Today we’re joined by Vermantics, a Melbourne-based four-piece who are fast becoming one of Australia’s most compelling rock acts. Built around the musical bond of brothers Stefan and Daniel Fedele, alongside cousin Julian Perrotta on drums and guitarist Jack Stevenson, the band delivers a sound steeped in classic influences, from 60s melody to 90s grit, but with a sharp, modern edge. Let’s find out more about them and their new release!
Your new EP is described as tracing the highs and lows of human connection. What inspired that theme?
That kind of happened by accident! We were choosing the songs for the EP and as it got down to locking in which ones we’d record we noticed there was that thread connecting them. So we leaned into it from that point and it definitely had an impact on the sequencing of the EP.
“Come Alive” kicks off the EP with real urgency. What’s the story behind that track and why open the record with it?
Come Alive happened on a trip back to Melbourne from Sydney. Stef was driving and started tapping the steering wheel and humming that melody that starts the song. I got my phone out and voice memo’d it before we forgot it. When we got back home we started working the song up around that melody. It has this kind of dark, powerful energy and lyrically it’s like the early part of a relationship where everything is full on. So it really suited kicking off the EP.
In “How Does It Feel”, you explore empathy and identity. What sparked that line of questioning lyrically?
A lot of the time the chorus line comes first and we work backwards from there. I just thought ‘how does it feel?’ is a question we don’t ask each other enough, and it can take on different meanings for different people. For me, in that song it’s asking someone how does it feel to have a calm mind, to be able to let go of all your anxieties.
“Fake It” flips that on its head, digging into perception vs. reality. Was that track written as a response to “How Does It Feel” or did it evolve separately?
It evolved separately, it’s actually a fair bit older than How Does It Feel. That social media ‘reality’ is something that we’re always talking about within the band and probably something we’ll write more about in the future. It’s such a part of our lives now and such a big trigger for mental health issues. The bridge freak out was us trying to paint a musical picture of a mental breakdown or maybe a panic attack, which I think we did justice!
“Open Up Your Dreams” closes the EP with a kind of hopefulness. What role did you want this final track to play emotionally for the listener?
We joke that it’s the after dinner mint on the EP, after all that darkness you get a nice sunset! I grew up in a fairly small town and even Adelaide where the other guys are from can feel like a small town masquerading as a city. We’re proud of our background but this song is a kind of message to dream bigger than the place you’re from, get out and experience what’s out there in the rest of the big bad world!
There’s a very live, raw feel to the recordings with no drum edits, no tricks. Why was it important to record the EP this way?
It was really important for us to keep the recordings as real and honest as possible – no drum edits, no studio tricks. That raw, live energy is a big part of who we are as a band, and we wanted the EP to reflect that.
If the EP is ‘the pictures you paint’, what picture does each track individually represent to you?
I’ll give this a go, it may be completely different for the other guys but:
Come Alive is a black and white painting of two people in a lovers clinch.
How Does It Feel is a Georgia O’Keefe painting, all reds and purples and blues.
Fake It is a Picasso because that’s what we all feel like under the social media veneer.
Open Up Your Dreams is a picture of someone walking off into the sunset, maybe you’ll see them again, maybe you won’t.
What do you hope fans take away from this record?
We just hope they like it! If someone takes anything away from our music we’re over the moon.
