Melbourneโs Grooviest Garage Rock band with a strong pivot from conventional. Described as a sound reminiscent of heavy rock from days gone by, but with a funky flare ready to catapult them into the future. Combining soaring vocals, epic groovy riffs, and a colossal rhythm section; they will make you want to move your feet! The Vultures are ready to set the music scene alight with their fresh take on Garage rock music! Band members: Shawn (vocals, rhythm), Harry (drums), Matt (bass), Tyler (guitar). Check out the exclusive Interview below:
1. Your roots can often shape your journey. Can you share a story or moment from your early life that had a significant impact on your path into music?
GROOVE VULTURES: ย Harry: For me it was my brother showing me a lot of heavy music when I was really young, around 10, that set me on course to wanting to play music. I started playing guitar as a teenager, and eventually found drums as my most comfortable way to perform. Hearing how much a rhythm drives a song in so much metal music really got me going, and pushed me to play like that.
Matt: As amusing and vanilla as it may seem, something that had a significant impact on me was when I was young, I had been enrolled in Suzuki music, or classical guitar for kids, which never really spoke to me and as a kid I hated the super structured approach, but one night when I was around 8 or 9, I left my bedroom late on Saturday night to hit the loo when my drunk dad notices me and says โcome check this outโ, he showed me some of the old classics from Music Max, in particular, my strongest memory was that of Totoโs Africa.
2. Did your musical journey begin with formal training, or was it more of a personal exploration? How has that shaped your unique approach to your craft?
GROOVE VULTURES:ย Harry: I only ever took a small number of lessons for guitar, which helped my writing side a little bit, but as the drummer Iโve never had any formal training, I mostly just listened and tried to replicate whatever I heard. Really, I felt playing with others was my training, where I could learn what works when putting it all behind someoneโs playing.
Shawn: My journey was all exploration; I was taught guitar by a friend while at university around 15 years ago now. I really used that as a springboard to learn songs I could sing! Once I was comfortable with that I wanted to learn to write my own songs which has taken a long time to get right, in my journey a lot of bad music had to be made to make music anyone wanted to listen to! Now Iโve had various guitar and singing lessons to try to craft a more professional sound, but despite all of that, experimentation with the guys at rehearsal to find a sound that works is where we really shine. I think thatโs why a lot of our songs have such an experimental feel to them- they arenโt coming from a rigid learned structure, itโs just what we think sounds good and feels right!
3. Who were some of the most influential figures in your early musical life, and how did they inspire your sound? Also, whatโs the story behind choosing the name โGROOVE VULTURESโ?
GROOVE VULTURES: ย Harry: Soundgarden were a big one when I was learning drums, hearing how you could do all these odd time signatures without having to make overly complicated sounding music was incredible. It added a lot of flair to the songs, without risking it sounding cliche, so I try to use that idea a bit with my own music.
Shawn: Sublime were my biggest influence, the funky ska, story driven lyrics always resonated with me. Now I write songs that are stories, and all of the songs which I write have a clear funky rhythm to them, Flytrap is a good example I definitely pulled that rhythm style straight out of the hundreds of Sublime songs I learnt through my life!
Groove Vultures just sounded cool and wasnโt taken! We spent so long debating different names it was hard to find something that sounded cool, that wasnโt clichรฉ, that described our sound, that we all agreed on! We are so stoked with the name too- now I think the longer time goes on the more we have grown into our own name! We seem to get groovier and groovier as time goes on!
4. What do you believe sets your music apart? How would you describe your sound to someone discovering you for the first time, and what emotions or experiences do you hope to evoke in your listeners?
GROOVE VULTURES: Harry: Our blend of everyoneโs influences gives us a nice mish mash of styles, but I donโt like to get bogged down describing a sound. We play Rock, sometimes itโs heavy, sometimes itโs soft, thereโs a lot of melody, and the rhythm hits hard. Thatโs all you want, right?
Shawn: I think what sets us apart is exactly what Harry describes- we are a real mix and mash of styles; we really try to lean into that and give each person an opportunity to write songs. On our planned album we set out to have 2 songs each- what that means is that in our set the sound is super varied; and we love that! So often we are out supporting other local bands who absolutely rip, but after 3 songs we canโt tell when the song changed. Thatโs something that definitely doesnโt happen at our shows!
I think our sound is funky, exciting, sometimes heavy, always groovy, and always layered with subtle stories and messages if you take the time to listen. I hope we leave people intrigued, vibrant, and powerful- ready to take on the world and walk like a badass.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as ROCK?
GROOVE VULTURES: Harry: I spend a lot of time early on ripping off my favourite Thrash Metal bands, and while it isnโt necessarily what I write much of these days, when I was developing my style it massively helped me nail down my rhythm, and precision with speed. After that I just had to learn to slow down.. Ha!
Shawn: I really only found my own original sound once I met this band, before that its all been emulating other peoples sound. I think in reality we never really move away from that completely. While I am not taking riffs or melodies from other songs my style is a combination of all of my influences- and I am constantly pulling things from all those avenues to make music. I guess that is exactly why our rock style is this hard to pin down, groovy, funky, heavy, indie mashup we have ended up with!
