The Velveteins

The Velveteins–a Canadian rock n’ roll trio comprised of Spencer Morphy (vocals, guitar), Addison Hiller (percussion), and Dean Kheroufi (bass) –are here with the music video for their newest track, “Hanging From The Ceiling”. Although it glides along with the instrumentals of a simple 1950s love song, the track deceptively has nothing to do with love, but addresses the notion of separation of the mind from what the body is experiencing.

“The video is pretty much an extension of the concept of the song,” explains lead singer/conceptualist of The Velveteins/protagonist of the video, Spencer Morphy. “[It kind of explores] the idea of being disconnected from what’s going on around you.”

Indeed it does, as the video begins by zooming in on Spencer, smoking a cigarette and staring off blankly into the distance before he jumps into a pool. It’s as if he needs to feel something, and the symbolizes the wake up call he needs. As he splashes, the scene changes to the guys sitting on a couch in a similar situation as the beginning, staring off into the distance as an obvious house party is in the works around them. (Addison and Dean, kudos on looking like strange, alt mannequins.) The rest of the video continues in the same way, with montages of people laughing and partying in slow motion, while the band stumbles through the scene, unamused and–quite possibly–tortured by the frivolity of it all.

“Listening to the song for the first time I knew right away that I wanted to tap into that vibe of summer escapism, youthful hi jinx, and dozy dreaminess that the band weaved into their single,” elaborates director N. Posthumus. “The video, much like the song and the band itself, tries to not take itself too seriously while still capturing a spirit that will bring listeners back for more.” - Impose Magazine

Canadian psych-rock outfit The Velveteins just released a groovy new track produced by Cage the Elephant’s Lincoln Parish. “Hanging From the Ceiling” combines psychedelic surf-pop vocals with a retro, middle school slow-dance in the 50s vibe. The Velveteins‘ upcoming EP, A Hot Second With the Velveteins, will be out soon.

Here’s what Addison Hiller has to say about the new track:

“Hanging” was one of the first songs we wrote collaboratively. Spencer [Morphy] was working with this cool 3/4 groove when I heard the sideways breakdown section. We ended up with this sort of psychedelic doo-wop number about things turning upside down. - All Things Go

For Edmonton act the Velveteins, naming their record A Hot Second With The Velveteins and heading to Nashville to record it was a bold move. Not to say it's uncharacteristic of them — and neither was having Lincoln Parish, formerly of Cage the Elephant, on producer duties — but it's not exactly a move for the ill-prepared.

Fortunately, it paid off. The record comes across like a collision of the Kinks and the Libertines, complete with the pervasive melancholy that characterized both those bands' best work. It's a cohesive affair that dives back and forth between rollicking garage and moody surf, even going as far as including sounds of waves on "Beach Reprise." There's some inspired guitar work throughout: "Hanging from the Ceiling" revolves around a spindling guitar line that erupts into a massive classic rock-alluding coda with guitar solos and fade-outs galore, while opening track "Monica Louise" shows off the band's songwriting chops by melding pop classicism with a rough edge.

The sound of A Hot Second With The Velveteins is akin to a faded snapshot: not exactly lo-fi, but it's not exactly scrubbed clean, either, lead singer/guitarist Spencer Morphy's vocals in particular. He has a Pete Doherty-esque yelp to him, and his raucous delivery works best when he's surrounded by a backdrop that can support it. "Sunhat" is an upbeat strut with Morphy doing his best sneer, injecting some menace into the otherwise sunny tune. It makes for an interesting collection of music that can only hint at better things for this group. - Exclaim!

The Velveteins is a local band, but it’s equally the product of a land more than 13 000 kilometres away. Spencer Morphy, the main creative force and songwriter behind the spacey rock group, fell in love with the psychedelic music and lush beaches of Australia when he travelled the country in a campervan last year.

“The first time I heard Tame Impala or Pond, that was the initial spark,” says Morphy, sipping a hot chocolate at an Edmonton café before packing the tour van for a show in Vernon the next day. “When I got back I saw there were lots of Edmonton bands my age into psych-rock, like the Archaics and Betrayers—that got me stoked to try it too.”

The Sherwood Park native started writing and recording music when he got back to Canada last June, wrangling his friends to play on his self-produced EP. The result was Fresh Claws, three sun-drenched and reverb-kissed tracks that bring palm-tree vibes to Dirt City. It’s a tie-dyed hit of psych-rock: you can almost taste the resin dripping off standout track “Garden Sleeper.”

The music was good enough to impress Lincoln Parish, former lead guitar player for Cage the Elephant and now a full-time Nashville producer. Parish agreed to record the band after Morphy sent him an early demo.

“He replied immediately and said, ‘Fuck yeah, dude, let’s book it in,'” Morphy says. “Recording in Nashville was one of the most fun experiences ever. We put in lots of organ and keyboard parts, even a grand piano part. We just kind of went nuts, like, ‘What can we make?’ But we wanted to keep it raw enough that we could still do it live.”

The untitled Nashville sessions will be released this spring by Wiener Records, a subsidiary of influential cassette-loving California label Burger Records. Morphy describes the new music as more experimental, with surf vibes seasoning the more straight-ahead rock sound of Fresh Claws.

The Velveteins, which right now is Morphy and his friend Addison Hiller on drums, is a love-child of ’60s hippie style and millennial hustle. Morphy—who is taking business classes from NAIT—has a company, Murff Skate & Surf, where the 20-year-old sells handmade tie-dye T-shirts and local psychedelic records. The company is named after his green Volkswagen Kombi campervan the Murff Mobile, the Velveteins’ tour van and rolling home on wheels.

“I bought that when I was 15 and I fixed it up,” Morphy says. “Last summer we went on tour and there were four of us living there for three weeks, sharing beds. We would just sleep behind venues and cook our meals by the side of the road. It was a raw time. And the van is horrible in efficiency: we were going like 40 on the Coquihalla. It takes triple the time to get anywhere.” - VUE Weekly