Interview: The Velvoids
Congratulations on the release of the band's incredible new single "While You Shine"; tell us about your creative process for the track, especially with 2 new bandmates added to the group, and the restrictions you were under during the CV lockdowns.
Thanks! “Shine” was done during a series of home recordings Dorah and I did shortly after those lockdowns happened in 2020, our album ‘MOTHER’ had just come out in late March of that year and we were suddenly locked indoors, it was bizarre. We eventually recorded a bunch of songs and when the lockdowns lifted, we had about 3 or 4 artists on our label looking to put out new material they’d also done during that time, so our project kind of took a back seat for a while.
In 2022 we had pretty much decided on the tracks for the new album and finished recording everything when we rediscovered “Shine” on the Tascam, it was just a keyboard melody and a guitar vamping on C, so we started messing around with it. I was also involved with the individual solo projects from both Yorgos Elàson and George Sapuntzis, which gradually turned into hanging out together more until things just clicked and we ended up playing together.
We were as restricted as anyone else during that period, it just so happened we had a couple decent microphones lying around along with a 24-track, all our gear was there, it was inevitable.
Speaking of the new bandmates, George and Yorgos, how was it decided that they would be essential additions to the 2-piece?
George (Sapuntzis) got in touch with me last year about a project he was working on, which I got involved in because it’s phenomenal, and I ended up co-producing it with him. I had known him scarcely for a few years but we got close after that, I think I just called him one day and asked if he wanted to swing by and do some guitars on the song. As a guitarist, I’m generally into the basics like finding a good rhythmic part or creating situations, I like playing around the melody while my use of pedals extends to a Fuzz Factory, a Crybaby, and my Boss tuner. George is far more well-rounded as a player and into exploring the sonic potential of a song in a totally different way, he’s got his 20-something pedals going which brings a unique tone to the band.
I’ve known Yorgos (Elàson) for 20 years, he was the guitarist with our band back in 2003 when we were starting out, such a talented musician on so many levels. We collaborated on one of his solo tracks last year during a 12-hour session in his studio, there’s a good flow when we’re creating, it took off from there.
As of now, do you expect that "While You Shine" will be featured on your upcoming album due out later this year? Also, can we expect a music video for it?
Not really, “Shine” wasn’t intended on being on the album, those songs are pretty different in vibe and feel, but yea, we could potentially do a video for it, everybody’s into it.
What can you tell us about the album thus far? How many songs have been completed and do you have a working title yet?
We did 15 songs on those home recordings but we’re putting out about 8. (Laughs) yea I’ve had a working title for it from the start but no one else in the band likes it.
The new stuff is pretty much a continuation of what we’ve been doing, maybe stripped down more, sonically, considering the circumstances they were recorded in. We’re also tweaking a few things with George and Yorgos aboard now.
How do you go about sequencing your albums? Using "Mother" as an example, why did you decide to place "Let It Breathe" as the first song, followed by "Annah", and end the tracklist with "Psycho Death Poem"?
We'll usually put out the songs in the order that we record them in, we've gotten used to it and probably prefer it. We tend to write most of the material while we're tracking it so the sequence plays a role in all that.
On ‘Mother’, we just took on those songs in that particular order. ‘Psycho Death Poem’ was a track I surprised Dorah with because I wrote it for her, that’s why it’s last.
Listen to Mother on: Spotify