Distance didn’t stop the return of Melbourne rock champions Severins
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

12.06.2019

Distance didn’t stop the return of Melbourne rock champions Severins

Severins
Words by Tammy Walters

A staple of the ‘90s Melbourne and Geelong rock scenes, Severins are reuniting and are set to launch their comeback album, Reconnect, later this month.

Fifteen years after the band called it quits due to post-university life changes, 2016 saw Severins band together for Anjfest, a special benefit gig at Geelong’s Barwon Club.

Raising much needed funds for local music talent, Anj Aitkens, who was suffering from major health issues, the boys jumped on stage to celebrate not only their friend, but one of the original members of their band. That night, not only did they reconnect with their roots, they also reignited the fire for their shared musical passion.

“It was such an incredible, inspiring and heartwarming night, and between us all, we raised over $30,000 for her and her husband in their dire straits,” explains frontman Geoff Berry.

“We hadn’t played for, gosh, 15 years. For us, we were so incredibly happy with our set and everyone responded so well to it that we actually realised after very many years that something had happened, something had clicked back in, and we still had it, plus more. It was like riding a bike.

“It took something big like Anjfest to force us to say, ‘We can do this’, and then when we did it we said, ‘Hey wait, we can keep doing this. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be doing this’. Everyone got that glint in the eye.”

This time around their normal routine of jamming until a song came out was out of the question, since a state border now divided them, so the boys had to resort to file-sharing to build Reconnect. While the process has changed, the Severins creative rock sound did not.   

“We always felt like Severins played something relatively timeless. We never really fit, we never really tried to fit, but the audience that we did build were always attracted by the depth of our ‘out-there’ sound. We’re really kind of doing the same thing now, with new ideas and new songs, but we still feel like it’s very much in that post-punk tradition. There’s a really strong element of psychedelic art-rock vibe,” Berry says.

“It was more a question of how can we reproduce the power and the passion of the sound we always had.”

Their punk attitude has also remained intact with proactive messages on climate change and the state of the environment driving the lyrics. 

“A lot of the lyrical content is fired by a passion for doing something about the way the Earth is getting treated. It’s very nature-inspired so there’s a lot of references to climate change and the politics of society and where we could be if we were more imaginative,” says Berry.

Fans will be able to hear the album live in full at their vinyl launch event, where they will be bringing fellow ‘90 veterans, The Dead Salesmen Duo, and Melbourne indie grunge rockers, Telescopes, with them.

“We want to put on a real showstopper. The Dead Salesmen were definitely one of our favourite bands of the ‘90s, and we were just so happy that the duo are still playing and still available and were only too happy to jump on board. I think alongside The Blackeyed Susans I would put The Dead Salesmen as one of the most successful rock bands of the last 20 years that could have been a big international act.

“The Telescopes were a lucky pick up. They’re a really interesting mix of a pop and grunge sound. We think we’ve got the lineup that will make it a special night.”

Severins come to Northcote Social Club on Friday June 28. Their new album Reconnect is unveiled on the same day. Tickets can be bought from the venue website as a standalone or bundled with their 12” vinyl.