Danny Chavis of The Veldt | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: I had another great song from the VELT that is

0:02 Speaker 1: angel Heart. Let's see if we've got uh, I think

0:04 Speaker 1: we've got Danny on the line with us. Danny, are

0:06 Speaker 1: you there?

0:07 Speaker 2: Yeah? Hey? How you doing? Man?

0:08 Speaker 1: Hey? Good?

0:09 Speaker 2: Good? Yeah?

0:09 Speaker 1: Sorry about I don't know what was happening. It was

0:11 Speaker 1: like we were trying to connect with you before and

0:12 Speaker 1: the line kept dropping. But so I'm relieved that we

0:15 Speaker 1: get to talk to you because I, I really i'd

0:17 Speaker 1: never really listened to much of the Velt, and I've

0:19 Speaker 1: been listening to your music and I really love it,

0:22 Speaker 1: especially the new single black Girl. And but you guys

0:25 Speaker 1: have been You guys have been around a long time.

0:31 Speaker 2: Today will mark the sixtieth year.

0:33 Speaker 1: Man, you know, Oh my god, that's that's incredible. So

0:37 Speaker 1: you guys, so now now you and your your brother Daniel,

0:40 Speaker 1: you guys are twins. Is that correct?

0:43 Speaker 2: Yeah?

0:44 Speaker 1: So you're you're your parents actually chose to name you

0:48 Speaker 1: Danny and Daniel.

0:50 Speaker 2: Well, my os name, my OZ name is you know,

0:55 Speaker 2: you know, I still think that it's a different name.

0:59 Speaker 2: But I've been, you know, conditioned to be their way

1:01 Speaker 2: since since birth. Oh, I got you, Sam, it's if

1:05 Speaker 2: he's he's Christopher and Cornel middle names.

1:08 Speaker 1: Oh interesting, Okay, I mean because when I realized when

1:11 Speaker 1: I was reading about you guys, I was trying to

1:12 Speaker 1: figure out, now, who, uh who would do that to

1:15 Speaker 1: their to their twins side.

1:17 Speaker 2: No, No, we've been getting a lot, I can imagine.

1:22 Speaker 1: No, it's cool though. So now, so you guys when

1:25 Speaker 1: you when you released the new single which we did

1:30 Speaker 1: uh feature at the top of the show, Black Girl,

1:32 Speaker 1: is this is this like the first song after after

1:35 Speaker 1: how many years? Because again, you guys have have been

1:37 Speaker 1: around for that, as you said, a very very long time,

1:40 Speaker 1: longer than I realized. But has it been a while?

1:43 Speaker 2: I mean when I say sixty, we just turned sixty today, gotcha?

1:46 Speaker 1: Okay? So you so literally you guys, but you probably

1:49 Speaker 1: started making music at a very young age.

1:51 Speaker 2: I would imagine in nineteen eighty six, eighty five or

1:54 Speaker 2: something like that.

1:55 Speaker 1: Okay.

1:57 Speaker 2: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and we you know, the Trio

2:01 Speaker 2: area was a was a was a good place for

2:03 Speaker 2: like hardcore music and punk rock. And they had a

2:06 Speaker 2: little scene over here. In our first show was with

2:08 Speaker 2: the band called Cursonal Conformity. You know, we had uh

2:13 Speaker 2: it's like a kid's matinee. Synk like that. I mean,

2:16 Speaker 2: you know, but didn't really do that anymore, like you

2:18 Speaker 2: know that that we know kind of kind of thing.

2:19 Speaker 2: But we came from that kind of the kind of

2:22 Speaker 2: the kind of you know scene back in the day

2:25 Speaker 2: opening for a cursonal conformity, like I said, so, oh wow,

2:28 Speaker 2: and we just didn't know and we didn't get the

2:30 Speaker 2: memo there was time to stop.

2:31 Speaker 1: So no, I'm glad you're still going now. When was so,

2:35 Speaker 1: when was the last time you released something? Prior to

2:37 Speaker 1: Black Girl.

2:39 Speaker 2: We released something on this label called Little Cloud called

2:43 Speaker 2: Entropy is the main Line to God, which we did

2:47 Speaker 2: during the you know, during the pandemic and whatnot. And

2:50 Speaker 2: it was a bunch of something that we had been

2:52 Speaker 2: writing during that time. So that was like the latest

2:55 Speaker 2: thing that we did. And but before that, we released

2:58 Speaker 2: something called Shocking as an Electric Fur, which came out

3:02 Speaker 2: like twenty I think twenty fourteen something like that. Okay

3:05 Speaker 2: me sixteen, you know, right before I toured the bran

3:08 Speaker 2: Jonestown Massacre.

3:09 Speaker 1: Oh wow, okay, okay, excellent, So can you can you

3:12 Speaker 1: talk about the song? And again we'll play it at

3:14 Speaker 1: the end of our conversation for anyone who missed it.

