Nathan Merli, frontman with Charleston garage-rock grungers Heyrocco, is a wistful type. You might even say philosophical, in a stoner sort of fashion.
"I'm headed to a garage to jam with the boys," he says with some contentment when we call.
In this business, things go astray very easily, so to be in a position where you're at the beginning of something, that's cool
"I can tell that, in this business, things go astray very easily, so to be in a position where you're at the beginning of something, that's cool. I'm happy to be there and not on the phone with the label hearing, 'Nobody's buying this album, you guy's might be dropped…' So, yeah, I think it's fine to be happy right now!"
Peavey power
We'd be happy, too. In six years, Heyrocco have gone from local open-mic nights through to international touring. Another reason to be cheerful is this year's debut album, Teenage Movie Soundtrack - a joyful mish-mash of everything from Bleach-era Nirvana, Mudhoney, Weezer and The Cure, through to country storytelling.
It's grin-engaging, throw-yourself-about music, made all the better by the killer tones coaxed from Nathan's Strat and Peavey Classic Chorus, which is - whisper it - a solid-state amp.
"No, they're awesome!" insists Nathan. "My favourite thing in the world is to let someone else use it. I love to play it as loud as I can and get any cool sound of it and people sort of go, 'Oh, wow. That Peavey surprised me!' So I like 'em! I rep it pretty hard."
Catch Nathan (and his Peavey) on tour in the UK this autumn.
- For fans of: Dinosaur Pile-Up
- Hear:Virgin
