favourite local bar. James dressed as Sweeney Todd. Aidan as a skeleton. Jason as an elf.

That balance between musicianship and not taking themselves too seriously still runs through the band now.

Live performance sits at the heart of everything DMN do. Even when songs begin as demos or acoustic skeletons, they’re designed to evolve once the band gets hold of them. Some tracks are carefully shaped from home recordings. Others emerge from improvisation and jams in rehearsal rooms until something suddenly locks into place.

That tension between structure and spontaneity is a huge part of the band’s identity.

And while the music pulls from a wide range of influences — from Nirvana and Beck through to All Them Witches and Father John Misty — DMN never feels like imitation. The goal is always to create something detailed enough, strange enough, and interesting enough to make people lean in and listen properly.

Not passive background noise.

Music that rewards attention.

Outside the band, the creative work never really stops.

James also tours the UK every weekend playing keyboards in a tribute band, performing in venues including Brixton Academy, Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Rock City — as well as recording at Abbey Road Studios.

Away from music, he’s also the narrator for the YouTube channel Medieval Madness and produces content for multiple other channels too.

That constant output and creative momentum naturally feeds back into DMN.

Whether it’s recording music, building visuals, creating videos, or hauling 400 rubber ducks around Leeds and London for the upcoming Chin Up Chuck music video, the band approaches creativity with the same mindset:

Keep making things.

Keep learning.

Keep moving forward.

Default Mode Network blend blues-inspired riff writing, grunge energy, psychedelic textures and live improvisation into something that feels both nostalgic and completely their own.

There’s looseness when it needs to breathe. Weight when it needs to hit. And enough detail hidden inside the songs to reward repeat listens.

If you like bands that sound better the deeper you get into them, DMN probably make sense to you already.