3:16 Speaker 1: I really like it. It's very I mean, uh, the

3:18 Speaker 1: first word this might sound cliche, but the first word

3:20 Speaker 1: that comes to my mind is atmospheric. But oh yeah,

3:25 Speaker 1: but can you tell us about the song and it's

3:27 Speaker 1: connection to does is it connected to the nineteen seventy

3:30 Speaker 1: two film Black Girl, if I understand.

3:32 Speaker 2: Correctly, yes, exactly, Yes, yes it is. Yeah. It was like,

3:36 Speaker 2: you know, we said, seen it back in the day,

3:38 Speaker 2: you know, and we thought, you know, what would be

3:41 Speaker 2: a good idea to have a kind of like a

3:43 Speaker 2: talk to a Twins kind of sounding soul song like

3:45 Speaker 2: that in which we kind of like, you know, you know,

3:50 Speaker 2: like that kind of vibe, you know, like some of

3:51 Speaker 2: these sounds and things like that we get from what

3:54 Speaker 2: we used to call the Quiet Storm on black radio,

3:57 Speaker 2: you know, kind of like it was the R and

3:59 Speaker 2: B moment and it was always on late night, like

4:02 Speaker 2: most of the black college stations play stuff like that,

4:04 Speaker 2: you know, Anita Baker, Luther Vandross and their theme was

4:09 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Quiet Storm. And then so we heard

4:13 Speaker 2: the song black Girl, and we thought it might be good,

4:14 Speaker 2: a good way to h you know, you know that

4:17 Speaker 2: kind of like replicate that kind of sound, you know,

4:20 Speaker 2: like kind of more like like a so called shoegaz sound,

4:23 Speaker 2: you know. And I say shoegates because the term came

4:26 Speaker 2: out a long time ago, before it was called you know, alternative, alternative,

4:32 Speaker 2: something like that, you know, space rock or you want

4:34 Speaker 2: to call it. But the term shoegaze, I put it

4:37 Speaker 2: lightly because I mean, you know, because everything shoegaates now,

4:40 Speaker 2: so you know, but a long time ago, you can

4:42 Speaker 2: even you can give it away. But yet the song,

4:46 Speaker 2: it's a screenplay by Ozzie Davis about a young black

4:50 Speaker 2: girl whose cousin comes home from from college and she's

4:55 Speaker 2: up against you know, the neighbor the neighborhood hood, telling

4:58 Speaker 2: her that she can't do what you want to do.

5:00 Speaker 2: And and it's kind of like effective about how we came

5:03 Speaker 2: up kind of like you know, you know, you grew

5:06 Speaker 2: up in a black neighborhood. You tell people you're playing music,

5:08 Speaker 2: they're like, you need to get a real job, so

5:09 Speaker 2: and so and so, and you're never going to make it,

5:11 Speaker 2: you know. So it's about a young girl who wants

5:13 Speaker 2: to go to college and be a ballerina, and you know,

5:17 Speaker 2: our peers don't really believe in it. But It's just

5:19 Speaker 2: another example of how you have to keep trying to

5:21 Speaker 2: you know, keep going, you know, despite your environment. You know.

5:26 Speaker 2: But yeah, man, we made it kind of in atereal

5:29 Speaker 2: kind of song.

5:30 Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, no, I really like it. Yeah, yeah, no,

5:33 Speaker 1: it's it's really good. And it's interesting too because you

5:37 Speaker 1: mentioned being inspired by, you know, some of what you

5:40 Speaker 1: would hear on college radio, and that that really popped

5:42 Speaker 1: out to me because I'm a big Anyone who knows

5:45 Speaker 1: me knows I'm a big uh purveyor and fan of

5:48 Speaker 1: college radio. And you hear things on college radio that

5:51 Speaker 1: you don't hear in the mainstream. And I find that

5:53 Speaker 1: a lot of you know, a lot a lot of

5:55 Speaker 1: bands that or solo artists who have a sound that

5:59 Speaker 1: is unusual that you don't typically hear in commercial radio.

6:03 Speaker 1: It's it's very often a product of that person being inspired,

6:07 Speaker 1: you know, from a young age by what they would

6:08 Speaker 1: hear on college radio.

6:11 Speaker 2: Oh, Coprid has been been supportive. So that's back in

6:14 Speaker 2: the day too, man like, which was really cool because no,

6:17 Speaker 2: no more on else wild play our stuff or either

6:19 Speaker 2: like even acknowledge or even existed, man, you know, yeah,

6:21 Speaker 2: the gatekeepers, the racial stuff, man, It's like there was

6:25 Speaker 2: always a big part of like, you know, why we

6:27 Speaker 2: haven't been out because you know, we've been into so

6:29 Speaker 2: many obstacles. But that didn't really stop us though, because

6:32 Speaker 2: we always thought that the music would prevail, and ironically

6:35 Speaker 2: it did prevail. So you know, despite you know, all

6:38 Speaker 2: the racial stuff and whatnot, you know, absolutely we just

6:42 Speaker 2: came off the two of the comedians and there's a

6:46 Speaker 2: lot of love idea. Man in the United States. I

6:48 Speaker 2: think that the press and the media kind of ruins

6:53 Speaker 2: the idea about how America is, like, you know, a

6:56 Speaker 2: hateful place to be. But you know, I can't really

6:59 Speaker 2: say that because we got so much respect and love

7:01 Speaker 2: from people in the in the crowds when we came

7:03 Speaker 2: to play with Communions. You know, they people who love

7:06 Speaker 2: the Cocktail Twins and love the so called Shoegaates band

7:09 Speaker 2: like slow Dive, my Buddy Round Time.

