Vars

The first time I saw local heavy band VŠrs was at Raven Black Night's CD launch a little over a year ago. Opening that event, they impressed me greatly with their offbeat musical style, and anarchic stage antics. Since then, they've continued to flourish: playing many more shows; getting airplay on 3d and Triple J and recording a new EP.

"We did the EP as it was just time to record something new," explains drummer Felix Riley. "We recorded wth Anj at Soundhouse and he is the man, as anybody else who plays heavy music and has worked with him will concur. It got picked up by a show on Triple J called Short Fast Loud, which was a surprise. I don't know how much of a flogging they've given it, but just having stuff played by that station is always going to help you along in some measure: give you street cred and all of that. 3d were also really supportive, playing this release as well as a demo we cut a couple of years ago."

"I'd have to say that the exposure Triple J gave us has opened a few doors for us," vocalist Mykel De Laat elaborates. "We have a German label that's interested in distributing the new CD, while a few bands that wouldn't normally have heard us have gotten in touch and offered their support, so, all in all, it's been well-received."

The band describe their music as a mix of indie, hardcore, metal and stoner rock, and credit its eclectic nature with getting them a much wider fanbase than they'd probably have if they'd stuck to playing one particular style instead. "We always wanted to do something different; what's the point of sounding like everyone else?" Riley says. "There are a lot of contrasting playing styles, sounds and personalities in the band. Brett, one of our guitarists, for instance, has the most unhinged guitar sound I've ever encountered, but it works really well with what Jon, the other guitarist, does; the two sound massive together live. I like to think of what we do as essentially indie music, only way more pissed off. I think that, overall, the VŠrs sound kind of hits on the bigness of stoner rock, the aggression of hardcore, and the moodiness of dark indie stuff, with lots of half-time head-nodding bits."

"When we started, the basic idea was to create a sound that was heavy, yet which would appeal to those who weren't so into heavy music," De Laat chips in.

Fittingly for a group whose music cannot be pigeonholed, VŠrs have played with a wide variety of other bands. "Because we set out to do something a little different, we haven't really fit into any of the moulds currently in favour in the Adelaide scene, so we've had to pretty much go out on our own and organise our own shows from the very start," De Laat tells me. "Personally, I'm a big fan f shows with diverse line-ups. This to me is far more interesting, given that it means your audience can be spread across various genres. We've played with death metal bands, as well as hardcore and indie bands.

"Our shows are always a lot of fun," Riley adds. "We've given up trying to anticipate what might happen at them; we just go for it. We've played with some great bands, although it's been a bit of a trip whenever we've played with black metal ones, as we did a lot at the beginning; our stuff definitely has a lot more breathing space than theirs! Our shows do go a bit mental at times, as we try and play as hard as we can. But if you're not bleeding or throwing up afterwards, you're not trying hard enough dammit!"

"As for our CD launch, that's going to be great! I think it'll appeal to anyone who likes the idea of hardcore straying away from the ubiquitous emo-punk sounds: sort of a musical version of John Cleese meets Chopper Read, if you can picture that!

"Hopefully, I'll be able to get some cult black and white movies projected in the main room of the venue [Fowlers Live] that night to make the show a bit more special," De Laat says. "Really, though, it's just going to be about showcasing four bands who love their music. Once it's over, we'll want you to feel as though you've been to a show that will be remembered for a long time to come."

JAMES BRAZEL

VŠrs play at Fowlers Live on Fri 7 Jul with Peterhead, *10# and 12straightmonthsofwinter. 'VŠrs' is out now independently