Melbourne garage-rock four-piece The Fuzzrays introduce themselves with their debut EP, 'Velvet Curtains And Seashell Toilet Seats'.
The Fuzzrays are fronted by guitarist/ vocalist Jack Grundy, who says the EP is mainly a collection of early songs written by the band. “We've been a band for two years now, so it's getting out all the first songs we wrote together,” Jack says.
“We've progressed a lot since then but it's nice to get the first songs you wrote out, and we're pretty happy with it. It's just exciting to get them out, definitely.”
'Velvet Curtains And Seashell Toilet Seats' was recorded at Black Garage Records in South Melbourne, which is also where the band got the inspiration for the title. “We might as well put it out there because it's a bit of an odd one,” Jack laughs.
“Basically, Black Garage Records where we recorded the EP was a really nice place to hang out. We were sitting on the EP, it was already done, and we were having a session of throwing out names for it and nothing stuck.
“I can't remember who it was but someone walked out of the toilet in the studio and he was like: 'This is a crazy toilet; I don't get it, there's velvet curtains in there and a seashell toilet seat.' Then the guy who recorded the EP with us said that was the name of the EP and we all agreed. We thought it was funny.”
The members, who are each barely 18 years old, of The Fuzzrays have already started to build a solid reputation. “We're just teenagers wanting to create stuff,” Jack says.
“We all met in school, except for our new drummer Elvis [Walsh] who we met through other friends and we decided to get him involved because we liked him a lot. So we just have the urge to create stuff and express ourselves, and The Fuzzrays let us do that.”
The aforementioned Elvis Walsh is the son of Bill Walsh, formerly of Aussie punk legends Cosmic Psychos, and brings to The Fuzzrays a family heritage of crafting powerful rock songs. “Elvis fits in really well, we get along with him very well,” Jack says.
“What he's brought to us is more input. Instead of just being your average drummer, he actually wants input in the creative process and he has his own ideas that he wants to get across to us as well from a melody and lyrical point of view. We don't consider him as a drummer, we consider him as equal to us.”
Jack was born and raised in England before emigrating to Australia when he was ten. Though not a trace of his accent remains, his songwriting bears all the hallmarks of a childhood raised on British bands such as The Clash, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Damned.
He says it helps differentiate The Fuzzrays from other, local bands. “I feel like a lot of bands around our area kind of sound the same and have the same influences. They're going for the same sound and I think we stand apart a little bit, and we like to put a lot of our influences into our music.”