7:11 Speaker 1: You know.

7:11 Speaker 2: You know, we were all around at the same time.

7:13 Speaker 2: You know, people always ask me, are you influenced by

7:16 Speaker 2: these bands that I have to have to say no,

7:17 Speaker 2: because they came out at the same time as we did.

7:20 Speaker 1: They're your peers.

7:22 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, it's kind of hard to

7:23 Speaker 2: say you're influenced by somebody when you were out at

7:26 Speaker 2: the same time, but I've influenced them. I'm influenced by

7:28 Speaker 2: them and the fact that you know, we're like the

7:30 Speaker 2: same music or whatever else, you know, but we definitely

7:32 Speaker 2: come from different kind of backgrounds, right, So, uh, but

7:36 Speaker 2: I can appreciate any any band. I think anybody that

7:39 Speaker 2: plays music, you know, has to have an audience, no

7:41 Speaker 2: matter what kind of music you do. So I've never

7:44 Speaker 2: really prejudiced that kind of stuff like that, you know,

7:46 Speaker 2: especially coming back from our background, you know, like you know,

7:49 Speaker 2: being in church and soul music and stuff like that.

7:52 Speaker 2: You know.

7:52 Speaker 1: Absolutely, I'm really curious to would ask you about this

7:55 Speaker 1: this ep? Uh tell me if I'm saying this right

7:58 Speaker 1: span of Copada? Yeah, okay, cool.

8:03 Speaker 2: It's a it's a spinach and cheese kind of kind

8:09 Speaker 2: of food.

8:10 Speaker 1: Gotcha, gotcha?

8:11 Speaker 2: Okay, it's it's it's a playoff of slow Dog Flue

8:16 Speaker 2: rocky space station kind of thing.

8:17 Speaker 1: Oh, okay, gotcha? Gotcha. Now, So this was a tour exclusive,

8:21 Speaker 1: is that correct? You can only get this at your

8:22 Speaker 1: live shows.

8:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we wanted to do it like it

8:26 Speaker 2: because we have the record coming out in September called

8:30 Speaker 2: White Noise Supremacy, okay, and we're going to have like

8:33 Speaker 2: some of the tracks from this EP on that, so

8:37 Speaker 2: we kind of wanted to make you know, I think

8:39 Speaker 2: it might put it off for sale online at some point,

8:41 Speaker 2: you know. But other than that, we we've been working

8:44 Speaker 2: on a new a new, a new record for that.

8:46 Speaker 2: But uh, yeah, it's a tour only kind of CD.

8:49 Speaker 1: I like that concept because it kind of because it

8:51 Speaker 1: has tracks from the next record. You're kind of giving

8:54 Speaker 1: the you know, the fans who obviously are true are

8:57 Speaker 1: invested enough in what you're doing, you know that they're

8:59 Speaker 1: going to come in see you live. Those are the

9:01 Speaker 1: fans that you want to give kind of a sneak

9:03 Speaker 1: peak of what because those are the real diehards, right,

9:05 Speaker 1: those are the ones that you want to give them

9:06 Speaker 1: a sneak peak of what's to come. Yeah, that's a

9:08 Speaker 1: great concept.

9:09 Speaker 2: Definitely, man. And to my surprise, they really are out there, man.

9:13 Speaker 2: I mean yeah, I have to reiterate that. Man. There's

9:16 Speaker 2: so much great people out there, man, and it's like

9:18 Speaker 2: really good to see them come and enjoy what you do.

9:21 Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. It's like it always any

9:27 Speaker 2: kind of monetary feeling that I've ever had, you know,

9:29 Speaker 2: because at the end of the day, you know, it's like,

9:31 Speaker 2: you know, people come on andy like your music. It's

9:33 Speaker 2: like leaving with a million dollars, you know what I

9:35 Speaker 2: mean the money. Don't get me wrong, money would help,

9:37 Speaker 2: But I'm just saying as far as their appreciation is concerned,

9:40 Speaker 2: is like really eye opening things. And also the age

9:43 Speaker 2: of the people, like they're like really young man, you know,

9:46 Speaker 2: They're like they're lacking this stuff, and I'm like, man,

9:48 Speaker 2: I wish you got go around a long time ago,

9:50 Speaker 2: you know.

9:51 Speaker 1: Right right. I'm curious who to ask you about some

9:53 Speaker 1: of the collaboration on the EP. I've seen some names,

9:57 Speaker 1: Carlos Bass, Will Brooks, yeah, Jason.

