Mick Jagger and Keith Richards famously met while waiting for trains at Dartford Railway station in South London. John Lennon was introduced to Paul McCartney while both were attending a dance at St Peter’s Church in Woolton, Liverpool. From such insignificant beginnings, significant greatness grew.
For Worcester blues-rockers HVMM (pronounced “Hum”, it’s a long story) the first meeting between band frontman Andy Teece and drummer Sam Jenkins was altogether more spectacular: the pair crossed paths at a Halloween party. More peculiarly, both were dressed as Zed, Sean Connery’s character from the classic science-fiction movie Zardoz. In the film, the psychosexual Connery roams the set clad in mankini and thigh-high boots, killing people and charming women with his incandescent chest hair. It’s quite something. As was the meeting between Teece and Jenkins.
“Common ground was established pretty quick, as you could imagine,” says Teece. “About a year later I met Jack [Timmis, bass] in a cheese shop in Hereford. Jack knew Eb [Ebony Clay, guitar and vocals] from past musical ventures.”
From such an unlikely start, the apocalyptic blues stylings of HVMM were born. First single Lacerate — a slow-burning, sleazy monster of a song marked by pizzicato strings and howling guitar — was released in April. And now comes Going Postal, a song that ups the ante further, as stuttering start turns to thundering finale via a chorus built for big rooms and roaring crowds. Front and centre is Teece, who sounds like Jack White undergoing electroconvulsive therapy.
Both tracks are drawn from the band’s upcoming Talk To Me Like I’m Dead EP, which is released on September 1. The EP will be released by the Austin-based Independent Label Alliance, with HVMM the first UK band to sign to the label. “Think Black Sabbath with a modern twist”, says the man from the record company.
“Try limiting any preconceived ideas when listening to the tracks and enjoy them for what they may or may not be to you,” says Teece, “Or choose to get suckered in by some standard marketing bullshit to help lead you down the road like a two-year-old, needing constant guidance when learning to use a knife and fork”.
What makes you unique?
I think to bask in your own glory is within many of us, but it can be a foolish game to play when the tap is only trickling.
What’s Going Postal about?
An overwhelming desire to feel a woman cum.
- Introducing The Picturebooks: The blues-rock duo taking LA by storm
- No Gun Club? No White Stripes
- The top 10 best Led Zeppelin songs, as chosen by Trans Am
- Read Classic Rock, Metal Hammer & Prog for free with TeamRock+
Who are your influences?
As individuals they differ quite drastically but the one common influence is certainly Led Zeppelin.
It seems that the blues rock revival isn’t going anywhere soon. What do you put that down to?
Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath and all the other great bands that made timeless music.
What other bands from Worcester should we look out for?
There’s a guy that goes under the name of Capas making some pretty cool stuff!
Where are you going to be in five years?
Hopefully in a different place to where we are now!
HVMM Live Dates
