INTERVIEW: Old Mervs Chat Their Debut EP, Creative Processes And This Crazy Thing Called Life
Interview by Ciaran ‘Nixy’ Nix
The Old Mervs are the most recent Western Australian band to rise through the state’s flourishing music scene and fly cross country to treat our ears on the East Coast. Don’t be deceived by their name, this pair of young guns is full of vitality and youthful optimism.
They’ve been harnessing and honing their skills playing shows all over the country, continuously getting better. Which is what they’re ready to tell you all about on their phenomenal debut EP ‘Get Better’. The boys take the time across 6 surf-rock symphonies to kick back, cruise, reflect on where they’ve been and what’s to come.
We caught up with Old Mervs to chat all about the release, creative processes and this crazy little thing called life.
Hey there OId Mervs, it’s been a massively busy year for you two, culminating in the release of your debut EP ‘Get Better’, how’s it been going?
The years been unreal, it’s all been a great experience and we’ve learnt a lot. Were just bloody keen to have a body of work out for the peoples.
You're getting a lot of people all around the country listening to and loving your music, did you ever expect to be having such a large impact, reaching such a big audience when you started? What does it mean to you having people connect with your songs in this way?
To be honest we didn’t think we’d get much further than being a 21st bash band, we released music at the start just for fun and we can’t believe how many people have listened to us and enjoyed it enough to keep listening. It’s very cool for us and we can still remember being over the moon when we first hit 1000 streams on a song!
In the last few years post high school what are the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far adjusting to life as an adult?
HENRY: Losing routine has been the hardest and then juggling the band amongst wanting to farm at home with my folks.
DAVID: Balancing work with play.
If you could go back in time and give your 16-year-old selves a bit of advice, what would you say? How would your 16-year-old selves react if you told them which incredible artists you would eventually tour with?
HENRY: I would say to drop out and do my heavy diesel apprenticeship. Quote on quote my 16-year-old self: ‘you’re taking the piss, right?’
DAVID: To not jump on the trampoline with a hernia that was dumb, my 16-year-old self would say ‘nah probably not, I can’t play the guitar‘
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JazBfrql68?wmode=opaque]
Touring is something you’ve been doing a lot of in the past months, wrapping up 11 dates around the country and a Bigsound 2022 appearance. How have your live shows progressed from when you first began? And what were the feelings and emotions like just before you jumped on stage when you started compared to now?
We’ve nailed down a nice guitar setup/tone that’s basic but we love it live, we didn’t have any idea what we were doing our first gig. Singing has gotten better and there are now even some trying back up vocals.
Nerves and feelings haven’t changed hugely, were now much more confident but the excitement and the nerves are still all the same which is sick.
The vocal performances on your tracks are incredible. There’s a lot of power and control in your voice, is that something that’s come naturally or have you spent a lot of time practicing technique and training? When did you first realise you had an amazing voice?
That’s very nice of you to say, I always enjoyed singing along to music since I was a kid, I guess the more I did it the better I got at it. It’s fair to say practice was the biggest part of getting better in general.
You two have been making music for a while and now you’ve crafted this awesome debut EP, you’ve also hand-built a barnyard shed on your parents property. What’s the importance of being creative for your wellbeing and what don’t you boys do?
It’s nice to put ideas out there and express yourself, also getting out of the real world is also a healthy thing. We don’t solely focus on the band, we have jobs and other hobbies.
What’s one thing people might not realise you’re an expert at? And what’s one thing you want to get better at?
HENRY: Ping pong player and earthmoving machinery, I want to get better at spending less time on my phone.
DAVID: Not an expert at anything but know a lot about how I met your mother, I want to get better at playing guitar.
Where do the Old Mervs hope to be and what do you hope to have achieved when you’re old boys yourselves retired at 65?
HENRY: Have a farm that I can chill at with family and play guitar in a Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute band/ old blues rock cover band.
DAVID: I want to be able to have enjoyed my music career and happily look back at it.
Alrighty, it’s been great catching up! We’ve got some fun ‘Fast Five’ Q’s to wrap it up:
