Thomas Dolby joined Iris Berkeley on KGNU ahead of the Totally Tubular Festival at Denver’s Mission Ballroom to discuss returning to the road with a lineup of iconic 1980s artists. He talks about reuniting the Lost Toy People to perform music from Aliens Ate My Buick, reflects on the creative energy of the decade, and shares why he thinks the music continues to connect with audiences across generations.
The conversation also explores Dolby’s work beyond performing, including his career in music technology and his role as an educator at Johns Hopkins University. He discusses creativity, emerging technology, mentoring young musicians, and what fans can expect from his live show this summer. (Air Date 7/7/2026).
Listen to the interview here:
Transcript:
Iris Berkeley: And you are listening to KGNU Community Radio. I am Iris Berkeley, and I’ve got a special guest on the line. Are you there?
Thomas Dolby: I am here.
Iris Berkeley: Hello. Thank you for joining us. We actually just played one of your songs. We’re doing a special tribute to 1986, and we just played a selection from Howard the Duck.
Friends, I’ve got Thomas Dolby on the line live in advance of the Totally Tubular Festival, coming to Denver and playing at the Mission Ballroom on Sunday, July 19. Welcome. It’s so good to have you here.
Thomas Dolby: It’s nice to be here, and thanks for playing the Howard the Duck music. The music was great. The movie was a little controversial, but yeah.
Iris Berkeley: We were chatting about that. That was your second movie soundtrack, am I right?
Thomas Dolby: It wasn’t actually a soundtrack. It was just the songs that I wrote for it, but I’d already done a couple of full soundtracks before then.
Iris Berkeley: I’ll back up to that. I’ve got some other questions as well, but I wanted to zoom in on the Totally Tubular Festival because we’re getting a lot of hype about it coming to Denver soon. That’s going to be the second date of the festival, right, after Phoenix?
Thomas Dolby: I think that’s right, yeah.
Iris Berkeley: That’s fantastic. When you’re doing a big multi-band event like this, with so many artists on the lineup, what does show number two feel like on a long tour?
Thomas Dolby: Probably fairly chaotic, but it’s always a great vibe backstage. I did Totally Tubular a couple of years ago and came through Denver. It’s amazing because when we were all young, in our twenties, the British bands were a little salty toward each other. If you were sharing the stage or a dressing room with Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet, it was always a little snooty.
But everybody’s older and wiser now, so there’s a great scene backstage in the green room. People have their boyfriends, girlfriends, partners, kids, nannies, personal trainers—even cardiologists. To still be doing this at our age, you can’t be up all night in the hotel bar because you’re going to have to get up early to meet with your Pilates instructor.
Iris Berkeley: So, no wrecking a hotel room.
Thomas Dolby: Exactly.
Iris Berkeley: It really is a dream lineup for those of us who either saw these bands the first time around or never had the chance. We’ve got A Flock of Seagulls, Bow Wow Wow, The Producers, Animotion, The Escape Club, Tommy Tutone. How does it feel revisiting all this music in 2026?
Thomas Dolby: It’s good. The ’80s were an amazingly fertile decade for music. With synthesizers becoming accessible, suddenly you had this much broader palette to paint with. It wasn’t just drums and guitars.
Some people leaned into the coldness of electronic music, while others, myself included, used it to create more cinematic, epic landscapes.
The other thing was music videos. Radio could be pretty rigid with its formatting, but when MTV came along, if you had a great video, radio stations had to play your music because they were getting so many requests. It opened the floodgates for a lot of diverse music. Every time a band put out a record, you had no idea what to expect.
Iris Berkeley: Today we’re celebrating 1986, and it’s been amazing seeing the diversity of requests coming in. I go to DJ events in Denver all the time, and one thing I always need in my crates is new wave and synth-pop records because everybody seems to love this music. What do you think makes these songs continue to resonate?
Thomas Dolby: They mean different things to different people. Some people say they love ’80s music, and they’re talking about “Walking on Sunshine” and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Other people are into the darker side—The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure. Then you’ve got Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister. There are so many different layers to ’80s music.
Interestingly, at Totally Tubular, it’s not just middle-aged folks coming. You see people in their twenties and even teenagers. At first I think their parents dragged them along, but then I talk to them and they say, “No, I discovered your music on my own, and I’ve got all your albums on vinyl.”
When you’ve got all this digital music to choose from and you’re choosing to spend your money on an album with 40 minutes of music, that’s amazing.
Iris Berkeley: Speaking of vinyl, you’re taking it back to 1988 because you’re touring with the Lost Toy People, the band you supported Aliens Ate My Buick with. Is this the first time you’ve had this band back together?
Thomas Dolby: It is. I think the last gig we did was the Rose Bowl concert with Depeche Mode in 1988.
