With thousands of mates jamming in farm sheds and garages across the country, it takes something pretty special to stand out.
Many of them have grand dreams that never eventuate, some do, but for most, the music is where it all begins and ends anyway.Western Australian product Old Mervs followed the music, until the music followed them. They share how they never imagined their farm-shed jams would take them to sold-out shows. "It was always a sort of piss-take," drummer Henry Carrington-Jones recalls
"Henry's Dad would always say, 'you guys will be good and you'll do something'," vocalist and guitarist David House continues. "We look back at videos of us jamming and we don't know what he saw in us."
"He was like, 'Dave's voice is gonna let you down'," Carrington-Jones jokingly divulges the brotherly dynamic between the two band members. "He said, 'Henry, you're drumming's so sh.t'," House retorts playfully. "But, I don't think we did, hey," Carrington-Jones answers the query. "We had unrealistic goals about doing stuff, but definitely not this. So it's pretty cool."
After building their following in Perth, Old Merv's second EP, 2023's 'Give It Up' landed them on the ARIA charts (#33), and garnered major attention, with the boys playing Splendour In The Grass while their Spotify plays ticked over six million streams.
There was only one, logical next step – shutting themselves away from the world to craft their debut album, 'Old Mervs', so they headed to the Byron Bay hinterland to ARIA Award-winning producer Chris Collins' studio. "It was nice being disconnected," House shares. "It was so calm, having no distractions and just surfing and making music, just getting it done."
'Old Mervs' features a full production including cellos, as the tracks draw inspiration from a variety of genres from UK indie to Seattle alt-rock to sounds closer to home.
Despite the size of the record, the band still perform as a two piece, and deny any plans to change moving forward. "We're always conscious when we're recording that we can mimic it live," House states. "Henry's more conservative."
"Every now and then I'm like, 'tone that back'," Carrington-Jones agrees. "We've always looked at live as a different medium. We won't ever have a backing track, we're quite anti that.
"We're into using amps and monitors. We both grew up with rock & roll influence, so want to embrace that, with common sense. We've got a lot of flexibility with pedals nowadays, so that's been a lifesaver."
"You can make synth sounds and you can replicate a lot of tones and sounds," House explains. So what is the recipe for the Mervs' tone? "Secret!" Carrington-Jones declares. "No one can know how we get our bass tone!" House agrees, before relenting. "Our Helix LT has four inputs, four different guitar lines. Clean guitar, dirty guitar, bass and then XLR left and right for wet sounds."
"It's been testing touch and go over the years," Carrington-Jones smiles. "We used to play the whole set on one pedal, just turn the gain up a bit and then back down. It's embarrassing to think about."
"I'd turn the gain down and then we'd start a song, and I'm like, 'I've lost everything. It's way too quiet.' Being a two piece, once I'm set, I can't change it," House reminisces. "We're very cowboy in our ways," Carrington-Jones declares.
Their unconventionality shines on track 'Waiting', recorded on the studio's balcony in one take, one microphone with the guitar in one ear and one for the vocals in the other, the track creates an interesting sonic experience that complements its lyrical depths.
"We originally wanted it to be just a voice memo," House shares, "but it worked out perfectly. I was on the couch outside, and Chris set up the mic. At the start of the song, you can hear a 'chi-chi' sound, from when Chris stepped on a tambourine. Every time I hear it, I picture him walking around with his camera and hitting that.
"Chris is quite good at going from pop vocals and everything tight to then going, 'let's take everything away and record it for what it is'. The background of bird noises sits behind really nicely."
Not all the tracks on the album flowed so effortlessly. Opening track 'Parched' was almost abandoned until Collins played the riff on his custom black and white Stratocaster to a drum loop. The song became one of the forces of the album.
"Once he started playing the chords it pretty much came out of the bag," House says. "Before it was a bit stagnant in between, and afterwards it flowed. Thank God I didn't have to sit there and drum the whole time," Carrington-Jones sighs.
One of the album's standout tracks 'Everyone Will See It' immediately conjures memories of watching one of your favourite acts kill it at a festival during sundown. With a blossoming sound and delicious reverb, the track is sure to become a festival favourite.
"When we were writing it, I can remember Chris saying, 'picture a massive amphitheatre crowd singing along to it'," House remembers. "5pm, sunsets, dust in the air," Carrington-Jones adds. "We wanted to write a big, live anthem. Hopefully we can play it in an amphitheatre," House smiles.
This begs the question of who the boys would love to open for in the near future. "Sam Fender would be pretty good," Carrington-Jones says. "I'd love to open for The Killers, big stadium shows," House declares. With so many dreams already coming true for the talented duo, it might not be long before these ones do as well.
'Old Mervs' is released 21 March. Pre-order it.
Old Mervs 2025 Tour Dates
Sat 10 May - Hindley Street Music Hall (Adelaide)Thu 22 May - Bar On The Hill (Newcastle)
Fri 23 May - Wollongong Uni
Sat 24 May - Roundhouse (Sydney)
Sun 25 May - UC Refectory (Canberra)
Thu 29 May - Miami Marketta (Gold Coast)
Fri 30 May - The Station (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 31 May - The Tivoli (Brisbane)
Thu 5 Jun - Seabreeze Hotel (Mackay)
Fri 6 Jun - Magnums (Airlie Beach)
Sat 7 Jun - Edge Hill Tavern (Cairns)
Thu 19 Jun - Barwon Heads Hotel
Fri 20 Jun - 170 Russell (Melbourne)
Sat 21 Jun - 170 Russell (Melbourne)* matinee u18 show
Sat 21 Jun - The Pier (Frankston)
Sun 22 Jun - Theatre Royal (Castlemaine)
Sat 5 Jul - Perth HPC
