Interview - Heyrocco
Before their show at Black Cat, we caught up with a hot-dog costume clad Nate Merli and Taco Cooper from the self-proclaimed Disney Grunge band Heyrocco. The Charleston musicians talked to us about their first time in DC, signing to a UK label, and what's next for them. Read below for more from Heyrocco!
Image via heyrocco.tumblr.com
CSDC: Welcome to DC! How do you like it so far? Have you visited any spots as yet?
Nate: Well, this is the first time I stepped outside the front of this venue. But we were here once before.
CSDC: Yeah, I tried to go to that show but then a huge snowstorm happened the same day.
Taco: Yeah, I remember that it was super cold.
Nate: Yeah, but we've been in town before.
CSDC: Like where?
Taco: We went to the Smithsonian, basically we did all the free shit.
Nate: The first time we ever came here we played the 18th Amendment Bar, it was so random. This badass Scottish lady ran it and let us drink when we were just kids, it was cool.
CSDC: How long ago was that?
Nate: About four score...
Tanner: And seven years ago...
CSDC: So how long have you guys been doing Heyrocco? I know you [Nate] were doing a thing called Black Future at one point?
Nate: Yeah, that's kind of my Hip-Hop career.
CSDC: Is it current?
Nate: I'm putting it on hold. I'm working on a new record called Hallucinate right now. But yeah, Heyrocco has been touring for about four or five years.
Taco: Yeah, we've done some talent shows, played The Blues Club, won Battle of The Bands, lost like five Battle of The Bands.
CSDC: And look at you now!
Tanner: Yeah, still losing!
CSDC: Tell us your inspirations.
Nate: Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein, and Distortion.
Taco: Gene Krupa, Stevie Wonder, and probably James Jameson.
Nate: Your name's almost... You should do Taco Krupa!
CSDC: Teenage Movie Soundtrack: tell us about it in one sentence.
Taco: It's popping off!!
Nate: It's fucking popping off! Yo, it's lit!
Taco: Yeah, that's all we have to says about that.
CSDC: How did you guys get from Charleston, South Carolina to the UK?
Nate: We teleported! No, these [label] guys emailed us and were like "We really like you guys," and we were like "Cool!" Then they came over here to see us perform, and we're like "Okay, okay," then we went over seas and they knew the land really well so they made it all happen. We are still working with them, they're going to put out our next album over there too.
CSDC: Do you know when your next album is coming out?
Nate: We are going to finish it when we get home this winter.
CSDC: You guys are across to pond a lot since you are signed to UK label. Compare your audience reception in US & UK shows.
Nate: The accents, we can't understand them.
Taco: And they are intrigued, they listen up a little more.
CSDC: Every band I interview says that. They say that crowd picks up on mistakes a lot more.
Nate: Good thing we don't make mistakes!
CSDC: What's next for Heyrocco?
Nate: Exploding shit up, but that's just what I want to do next. May be a band performing in a parking lot, may be in Walmart, you never know.
Taco: I want to tour Australia and I want to play Fuji Rock.
CSDC: What's Fuji Rock?
Taco: It's in Tokyo, Japan.
CSDC: Oh, it's a festival? I thought it was a genre! There are so many to keep up with nowadays.
Nate: Our latest genre is audience alienation.
CSDC: Wait, do you mean the audience reception has been poor?
Nate: No, I'm just kind of kidding. We've just really gotten in our own world lately wen performing. Everything I say is kind of a joke but serious at the same time.
CSDC: Yeah, I picked up on that!
Taco: Yeah, kind of like how he's wearing a hot dog suit right now.
We'd like to thank Heyrocco for talking to us. You can purchase Teenage Movie Soundtrack on iTunes, or order the vinyl, or stream the album from their Soundcloud below.
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/weareheyrocco/sets/teenage-movie-soundtrack[/embed]