10:01 Speaker 2: Brooks, Yeah. Well, Will Brooks is a guy named it's

10:04 Speaker 2: called Delic. He's like that kind of alternative kind of

10:09 Speaker 2: hip hop kind of EMC. You know. He us he

10:12 Speaker 2: used a static and feedback and stuff like that in

10:16 Speaker 2: his raps, like you know, and his and his programming.

10:19 Speaker 2: And we always thought that, like you know, from Robin

10:23 Speaker 2: Guthrie playing on this song called Lorelei that he had

10:28 Speaker 2: a you know, the beat was in it and the

10:29 Speaker 2: guitars in it, so this so will does it already.

10:32 Speaker 2: He also noted that that element of a distortion and

10:37 Speaker 2: feedback was was always in hip hop some way, like say,

10:41 Speaker 2: for example, or being Rakeem's lyrics for Fury. It's like

10:44 Speaker 2: like a bunch of static and feedback in the background,

10:47 Speaker 2: and you're thinking to yourself, Man, that was louder, it

10:49 Speaker 2: would be kind of hot, right, So he took our

10:52 Speaker 2: stuff and made it more like that, you know, And

10:56 Speaker 2: that's what that came out like with a song called Evergreen.

10:58 Speaker 2: And then Jason f uh and College Best worked on

11:02 Speaker 2: the track that we did called Tikini. Jason Furlough used

11:05 Speaker 2: to be in this band called a New Kingdom. Oh,

11:08 Speaker 2: and he's in the band now called uh what is

11:11 Speaker 2: what is it called Daniel? Uh? Hold on? Hold on?

11:15 Speaker 2: Let me look wave generators?

11:20 Speaker 1: Gotcha gotchah okay okay?

11:22 Speaker 2: And he didn't wave generators And he did that uh

11:26 Speaker 2: production on that with College Best colas Best is. He

11:30 Speaker 2: he's one of the engineers for Wu Tang Clan. And

11:33 Speaker 2: I was doing some session where for Wu Tang back

11:36 Speaker 2: in the day, and I played on like like a

11:40 Speaker 2: couple of tracks that ghost Face did Face Killer. Yeah,

11:43 Speaker 2: this song called Challo. She can't really hear the guitar

11:45 Speaker 2: in it, but it's I played like a little background,

11:48 Speaker 2: good background in it. Yeah, of the thirty six Chambers

11:51 Speaker 2: studio of Wu Tang Studio back in the day, okay.

11:54 Speaker 2: And and uh this guy named spin Forth for a

11:58 Speaker 2: band called jack Fu Front. He made the track for

12:01 Speaker 2: black Girl Gotcha. And so we've been keeping kind of

12:05 Speaker 2: close to that kind of feeling, you know. But we

12:08 Speaker 2: also have a couple of tracks coming up from uh

12:12 Speaker 2: the guys that produced in the latest Communions records, Christophe

12:16 Speaker 2: By you know more or Lesse of a band kind

12:19 Speaker 2: of sound okay, and Todd Dema from the Communions plays

12:25 Speaker 2: drums on some of those things. We don't really have

12:27 Speaker 2: a drum at this point.

12:28 Speaker 1: We use a lot of programming, right, right, Is that

12:32 Speaker 1: Hyato nkos am I saying that correctly? Does he does?

12:36 Speaker 2: He do the high back does most of the programming

12:40 Speaker 2: for US band. He plays bass and he plays guitar

12:43 Speaker 2: on a lot of stuff. But he's he's the guy

12:46 Speaker 2: that works on most of the stuff with whether US

12:48 Speaker 2: right rights where it's too But the EP always starts

12:52 Speaker 2: off with production stuff with him.

12:54 Speaker 1: For so oh, okay, okay. Is it important to you

12:57 Speaker 1: guys to work with a lot of different people? You know,

12:59 Speaker 1: because over the years, obviously again, you know, you've been

13:02 Speaker 1: around a long time. You know, it sounds like you've

13:04 Speaker 1: you've worked with quite a few You've collaborated with quite

13:06 Speaker 1: a few different people over the years. And I would imagine,

13:08 Speaker 1: you know, everyone you work with brings in their own

13:10 Speaker 1: ideas and their own influence. And I assume because because

13:13 Speaker 1: I went back and listened to you know, there's a

13:15 Speaker 1: lot of a lot of your stuff is on band

13:17 Speaker 1: camp and I was going back and listening to a

13:19 Speaker 1: lot of it, and it really runs the gamut in

13:22 Speaker 1: terms of you know, you call it shoegaze, but there's

13:24 Speaker 1: a lot of you hear a lot of other influences

13:26 Speaker 1: in these different songs that some of them are very

13:29 Speaker 1: different than everything else. So it sounds like you've really worked.

13:33 Speaker 2: With a lot of different people. Well, I liked a

13:36 Speaker 2: lot of stuff that we're doing now because back in

13:38 Speaker 2: the day, we will always kind of like told what

13:40 Speaker 2: not to do kind of thing.

