Music For The Laundromat

Locals lads (and lady) Velociraptor have been attracting a lot of attention of late. With their energetic live shows, and notoriety for barely being able to fit everyone onstage, coupled with recent Triple J attention things are certainly looking bright for the band. I spoke to frontman Jeremy Neale about an upcoming tour, a new EP and getting all of the ‘raptors’ organised.

First and foremost, what is your stance on velociraptors?

They are they only breed of dinosaurs that can open doors. This makes them the most threatening species of Dinosaur present in today’s door obsessed society.

You’re about to embark on an east coast tour. How does such a large band go about organising themselves?

Well, fortunately this time around we have a top-notch management team. Other than that, everybody will have a piece of paper with the venue and time we’ll be playing and with any luck at least 7 of us will show up.

Velociraptor are listed officially as a 12 piece but you rarely seem to play as such – what determines the size of the band on any given night?

The rider. If we get word that there’s not enough to go around we draw straws to see who has to stay home and drink home beers. Also a few raptors play in other touring bands and live/ work outside of Brisbane.

I hear there will be a new EP coming out soon; can you tell us a little about it?

A small collection of upbeat pop gems that are suitable for singing and dancing along to. It’s been a good chance for us to get some of our/ audiences’ live favourites recorded.

What is the song writing process like a band with so many members?

A lot of the time I’ll just write something at home or in the car and then bring it to practice and the raptors will work their magic on it. Other raptors also write songs and bring it to the raptor table in the same fashion.

I’ve seen you guys likened to ‘gritty garage sex’ and a ‘vintage street gang’. How would you describe yourselves?

A real neato gang of super bros with good values and a penchant for truffles and fine wine.

How do you feel about the attention the band has received so far?

Besides the odd comment of  “I don’t understand why there’s 7 guitarists” it’s been really positive and I couldn’t be happier with it. We’ve had some solid support from Triple J for our track ‘In The Springtime’ and there seems to be a really rad buzz for the tour.

What is your favourite thing about playing in Brisbane?

It’s an awesome city, easy to source enough amps, we get to play with our friend’s bands and also at the end of the night we can get a limo home to the raptor mansion that comes complete with 12 beds, all of which are race car themed

What can the uninitiated expect from a live show?

It is pretty chaotic. I’ve always been a firm believer in that if you wanted to hear the song exactly how it was recorded, then you should have stayed home and listened to the record. It’s louder than the recordings and more aggressive but it’s a visual spectacle and even if I wasn’t in the band I’d still wanna go and see it.

What does the future hold for Velociraptor?

Godzilla and Monster X have been threatening to destroy Brisbane. We are training every day so that we may have the strength to defeat these gigantic angry monsters. Also, although it has been delayed many times, we do have a film clip on the way. An album will be most triumphant once we can get the necessary 900 dollaridoos.