6. Music often transcends entertainment. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
GROOVE VULTURES: Shawn: To me music is a huge social vehicle. It influences politics and cultures hugely. But on an individual level the music you listen to can influence your mood, your mindset, your whole way of thinking in your life. I have always listened to lyrics and the messages and stories they tell- they often resonate with me throughout my life while those songs play on repeat in my head. Knowing that; I want our songs to carry not political or cultural messages, but just small messages for individuals. Like our next single: message through time. Itโs basically a story of all the things I wish I could have told myself growing up. I want to give those messages to all the young people out there just like me. I want our songs to reach out to people and leave them with a positive message like so many bands did for me through the years.
7. Do you feel the rewards of your musical career match the energy and passion you invest in it, or are there different kinds of fulfillment youโre still seeking?
GROOVE VULTURES: Shawn: We all invest heavily in this band both in time and financially! Itโs hard to say what the reward we are looking for is. At this point itโs definitely not a financial one.
Itโs a hugely vulnerable place to be in sharing music you love and your inner thoughts with the world; the criticism of the music you pour your soul into, the grind of social media and music marketing etc makes it hard to see the payoff sometimes.
But then I remind myself why we do it; because we love making music! When something that started as a scribbled note turns into a banger, I have people singing back to me that is unreal to me. Rehearsing with my friends and playing tunes, we just made up, while having some beers is so much fun I would do it for free! We have already achieved more with this than I ever thought possible. I just wanted to write songs that people might listen to, get on spotify, and play some gigs.ย So, everything from here feels like bonus, thatโs all the fulfilment I need really (maybe a festival spot or opening slot for one of our favourite bands would be nice too!)
8. Can you walk us through your creative process? From the first spark of an idea to the finished track, whatโs the most essential part of your process, and how do collaboration or external influences shape your work?
GROOVE VULTURES: Harry: I mostly bring complete songs forward when I write on the instrumental side, and let Shawn do his thing with the vocals. Iโll write whatever Iโve got on guitar, jam around my drum ideas, and put a demo together for the other guys to hear. I tend to be pretty open with others parts, so everyone gets a go at it creatively, and when weโre done, weโve got a Groove Vultures song, rather than just whatever I chucked together.
Shawn: I write lyrics first. I have hundreds of songs written. Good ones feel like they fall out with a melody and chords attached- I pretty much need to get on the guitar, figure those out straight away and write them down or the songs end up in my songbook graveyard. Usually I have lyrics, chords and ideas of how I want the bass and lead to sound- then I can only describe how I want it to feel to the guys, they usually step in and make it even better than I pictured. Harry figures out what structure will work and fixes any weird timing for me, then boom we have a Groove Vultures song.
For the other guys they usually have chords or riffs recorded they bring forward- I take those away try to interpret how they make me feel and pull an appropriate song lyric from my graveyard that fits, harry structures it and adds a beat, then we jam around until it fits into a groove we all vibe with. Itโs the most fun part of all of this, making new songs is a blast.
9. Whatโs been the most challenging hurdle in either your personal life or music career, and how has it shaped you as an artist?
GROOVE VULTURES: Harry: Musically itโs just been finding the right people. Itโs easy to just settle doing whatever, but being with the right musicians who all have their own creative visions that they want to work on together can be hard to find, but here it feels like Iโve found that.
Shawn: For me itโs the same really! I tried so many bands through the years, nothing seemed to work or gel. After I moved to Melbourne it was trying to find bands that wanted me. I honestly just about gave up before meeting the boys, I just figured maybe I want good enough. So to find these guys and achieve so much is so awesome. I am just grateful to be given the opportunity to have a crack really! I think that just means for us as a band we are a fun, easy going, happy bunch of dudes who are happy to be there- stoked people want to hear us and stoked to get to give it a shot!
10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
GROOVE VULTURES: Matt: I think anyone should be able to interpret music in their own way, as long as they connect with it, funny enough I semi-recently brought a song to the band which I wrote when I was feeling somewhat down about a girl, and everyone keeps telling me how happy it sounds, so who the hell am I to tell them theyโre not enjoying it right?
Shawn: I agree! Personal interpretation is exactly that personal. While I hope some of the messages and themes come through and influence that interpretation the real story has no bearing on that at all. I hope people take their own personal messages away from all our songs.
11. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
GROOVE VULTURES: Harry: I get a kick out of being in the moment live, especially when you can feel everything coming together perfectly in a jam, or nailing parts you worked really hard on. With that said, being able to put something together while recording that captures our sound perfectly makes all that time and effort worth it. Recording can be a nightmare, and I want it to be as comfortable of an experience as possible for anyone in the band, so itโs good to be able to achieve that.
Shawn: I love being in the rehearsal space and jamming a new song- that moment of holy crap that song is going to be awesome! Right after something brand new comes together is unbelievable, that excites me for sure. But live shows are also my happy place- a crowd having a blast and singing our songs back to us is definitely a new core memory for me! If I had to pick one Iโd have to say that!
12. Letโs talk about your latest release and future plans.
GROOVE VULTURES: Our latest release is Flytrap Love. This song is a love story. Its about toxic love, what happens when two people play games with each others hearts, and the back and forth of a tumultuos relationship. It explores infidelity, tit-for tat drama, and ultimately the loss of that relationship. The song leans into this messy love story with swaggering sometimes chaotic riffs, pounding drums, and a bassline that practically struts through the mix. It has infectious hooks and relentless energy that makes it impossible to sit still. We are really proud of this track!
Fly trap is the first song of what will make up our debut album over the next year or so, with the next single due to be released around June 9th so keep your ears out!!!
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