13:41 Speaker 1: Gotcha, Like, you know, this.

13:42 Speaker 2: Whole concept of working with DJs isn't a new idea.

13:45 Speaker 2: But even when we were on in nineteen eighty nine,

13:49 Speaker 2: eighty eight. We always wanted to work with DJ because

13:51 Speaker 2: you know, the beats and things were always natural natural

13:54 Speaker 2: to us. But yeah, they will always say too many,

13:56 Speaker 2: too many styles, and no one's gonna like it, you know,

13:58 Speaker 2: all this kind of stuff like that. Man. You know,

14:00 Speaker 2: I feel we feel a little bit more liberated these

14:02 Speaker 2: days than we did back game because working in a

14:04 Speaker 2: band kind of like format like bass, drums, guitar and

14:07 Speaker 2: going in into a place and running together, it's not

14:08 Speaker 2: the way we do things anymore so, right right, the

14:11 Speaker 2: production value is more or less what we do now

14:14 Speaker 2: that we're like, you know it kind of like we're

14:15 Speaker 2: Massive Attack. You know. I played guitar on Master Attacks

14:19 Speaker 2: four hundred window. Yeah, my friend Liz Fraser from the

14:23 Speaker 2: Cocktai Twins got me that job. So I played some

14:27 Speaker 2: incidental guitars on that on that record, and they worked

14:30 Speaker 2: the same way with the engineer. So if you have

14:33 Speaker 2: a great engineer, you have some ideas together, you can

14:35 Speaker 2: come up with a lot of stuff such as the

14:37 Speaker 2: way like you know Lincoln Fong did with Robin. He's

14:40 Speaker 2: his main sound guy and studio person. Lincoln Vong was

14:45 Speaker 2: the one that did all the production for all the

14:48 Speaker 2: four A D bands, Gang Press to Lush to the

14:51 Speaker 2: Cocktai Twins Live Sound.

14:53 Speaker 1: Oh wow, oh okay, yeah, excellent.

14:55 Speaker 2: He didn't did all that stuff Pale Saints and you know,

14:58 Speaker 2: he did all the all the production work on that,

15:00 Speaker 2: you know, for four AD back in the day.

15:02 Speaker 1: Okay.

15:03 Speaker 2: So we had a little bit of that in US too,

15:06 Speaker 2: you know, as far as sound and music is concerned,

15:08 Speaker 2: you know, because that's where you know, our roots come

15:11 Speaker 2: play through from that. Yeah, you haven't recorded, haven't haven't

15:14 Speaker 2: recorded with Robin Guthrie at that time?

15:16 Speaker 1: Oh okay, okay. Now the new album, So when is it?

15:19 Speaker 1: Do you have an e t A on when it's

15:20 Speaker 1: going to be out?

15:22 Speaker 2: September?

15:23 Speaker 1: September? Okay? Excellent? Excellent? Yeah, yeah, how many how many

15:28 Speaker 1: songs are gonna be on it? Or do you know

15:29 Speaker 1: that yet? I mean, is it all done at this

15:31 Speaker 1: point or is it ready to go?

15:32 Speaker 2: Is it? We got we got a couple of there's

15:38 Speaker 2: so much, so many songs we have, man, we have

15:39 Speaker 2: we have like at least four or five records are

15:41 Speaker 2: in US. You know, even more than that, songs that

15:44 Speaker 2: we got that we never did really uh put out.

15:47 Speaker 2: And also the new stuff is just like you know,

15:50 Speaker 2: just developing as we go, you know, but we don't

15:53 Speaker 2: always have the the the capacity to to get it

15:58 Speaker 2: out right now financially. But were working with a small

16:01 Speaker 2: label called Little Cloud, okay, and help us get you know,

16:03 Speaker 2: put out a few things here.

16:04 Speaker 1: And there, so you know, oh, excellent, excellent.

16:07 Speaker 2: So yeah, we got a lot of songs, a lot

16:08 Speaker 2: of songs, a lot of stuff.

16:10 Speaker 1: I'm curious to ask you about this too, So a

16:12 Speaker 1: little geography question. So you guys are in you're currently

16:16 Speaker 1: in North Carolina? Correct?

16:18 Speaker 2: What between New York and in North Carolina? My mom

16:22 Speaker 2: lives in North Carolina. Okay, she's she's getting up in

16:25 Speaker 2: age and whatnot, and so I'm here to I go

16:27 Speaker 2: back and forth to New York because I have to

16:28 Speaker 2: watch her sometimes.

16:29 Speaker 1: Oh okay, that's what I was curious about, Yeah, because

16:31 Speaker 1: I kept seeing North Carolina show up when I was

16:33 Speaker 1: reading about you Guysville. Okay, well that's that's a nice area.

16:38 Speaker 1: I've I've been through there. That's that's a nice place.

