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What's Next For The Verses?
The Verses, that fantabulous new Melbourne band that took the Toff in Town by storm during its record nine week residency, is set to play one last show at Revolver this Saturday, before going into hiding to record and find a new drummer.
This week I caught up with Ella Hooper, their charismatic singer, to find out what’s next for the rather awesome sextet.
ALICE: So Ella, how have you found the reaction from the Toff?
ELLA: It’s been amazing. I’ve just been blown away, really, by how quickly we seem to be connecting with people and have people come back week after week, which is something I wasn’t sure if it would happen again. I’m just so pleased that it has.
ALICE: Do you think The Verses are starting to build their own fan base independent of what the Uber Hoopers have done before?
ELLA: I think it’s starting. We’re still really blessed to have that history, because it’s opened up a lot of people to our music who maybe would have never had known about it. So The Verses are lucky in that sense, but I also think that we are starting to create our own new Verses fan base that’s just about The Verses, which is really exciting to me.
ALICE: So what is next, post-Toff?
ELLA: We’re looking forward to this show at Revolver, which we’re hoping a lot of people will come along to, because we haven’t had many shows over that side of town before. I used to spend a lot of time there at Revolver, and on Greville Street and Chapel Street, so for me it will be like going back to my youthful crazy days down there. So we’re really excited to play there. And then after that we’re hopefully going to book in a bit more recording and a bit more song writing.
ALICE: I’ve heard a rumour that Matt (the drummer) is leaving the band. Is that true?
ELLA: We’re sad to be losing Matt. This’ll be his last gig, so that’s another selling point: This is Matt Watson’s last show with The Verses. He’s actually already working with his other band, Fading Fires, who are fantastic, so we wish them all the best support and hope that they get a lot of fans as well.
ALICE: Or that they break up so Matt comes back…
ELLA: Ahaha, yeah exactly! Aaaaah that’s my secret plan! No, no; look, I really want the best for Matt. He’s been great to us; he’s helped us get from no band to a really great established band, and I’ve known him for a long time since the Broad tour. We’re going to remain very close friends, but unfortunately he can’t stay in the band.
ALICE: So what about the other members who aren’t jumping ship; what can you tell us about them?
ELLA: Well, you’ve got the lovely Madeline Davey on keys. She’s fantastic. She comes from a composition and piano background and studied at VCA. She’s an incredible piano player and now she’s also become an organ and glockenspiel player! Then there’s Jorge Rodrigez on the double bass. He is an incredible, versatile bassist; plays in a lot of bands. He’s the quiet one but when he says something, it’s very poignant. He’s the Oz [from Buffy] of the group. And then we’ve got Brett, who adds a lot of flavour and a lot of pizzazz. He’s an amazing guitarist and I’ve known him for quite a long time, too. He used to play in a band with a friend of mine from the country. He’s just a lovely guy and a very positive influence. He’s kind of—Who is he? I’m not sure, but we love Brett and he always has a very sharp collection of boots. He’s the man who rocks up to rehearsal looking like a million bucks. You never see that man in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Never.
ALICE: Last, but not least, is there anything you want to say to the fine readers of Same Same?
Thank you for coming! We saw a great influx of faces when the last article was published, so thanks for reading and thanks for being interested and please do come along to Revolver. We promise you entertainment and good music.
You can check out The Verses at their Revolver gig, this Saturday the 26th July. Tickets are $13 at the door, which opens at 9pm. The band go on at 11:45pm.
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