Iris Berkeley: Wow. How do you bring that back? Do you just pick up where you left off?
Thomas Dolby: Some of the original members are dead or in jail, but the ones who are still out there are great musicians and have fond memories of that time. It was a wild period for us, but really good fun.
The band is loose. A lot of my solo gigs involve computers and click tracks, which can be a little stuffy sometimes. This is just a band. It’s just craziness. I love playing with the Lost Toy People.
Iris Berkeley: I was just chatting with DJ Jules, who’s co-hosting with me. She didn’t know much about what you did after your recording career took off. For listeners who mainly know you as a performer, you’ve had a huge role in music technology. Beatnik powered many early cell phone ringtones. You created the Virtual String Quartet, served as music director for the TED Conferences, and much more.
What’s the common thread through all of that? What’s it like being Thomas Dolby today?
Thomas Dolby: I’m always excited by the next new thing. When a new technology appears, scientists often invent it without really knowing how people will use it. I love diving in early and experimenting to see what can be done creatively.
Sometimes that’s in a completely different field. When I got into Silicon Valley and web audio, that was a long way from the traditional music business. But it’s stimulating, and it forces me to get creative by stepping outside my own wheelhouse.
Iris Berkeley: You’re also working with the next generation of creators as head of the Johns Hopkins music for new media program. What’s it like working with student musicians?
Thomas Dolby: It’s great to mentor them and pass on a career’s worth of experience. I think that’s invaluable because it’s very easy now to think that if you hit a roadblock, you can solve it with a few keystrokes or by asking AI.
I try to encourage students to express themselves and use the tools in front of them instead of immediately going to the internet for an answer. Otherwise, they’re getting the same answer that 10,000 other people got at exactly the same moment, and that’s boring.
I have a great time with my students. To be perfectly frank, though, a lot of them have no idea who I am or what I did. They came because their parents said, “I’m spending a small fortune on your music degree. You’re going to study under Dolby.” And they say, “Okay… who?”
Iris Berkeley: Is that refreshing in a way?
Thomas Dolby: Very refreshing. It’s absolutely great. They usually become curious about my music and about the ’80s in general, and they ask what it was like. I tell them it was a pretty dark decade in many ways—with the Cold War, AIDS, Thatcher, Reagan, and all of that. Then I look at them and realize today’s world isn’t exactly tranquil either.
Iris Berkeley: I feel like there’s never been a better time for a giant ’80s synth-pop festival. Do you think people need that right now?
Thomas Dolby: I think they need the escapism, for sure. For all of us performers, it’s such a joy and an honor to still be out there in our fifties and sixties playing the music we love and getting paid for it. That’s really because of the fans and their willingness to come out and see us. It’s a wonderful experience.
Iris Berkeley: Is there anything you especially love about touring, or anything that makes you think, “Not again”?
Thomas Dolby: I love being on the tour bus. These days they have Wi-Fi, big-screen TVs, and I have a double lounge at the back. I use it as my dressing room, then I go to sleep and wake up outside the next venue. It’s this little cocoon that you live in for a few weeks.
The scary part is coming out of it and realizing you have to do the laundry, wash the dishes, and pay your bills.
Iris Berkeley: Real life beckons. But all of us get to hang out with you on the 19th at Mission Ballroom. Any advice for listeners coming to the show?
Thomas Dolby: I hope people listen to Aliens Ate My Buick. It’s a very specific chapter of my musical career and very different from my other albums. Some Dolby fans say it’s the one album they don’t like, while others say it’s the album. It’s a bit controversial, so give it a listen and then come see me recreate it note for note with the Lost Toy People.
Iris Berkeley: That’s funny because I just got a vinyl copy. The Flat Earth is my favorite by far, but hearing Aliens Ate My Buick straight through on vinyl is a totally different experience.
Thomas Dolby: That’s great to hear. The Flat Earth is one of my favorites too, but this is different. This is special. I’m going to have a blast.
Iris Berkeley: I’m looking forward to the show, and I know a lot of other people are too. Any final thoughts before we let you get on with your day?
Thomas Dolby: I’ll be playing the hits as well. There are certain songs I’m not allowed to leave the venue alive unless I play them. Fortunately, I enjoy that. I took a few years away from touring, so it feels like a lifetime since I first performed this music. It’s such fun to come back to it and share the experience with a big crowd.
Iris Berkeley: Looking forward to it personally. Again, we’ve been speaking with Thomas Dolby. Thank you so much for joining us during our Summer Fun Drive and our big 1986 showcase.
You’ll be appearing at the Totally Tubular Festival at Mission Ballroom on Sunday, July 19. Until then, we hope you have a wonderful summer, and thanks so much for spending some time with us.
Thomas Dolby: All right, Iris. Nice talking to you. See you soon.
Iris Berkeley: You take care. Thanks.