16:40 Speaker 1: But but obviously, uh, you know, I assume so you

16:45 Speaker 1: must be spending a lot of time in New York,

16:46 Speaker 1: like you said, though, right.

16:49 Speaker 2: I'm not really I mean I do. I mean I'm

16:51 Speaker 2: going next week because my my apartment's there. Yeah, I

16:54 Speaker 2: stay a part time with my brother sometimes. The studios here,

16:59 Speaker 2: our little student was here in his apartment, so you know, yeah, yeah,

17:03 Speaker 2: we did most of the production. Yeah, it's ironic that

17:05 Speaker 2: after the pandemic we started to get really really busy,

17:08 Speaker 2: you know a little bit. Even like before that, we

17:12 Speaker 2: were on like I said, to what the Brian Jonestown Massacre,

17:14 Speaker 2: Modern English, and we did a couple of other spot

17:16 Speaker 2: dates here and there, and that was really a good

17:20 Speaker 2: experience for us. And then after the pandemic, people were

17:23 Speaker 2: hundred for music and being out and we were really

17:25 Speaker 2: really busy man.

17:26 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you know yeah, yeah, so that's great.

17:29 Speaker 2: Well we can't really I can't really complain, but I

17:33 Speaker 2: mean other you know, but it's been it's been nice man.

17:36 Speaker 2: You know, it's nice to play music as well, like

17:39 Speaker 2: to do you know.

17:40 Speaker 1: Absolutely by the way too, for people who aren't familiar

17:42 Speaker 1: and I'm learning a lot about you guys, but for

17:44 Speaker 1: people who aren't familiar with the VELT, I was looking

17:47 Speaker 1: at this, you guys are afrodisiac is included in pitchforks

17:54 Speaker 1: list of one of the top fifty shoegaze albums ever released.

17:58 Speaker 1: That's pretty cool.

17:59 Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, I didn't know that.

18:02 Speaker 3: Yep, yep, yeah yeah, Pitchure, Yeah yeah, Pitchfork. Yeah, one

18:06 Speaker 3: of the top one of the top fifty two guys albums.

18:08 Speaker 3: That's that's amazing. And then can you tell me about too,

18:11 Speaker 3: because I was listening to this on band camp. Uh,

18:14 Speaker 3: the album Illuminated nineteen eighty nine.

18:16 Speaker 1: Is this all? Is this old songs that were remastered?

18:19 Speaker 2: Or oh man, it's a really old record that we

18:22 Speaker 2: did with Robin Geoffrey that was never released. Okay, we

18:26 Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty nine we went to England to with

18:29 Speaker 2: the Cocktow Twins and that record was shelved by Capitol

18:34 Speaker 2: and we had been trying to get it out since

18:36 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty nine. Wow, trying to get it out and

18:38 Speaker 2: get it out and get it out, man, And we

18:40 Speaker 2: went into so many walls. We just said, you know what,

18:43 Speaker 2: let's just put it out. You know, any kind of

18:45 Speaker 2: press we get from anybody else's will be amazing. Look,

18:48 Speaker 2: I can see the headline now Black Band takes record

18:52 Speaker 2: back for record company. I mean, I don't make a

18:53 Speaker 2: good headline, you know, like fuel, Like when is there

18:57 Speaker 2: any black musician taking anything from anybody? You know?

19:00 Speaker 1: Well, you know it's interesting too us. What a lot

19:02 Speaker 1: of people don't know is because people outside of the

19:04 Speaker 1: industry think that, oh, you get signed to a record

19:06 Speaker 1: label and everything's great and uh, you know, and now

19:09 Speaker 1: you're going to be rich and famous and all that.

19:11 Speaker 1: But there's there are pitfalls, and one of them is

19:13 Speaker 1: they can just decide, you know, you could record an

19:16 Speaker 1: entire album and they could just decide not to release it.

19:19 Speaker 1: And then you've got to you've got to go through

19:22 Speaker 1: and and like you said, you know, to finally get

19:24 Speaker 1: it out. That's a big hassle. And it took many,

19:27 Speaker 1: many years.

19:30 Speaker 2: It took so many years.

19:31 Speaker 1: Man.

19:31 Speaker 2: Somebody was always pregnant, or somebody who's own vacation, or

19:34 Speaker 2: somebody went to know the job and just said, you

19:36 Speaker 2: know what, you know, they don't come back to me.

19:40 Speaker 2: I don't I don't have anything anyway. It's a parent.

19:42 Speaker 2: It's a parent. I don't have anything because I'm doing this,

19:46 Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. So put the music. God

19:48 Speaker 2: damn man, you know, and that's all we did the masters,

19:51 Speaker 2: Robert Getta give was the masters to do it, okay,

19:54 Speaker 2: and we made it, you know, eliminated like nine because

19:58 Speaker 2: it says the standpoint, which when that music came out,

20:02 Speaker 2: that we really were dead. We threw with to talk

20:04 Speaker 2: to the Twins, we threw up with the Jews and

20:05 Speaker 2: Mary Chain. We're open up for like you know, a

20:08 Speaker 2: lush you know, the Saints, throwing muses. You know, we

20:13 Speaker 2: did all these things, man, you know, but because people

20:16 Speaker 2: are so hung up on what color we are, some

20:18 Speaker 2: of that does not even come out because it's really

20:20 Speaker 2: people are really really stupid and ignorant, you know, And

20:23 Speaker 2: we just had to ignore all that because the music

20:25 Speaker 2: I felt at the time was actually timeless, because I

20:28 Speaker 2: felt like that it was just beginning to get going.

