The Note's Charlie Blasberg talks with Vern Matz about how they got their band name from a psychic, their latest release, and a particular actress they don't like.
CB: Who are your musical influences and what bands are you listening to now?
VM: Recently, a lot of Soccer Mommy. We are really into the recent records of Alvvays and The National. Noah [Silvestry] (drummer) burned them onto CDs, and we listened to them a lot while driving to gigs. We’re all getting out of a serious Slowdive phase, which led to Danny [Belgrad] (lead singer and guitarist) obsessing over chorus pedals. But in general we’re suckers for 90s alternative music, and have always been huge Radiohead and Wilco nerds. Michael is continuing his life long dream of making Parachutes. Surprisingly, for this track we drew some inspiration from Parquet Courts.
CB: Where does the name Vern Matz come from?
VM: A psychic told us that if we named our band Vern Matz, the Eagles would win the Super Bowl.
CB: What was the inspiration behind "New England”
VM: We’d written quite a few downtempo songs, and we wanted something that felt more exciting and youthful. The tune started out as a guitar riff that sort of evolved into this semi-chaotic track. Much of the lyrical content in New England was made on the trip out of New Haven to record the track. Along with Iceboy, it’s the only thing to come out of this basement room where we’d write in total darkness on Michael’s insistence.
CB: It's been a busy few months for you, releasing an EP and a single. What is next for you all?
VM: Next for us is recording another follow up EP in June. Danny is collecting journals of useless information filled with quotes from Peter Greenaway movies, and we’re writing everyday. The main idea is demo songs as much as we can and get really solid foundations before we experiment and blow them up in June. Noah has become a very solid engineer so we have the opportunity to do more shaping pre-studio on our end. He knows a lot about pre-amps and IPAs.
*IPAs in this context are recording gear. The jury is still out on whether Noah knows a lot of about his hoppy ales.
CB: If there is one thing that the world should know, what is it?
VM: We’re very torn on whether animals know that sex leads to reproduction.
CB: Follow up question. If there is one thing that the world should know about Vern Matz, what is it?
VM: We think Amy Adams is a highly uninspired casting option.
Visit the March 15 issue of The Note to listen to and learn more about Vern Matz. Keep an eye out for their follow up EP coming out this June and catch them when they play one of their many shows in NYC.
VM: Recently, a lot of Soccer Mommy. We are really into the recent records of Alvvays and The National. Noah [Silvestry] (drummer) burned them onto CDs, and we listened to them a lot while driving to gigs. We’re all getting out of a serious Slowdive phase, which led to Danny [Belgrad] (lead singer and guitarist) obsessing over chorus pedals. But in general we’re suckers for 90s alternative music, and have always been huge Radiohead and Wilco nerds. Michael is continuing his life long dream of making Parachutes. Surprisingly, for this track we drew some inspiration from Parquet Courts.
CB: Where does the name Vern Matz come from?
VM: A psychic told us that if we named our band Vern Matz, the Eagles would win the Super Bowl.
CB: What was the inspiration behind "New England”
VM: We’d written quite a few downtempo songs, and we wanted something that felt more exciting and youthful. The tune started out as a guitar riff that sort of evolved into this semi-chaotic track. Much of the lyrical content in New England was made on the trip out of New Haven to record the track. Along with Iceboy, it’s the only thing to come out of this basement room where we’d write in total darkness on Michael’s insistence.
CB: It's been a busy few months for you, releasing an EP and a single. What is next for you all?
VM: Next for us is recording another follow up EP in June. Danny is collecting journals of useless information filled with quotes from Peter Greenaway movies, and we’re writing everyday. The main idea is demo songs as much as we can and get really solid foundations before we experiment and blow them up in June. Noah has become a very solid engineer so we have the opportunity to do more shaping pre-studio on our end. He knows a lot about pre-amps and IPAs.
*IPAs in this context are recording gear. The jury is still out on whether Noah knows a lot of about his hoppy ales.
CB: If there is one thing that the world should know, what is it?
VM: We’re very torn on whether animals know that sex leads to reproduction.
CB: Follow up question. If there is one thing that the world should know about Vern Matz, what is it?
VM: We think Amy Adams is a highly uninspired casting option.
Visit the March 15 issue of The Note to listen to and learn more about Vern Matz. Keep an eye out for their follow up EP coming out this June and catch them when they play one of their many shows in NYC.
