When you get a band land in the inbox described as a mixture of Queens of the Stone Age and Rival Sons, you can bet I’m going to check it out. Fuzzy, bluesy guitars are the biggest aspect you can pick out from Velvela’s raucous sound. Brash, loud and at its essence; good. Read on to find out more…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from a small town, near Leeds, called Silsden.
How did you meet?
We all knew each other from school years before we started a band together, but we actually got together a few years later. Originally Tom and Danny were in a band but fell out with their singer, so they set to looking for a new singer and had heard that Sean was looking for a new band. When Sean got asked he also asked if Todd could join too.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We have been playing as a band for maybe five months as Velvela but previously we all played in another band called The Escapades for four years.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
To be honest our band name was purely a brainstorm of ideas which we had, we wanted something that sounded cool and looked cool when written down. Velvela, we think, means ‘wolf pack’ in native American Indian.
What are your influences?
We really struggle with this question because we all love a lot of different styles of music, which is good because this really creates a smelting pot of ideas when we are writing new music. There are also a lot of artists where we share common ground such as Led Zeppelin, Rival Sons, Arctic Monkeys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and many more.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think because we all love different types of music but yet share the same interests in rock music, this shines through with our song writing – we take things from a plethora of different genres.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
In the past we have written our lyrics about things that have happened to us and things that happen around us, but I think we’re going to try work on some new styles of writing to really connect with listeners.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
For us it doesn’t matter if were playing to 2 people or 200 people we always try to give it everything we’ve got as those 2 people deserve everything we’ve got for supporting live music. We have currently only played 2 shows and have a few more booked in for the rest of the year, but for now were really trying to get a solid set list and focus on our writing.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We’ve seen some pretty mental stuff in the years we have all been gigging, our own singer Sean climbed to the top of the O2 Academy Leeds stage when we played there, the security went crazy afterwards. However, the most mental thing we have seen were this band from Leeds pulling a chainsaw out half way through their set and starting it up on stage!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Well the guitars can change from gig to gig, but at the minute Todd’s main guitar is a Gretsch White Falcon Players edition and Danny’s bass is a Fender 60’s reissue Jazz. We have other guitars at our band room which we have used on recordings such as a Gibson Custom Classic Les Paul, Fender Telecasters, Gibson ES335 its full of gear! Guitars amps are Marshall – Bluesbreaker and a JMP (both combos) – and bass amp is currently an Ashdown MAG200, the Ampeg SVT is being repaired! There’s a whole range of pedals too! Drums are Gretsch with Remo ambassador skins and the cymbals are Paiste 2002. Sean always uses his Shure SH55 wherever we play too as this mic just screams cool!
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
At the moment we’re pushing our latest single “Prowl” which was released on 30th March which is available on all streaming services and YouTube.
What are your plans for 2018?
This year we’re hoping to get a few more singles out and really nail our set down. Hopefully a few festivals this summer too.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We have to give a shout out to Grimsby band The Brookes, we’ve played with them a few times now and every time we see them they get better and better! And the other would have to be someone like Led Zeppelin just because we would they have the chance to watch them without buying tickets!
From previous Band of the Day, Sail: what’s the coolest moment you’ve had doing band stuff? What made you feel awesome and made the faff 100% worth it?
Well for Danny it’s definitely the time he got a manicure backstage (!) but also just getting to play and travel to new places is definitely worth it for us.
From previous BotD, Young States: have you ever caught your band mate doing something embarrassing before? If so please explain…
This still cracks us up now, but a few years ago in our previous band we were setting up ready for sound check and Sean accidentally followed through, needless to say we have never let him forget it.
From previous BotD, Inquire Within: if you had to pick just one album to listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?
AC/DC – Highway to Hell. For the last few years we must have listened to that album over 10,000 times – It was the only CD Sean had in his car for years, we literally know ever beat and pluck of a string on that album and it never gets old!
Header image by Danny Payne Photography.
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