20:31 Speaker 2: For example, when we took with Seafield, that was really

20:35 Speaker 2: a good exposure because they've been there like with us,

20:38 Speaker 2: like us, you know what I'm saying, you know, the music,

20:40 Speaker 2: I said, the test of time, you know, and we

20:42 Speaker 2: and I felt that that we were the music of

20:44 Speaker 2: the future, so to speak, right, because I think the

20:46 Speaker 2: music had like that kind of vibe and passion that

20:50 Speaker 2: was beginning to develop more like you know electronically, so

20:53 Speaker 2: you know, but since we are who we are, no one,

20:56 Speaker 2: no one took us seriously, you know what I'm saying.

20:58 Speaker 2: It's like, you know, when people's see me now, they're like,

21:01 Speaker 2: oh man, you guys are really living in your dream,

21:02 Speaker 2: so and so and so. And I'm like, what I

21:05 Speaker 2: was gonna do when I was when I was, when

21:06 Speaker 2: I was at the bar and I told you I'm

21:08 Speaker 2: a musician. You think was joking with.

21:09 Speaker 1: You, right, right exactly.

21:11 Speaker 2: It's like me telling you, like, hey, man, I was like,

21:13 Speaker 2: you know, you know, I used to be ashamed of

21:15 Speaker 2: what I did, man, because of the connotations of being

21:19 Speaker 2: a poor musician, not only that a black one. Dad,

21:21 Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. So it's not really the

21:23 Speaker 2: easiest lifestyle, so to speak. I mean, you lose people

21:28 Speaker 2: along the way because they don't see what you want

21:30 Speaker 2: to do that you can't live, make them live your

21:32 Speaker 2: dream for you, because not everybody's really built for that

21:34 Speaker 2: kind of thing, you know. But in the interim, now

21:37 Speaker 2: everything is all the shoegaze. Now, someone someone some some

21:39 Speaker 2: people acknowledges, some people don't. You know what I'm saying, right,

21:43 Speaker 2: I mean, you know, but I can say if I

21:45 Speaker 2: was in a room with some people, Okay, you're not

21:47 Speaker 2: a real shoegaze band, I said, I raised my hand

21:49 Speaker 2: and say, who are here too? The Cocka Twins raise

21:51 Speaker 2: your hand and I loved be like, okay, I rest

21:53 Speaker 2: my case. You know what I'm saying. I have to

21:55 Speaker 2: go to that kind of thing. Like, for example, if

21:59 Speaker 2: the jez A Merchant did a remix for us sold

22:03 Speaker 2: in the Jar back in nineteen ninety five, and I

22:07 Speaker 2: want to go see them. And actually I did an

22:08 Speaker 2: interview with Brooklyn Vegan saying that we would like to

22:12 Speaker 2: play with him again in the future because they were

22:14 Speaker 2: obviously about to come back out to do something right. Yeah,

22:17 Speaker 2: So then the them president manager went on. He went

22:21 Speaker 2: on the Brooklyn Vegan and said, well, you guys are aligned.

22:25 Speaker 2: They don't you know, they don't you attempt at get

22:28 Speaker 2: me some some kind of publicity is going to be

22:31 Speaker 2: You're want to fail. And I said, here's the remix

22:36 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety four was the drug Store mix and he

22:38 Speaker 2: and he was like, they don't remember you. I said,

22:41 Speaker 2: they don't remember me. I'm like, how many black people

22:44 Speaker 2: had to play with? You know? I had to say

22:48 Speaker 2: something like that you know what I'm saying, and then

22:50 Speaker 2: he shut the f up, you know, like that, man,

22:53 Speaker 2: it's just you.

22:54 Speaker 1: Know, man, you know, well very good. Yeah, No, I

22:58 Speaker 1: like I said, I mean, I've learned a lot about

22:59 Speaker 1: you guys, just just as I was prepping for the show,

23:02 Speaker 1: and I I really, I really like what you're doing.

23:04 Speaker 1: Really good stuff.

23:05 Speaker 2: And man, thanks. You know, it's like kind of like

23:08 Speaker 2: Arthur Lee and love.

23:09 Speaker 1: Kind of you know, and you know, music kind of

23:12 Speaker 1: one of the great things about music is it transcends everything,

23:14 Speaker 1: you know, color and class and and all of it.

23:17 Speaker 1: And I think I've seen it absolutely.

23:20 Speaker 2: I've seen it, man, I've seen.

23:21 Speaker 1: It absolutely, one hundred percent.

23:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, just two of the comunions. Man, I saw it.

23:28 Speaker 2: I saw it work, you know what I'm saying. That's

23:30 Speaker 2: why I want to keep doing it, because I saw

23:33 Speaker 2: how it touches people, you know what I'm saying. You know,

23:36 Speaker 2: I don't mean to sound cheesy anything like that, but

23:38 Speaker 2: it supersedes anything and any criticism because I visually saw

23:43 Speaker 2: how our music moves people and how people like like

23:46 Speaker 2: like it, you know what I'm saying, and how you know,

23:51 Speaker 2: there's no word for how beautiful it is. You know

23:53 Speaker 2: what I'm saying, right and the guy from the Comedians Rox,

23:56 Speaker 2: he's one of the biggest supporters. Man, God bless us soul.

23:59 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, oh that's that's excellent. Now the tour, Now

24:02 Speaker 1: that tour is completed.

24:03 Speaker 2: Correct, yes, yes, two weeks ago.

24:06 Speaker 1: Okay, And do you have plans to go back out

24:08 Speaker 1: on the road or are you kind of focused on

24:09 Speaker 1: the uh on the album right now.

24:12 Speaker 2: And we're focused on the album right now, and there

24:15 Speaker 2: might be like a UK two or something like that.

24:17 Speaker 1: Oh interesting here and there okay, okay, very cool, very cool. Well, Danny,

24:22 Speaker 1: this has been wonderful. This has been wonderful. I'm really

24:24 Speaker 1: glad you're able to join us this morning. And I'm

24:26 Speaker 1: glad we got the phone, we got the phone situation

24:28 Speaker 1: figured out and everything, and we are going to play

24:30 Speaker 1: at the at the end of our conversation, I'm going

24:31 Speaker 1: to hit that track again, black Girl, for anyone who

24:34 Speaker 1: missed it. Really really good. Of course, brand new from

24:36 Speaker 1: the brand new from the Velt. People can find it

24:38 Speaker 1: on band camp. And by the way, I'm a big

24:40 Speaker 1: I'm glad you guys have everything on band camp. I'm

24:42 Speaker 1: a big uh, I'm a big fan of band Camp

24:44 Speaker 1: because what a lot of people don't realize is if

24:47 Speaker 1: you stream something on band Camp, or better yet, if

24:49 Speaker 1: you buy the music and download it from band Camp,

24:51 Speaker 1: you get a better quality file than you do from, say,

24:54 Speaker 1: if you just stream it on YouTube or something like that.

24:56 Speaker 1: So so I really, I really encourage people to use

24:59 Speaker 1: band Camp. And you know, the way they pay the

25:00 Speaker 1: artist is fair and everything. It's better than you know,

25:02 Speaker 1: better to use band Camp than something like Spotify. Nothing

25:05 Speaker 1: against it, but but band camp is a way to go.

25:08 Speaker 1: So I'm glad you guys are on there, and and

25:10 Speaker 1: I encourage everyone to check you out there.

25:13 Speaker 2: It's really great because I I gotta check for six

25:15 Speaker 2: gig books from Spotify, so right, you know, but we

25:22 Speaker 2: appreciate the support, man, we really do. So if you

25:24 Speaker 2: ever need anything like just let us know.

25:25 Speaker 1: We'll we'll send it to you absolutely absolutely all right,

25:28 Speaker 1: Danny from the Velt, thank you so much, my friend,

25:30 Speaker 1: and I'm sure we'll talk. We'll talk again when the

25:32 Speaker 1: when it's signed for the album to come out. We'll

25:34 Speaker 1: definitely have you back on no doubt.

25:36 Speaker 2: Man, Please come me.

25:37 Speaker 1: All right, you got it, brother, all right, take care,

25:38 Speaker 1: thanks man, bye bye? All right, that was Danny from

25:43 Speaker 1: the VELT. And we're gonna play this again. Uh if

25:45 Speaker 1: you miss it at the top of the show. Uh,

25:47 Speaker 1: this is called brand New from the Velt.

25:49 Speaker 2: Oh.

25:49 Speaker 1: And I should tell people too, for anyone who's looking

25:51 Speaker 1: up the VELT if you have any trouble finding because

25:54 Speaker 1: the way that the Velt is spelled, I should have

25:56 Speaker 1: asked him where the name comes from. Uh totally.

25:58 Speaker 2: Uh.

25:58 Speaker 1: I didn't think of it. But h v v dt

26:01 Speaker 1: that is how you spell the Velt ve e l dt.

26:05 Speaker 1: And this is called Black Girl. This is inspired by

26:08 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventy two film of the same name. But

26:11 Speaker 1: this is really, like I said, atmospheric is the word

26:15 Speaker 1: that I would use to describe this. As cliche as

26:17 Speaker 1: that might sound, but it's interesting. You can kind of

26:20 Speaker 1: just close your eyes and get lost in it. This

26:22 Speaker 1: is called Black Girl. And this is the Velt