It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from New York-based band The Velvicks. They’ve been suspiciously quiet aside from the release of a couple of singles last year, and now we know why: they’ve been working on their debut album! That’s very exciting indeed for a band who displayed plenty of promise on 2020’s debut EP Run.
The full-length is due out this year, and we’re premiering the first taste in the form of the emotive ‘Old Mistakes’. Not only that, but we asked them for a more detailed look behind the story that inspired the song. Check that out below, as well as an advance look at the video for the song itself, which is officially out tomorrow.
Backseat Mafia: Love the new single! Could you tell us a little bit about it?
The Velvicks: ‘Old Mistakes’ talks about insecurities, traumas, vicious cycles and how defensive mechanisms become vices one can’t easily break free. This song is about the fear of admitting to going through mental health struggles like depression, anxiety or other emotional/mental illness. We were raised not allowed to bring up personal mental struggles, because prejudice has always been ingrained in our society. As musicians, we are far from offering any solution to the matter, but if we can bring awareness towards normalizing the ‘ask for help’ many lives can be changed. Healing is a sum of efforts and it shouldn’t be seen as a privilege.
BM: For those looking for a handle on your sound: who are some of your main sonic influences?
TV: As a band we clearly embrace the classic rock/ hard rock/grunge/garage heavy right-handed rhythm guitars – the power chord and raw generation. I’ve always admired the musicians, explorers, sonic researchers and reverse engineering geeks out there who created all these subgenres we have today, but they’ve never impacted me creatively as much as household names such as Bruce Springsteen, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd or the Ramones, or even Radiohead to name a few.
Those big guns really took me for a ride on my formative years so we’re constantly, gladly drinking from those sources to create our music; those are for sure some direct influences. We are the aftermath of the mainstream stadium rock acts that shaped modern music.
BM: Finally, what’s next for all things Velvicks?
TV: We are currently working on our full length but in the meantime, to promote the release of ‘Old Mistakes’, we are touring the east coast routing towards Montauk Music Festival in the spring, followed by a show for Culture Lab LIC at their Summer outdoor concert series; then we finally head out west for a west coast summer tour plus a few private showcases. It’s a bit early to say but a Brazilian tour is in the works for the end of 2022. That would definitely be the cherry on the cake for us to wrap up this comeback year.
