Velvet Bloom On Their Best Single Yet – ‘Standards’
{interview by Emily-Layne Kapetanovic}
Velvet Bloom is a Melbourne based music project founded by the wonderful Maddy Herbert. Velvet Bloom create soulful and ambient jazz tracks which are bound to have you in awe; whether you’re listening to them live or through the many streaming services you can find them on. We had a chat with Maddy about their most recent release ‘Standards’ as well as Velvet Bloom’s plans for the future.
Hey Maddy, how has your day been so far?
It’s been interesting in isolation actually - I’m just trying to keep myself occupied!
My mum and I started today with some exercise and breakfast then I went to post some Velvet Bloom merch… Now I’m making homemade gnocchi!
Alright, let’s get down to business. You released your new track ‘Standards’ on March 27. How does it feel to have this one out in the world?
WELL! I’d say that the general consensus in Velvet Bloom is that ’Standards’ is potentially our best released work to date.
As it was one of our most highly anticipated songs (judged by crowd reactions at shows and live radio performances), we were all super eager to get this one out of our minds and into yours.
What was the creative process like behind Standards?
’Standards’ was written in a similar manner to most of our other songs. I come up with the vocal melody and lyrics then add chords and show the band…however, this song kind of became its own beast when I brought it to the boys while we were on tour mid last year in Byron. The vocal parts stayed as they were, although, Alex wrote new chords, while Rennick and Nic came up with the super funky rhythm section! During this jam at our Air BnB, the half time bridge section was created and I remember being incredibly excited to perform this song for the first time that night at Treehouse (Our first ever Byron Bay band show)!
Where did you draw your inspiration from for this track?
I remember feeling really disappointed in a person when I wrote this song but I wanted to create a positive outcome for an extremely average experience. This track is about navigating your way through complacent behaviours in the person you’re seeing, a friend, a family member… really any relationship. It’s about knowing your worth and only accepting the type of love that you deserve.
How do you think your music has changed through the years from your earlier tracks like ‘You’ in 2018 to your most recent drop?
I feel like we are forever evolving, musically and otherwise. My first ever release was actually the “Bitter Sweet” EP in 2016. I decided to re-release it properly on all streaming platforms in April last year. I believe that the collection of songs on our Bitter Sweet EP combines elements of most of the genres that we explore in Velvet Bloom. They were some of the first songs I had ever written and I was still very much exploring my sound. I believe that our sound now is more refined without being tied to genre boundaries. We have grown and involved different musicians during Velvet Bloom’s lifespan - I feel that these fresh faces can help to bring fresh ideas.
You played 18 shows in January and February alone. How do you prepare for your gigs?
We LOVE live shows!! On top of that fact, Australia was in urgent need of support due to the bushfires - so of course - we were playing lots of benefits.
Gig preparation varies depending on the type of show that we are performing… full band, four piece, three piece, duo or solo.
I’m always jamming my own music at home, as are the rest of the band (I hope haha) this makes playing live second nature to all of us.
I drink lots of tea and usually drive the band to most shows, this creates a good energy - we can discuss the set and any ideas or issues that we have. Yara and I usually do some vocal warm ups - we tune up our instruments and away we go…
2020 has been a tough year for the music industry, any local artists you'd like to give a shout out to?
Yes, it’s been heartbreaking and there are a lot of people affected by our current situation. Obviously - a massive shout out to my band - they are the absolute best!
Yara (my backing vocalist/keys player) released her first ever single in 2020 so HUGE ups to her!
Quin Grunden and The Grogans team have always been huge supporters of Velvet Bloom and we have been lucky enough to be working closely with them over the past year. Lastly, I’ll leave you with some musicians to stream in your self isolation….
Lara Prokop, Rissa, ELAURA, Lheon, SKŸE, Ella Clair, Wurli, Great Gable, Loose Bricks, Death By Denim, Meiwa, Indigo Mckeon (and any other beautiful musicians who I post on my socials)
What does the future look like for Velvet Bloom? Any plans to release any new music, potentially an EP/Album?
We have some very exciting/unannounced tour plans + maybe a single (hehe)!
We are also working on an EP and hope to have it released before the end of 2020, SO… Check out our socials for further details.
You can keep up to date with Velvet Bloom on their Instagram and Facebook otherwise you can find Standards on Spotify and Triple J Unearthed.
