Where Cosmic Meets the 60s: An Interview with Spencer Morphy from the Velveteins
[UNPUBLISHED:] Introduce yourself and If you have any fun facts!
[SPENCER:] I'm Spencer and I sing, write songs and play guitar. The band is The Velveteins and any fun facts? … hmm … I have a tattoo on the inside of my lip that says “Good vibes”.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How would you personally define your band and who your audience is?
[SPENCER:] We're kind of a standard rock band setup with rock instruments, guitars, synthesizers. And we all have a hand in making the music in some capacity. So it's collaborative as a band typically would be. Our audience is young, definitely the youth, somewhere in the middle between old people and babies.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Where do you look for inspiration and what does this creative process look like?
[SPENCER:] The core of the band itself is me and Addison, who plays drums. We started it and then added people along the way. So, usually, because I sing, I kind of come up with the ideas myself and then and then I kind of bring them to Addison or if we need some bass or some other input, we like to take it to the other members. But it's mostly just like us two songwriters. We try to just write songs based on personal experience which is where we draw most of the emotion that comes into the music. And then music wise, we just listen to lots of different stuff, so we get inspiration from that.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Who are your favorite musical icons and musical celebrities?
[SPENCER:]Ah favorite musical icons. I feel like Neil Young is just a legend all around and the chill 60s folk rock bands. I really like Deer Hunter. They're really cool. They're from Atlanta. When we started this band, we listened to a lot of 60s music and used it for inspiration.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What was your inspiration behind your album “Slow Wave?”
[SPENCER:]We wrote while we're touring a lot. Before COVID, we would play in the States alot and Europe so the songs are like live songs in a way. The inspiration was like a snapshot of what our lives were like when touring was happening and the whole theme in itself is a form of sleep. It's the deepest form of sleep that you can be in. It's called slow wave sleep. It’s kind of a cool metaphor for this cosmic surfing vibe and we made that with the sounds. So, it came together all at once. But that came out like in 2017 and now it's like three years ago which is kinda wild.
[UNPUBLISHED:] When you were touring, what cities in the United States did you go to that were the most memorable?
[SPENCER:] We only did a couple American cities; we did Pittsburgh and New York and I don't think we played Chicago. But because we live on the west side of North America, it’s a lot easier for us to go to Seattle and Portland. We've done that trip three or four times and that's always really, really fun. One time we drove all the way from Vancouver to Austin, Texas. I mean, it's so insane sometimes playing in a band in North America because all of the cities, especially in Canada, are so far apart. In Canada, It's usually a 12 hour drive to the next city, Which you try to do back to back, and you're like, Okay, we've been there Friday, we play there tomorrow and you have to drive 12 hours and then play. Austin was pretty fun and Texas was just a crazy trip and in Vegas we played two concerts which was also wild.
[UNPUBLISHED:] When you were touring, did you like Europe or the United States better?
[SPENCER:] I like both of them for different reasons. I like Europe because all of the cities are so close and European people are so different and interesting. It feels like people in Europe have it all figured out. We played in Germany, which was amazing. So I mean, I like Europe for those reasons, but I like America because it's exciting to play because that's where, in my mind, the music that I listen to is made. American music has such a strong influence for all of us and because we live in Canada, we listen to a lot of American bands.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any funny stories that you could tell from touring?
[SPENCER:] The first time we went to New York, after Slow Wave was released, we were booked to play at this venue called Our Wicked Lady which was a cool spot, but we didn't have a place to stay. So, we just rolled in, booked an air bnb totally loose last minute in Prospect Heights or some area like that we didn't know. And when we got there it was just straight up warehouses and we're thinking, oh my god, where are we staying? This is so crazy. And then spotted these ten random guys just sitting on the stoop of this lonely apartment building. So we walked up and this dude came out and he's like “hey guys name's Jeff, welcome to the neighbourhood, you guys need any beers?’ they were like, “yeah, sure, of course” And so Jeff just showed us his neighborhood all night and just gave us beer and then drove to get Popeye's for us. He was just so stoked we were Canadians. It was so nice.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How did you come up with the name ‘The Velveteins’
[SPENCER:] I just picked it when I was 18 like and at the time, I was really into 60s music. I just thought of it and I was like, Damn, that sounds like it could be a 60s band for sure.. I was thinking that it sounded like what I wanted to do.
[UNPUBLISHED:] When you're playing and kind of touring, what is your favorite song to perform?
[SPENCER:] It's crazy, It's been so long since we've played one. It's called “Don't you feel better?” fun. We also tend to play Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett. Like, if there's any dads in the audience, they just lose their shit to that song.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Besides playing, do you have a favorite song just in general, not performing?
[SPENCER:] It changes a lot. I don’t really think about favorite songs. We just play them and I'm mostly thinking about writing the next song. I like making albums, recording and composing music and making it different every time. I don't think the music business is really about making records anymore. It's just about making songs. It's not like how it used to be where there'd be a cohesive seven or eight songs with the same vibe. Now, people make one song with a different artist and there's no artistic congruence.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So you said that you're kind of writing music right now, is there anything else that you're currently working on?
[SPENCER:] Yeah, we're in the middle of finishing our second record, so hopefully it will come out next year, we are about halfway done. But also it's kind of hard to judge timelines when the whole world is shut down.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is one message that you would give to your fans?
[SPENCER:] Just keep on keeping on. Especially with everything going on now. Stay positive and remember why you what makes you feel happy whether it's music or playing basketball Whatever, just do you.