the furrs
In my time – not only as a music writer, but on this Earth in general – I can’t say that I’ve popped a lot of cherries. That being said, though, during my talk with Gabriella from the furrs, a few cherries were popped. I popped her first phone interview cherry. She informed me that her band was about to pop their first playing-in-Melbourne cherry. And I popped my own cherry of meeting someone who doesn’t like their name shortened. FYI, never call her ‘Gab’.
Hailing from sunny Brisvegas, the furrs have the grunt of 90s garage, the smoothness of the 60s and the right attitude to boot. As dedicated as they come, it’s no surprise that people are throwing their support behind the young band.I had the opportunity to speak with Gabriella hours ahead of her band’s first ever Melbourne performance held at Shebeen last Friday, alongside Orphans Orphans.
the furrs are up on Unearthed. And as the year progresses, it’s evident that you guys are slowly but surely killing it. But, in the industry, it’s a known fact that there is a lot of competition – bands, and people wanting to get known and things like that – how did you guys/do you guys set yourselves apart?
Well, every band is unique in their own ways, but I think that our point of difference is our stage engagement. We really try to connect with the audience. I come from a background of theatre, so…humour is very important to me. Some bands don’t have humour – they take themselves way too seriously, so maybe that’s our point of difference.
And how about connecting on stage with each other?
Yeah, I feel like we could totally work on that more. But, baby steps. Every show is [part of the] learning process.
When I listen to you guys, I kinda get this gritty garage sound; very 90s sounds. How would you describe your own sound and were there any influences for the furrs?
There’s so much. I probably couldn’t speak for the rest of the band, but for me it’s the ‘60s and ‘70s counterculture. But then it’s also Nancy Sinatra and Leonard Cohen. It started off sounding garage-y.
I’m really into soul at the moment, and blues. So I guess it’s constantly changing. I’m really into Motown [too].
Now, I just need to ask. I’ve interviewed quite a few bands and I’ve discovered that, when they’re going through the writing process, they tend to disconnect themselves from other music so as to not inadvertently, I suppose, rip off ideas from other artists. Do you guys follow suit or is it different?
Well, see me and Jimmy are the main songwriters and we write separately. I don’t know how he writes, but I…can’t write if I’m happy. I don’t consciously turn off the music, or turn it on. It just comes out when it comes out.
Going based on what you were saying – you don’t like to write music when you’re happy. Do you make the effort to use songwriting as a conscious outlet, or is it just a natural occurrence?
Yeah, definitely. It’s an outlet.
And you were saying that you and Jimmy were the main songwriters. Is it an equal divide between you two? Does one do music, one do lyrics?
Well, we both kinda write songs and then we come together, sit down and pick structures. And if it’s his song, I’ll play lead guitar; if it’s my song, he’ll play lead guitar. So we write separately, but when we come together it’s totally equal.
I’m actually a big fan of DMAs and you supported those guys in Brisbane recently. There’s obviously been quite a bit of hype surrounding them at the moment, what were they like to play with? Did you guys get a chance to hang out with them?
Yeah, they’re really cool. They’re totally lads. We don’t really know them that well, we’ll probably get to. But yeah, they’re really fun – cool guys.
In regards to tonight, you’re playing in Melbourne and you’re playing at Shebeen with Orphans Orphans. Is this your first ever Melbourne gig?
Yes, totally our first time playing in Melbourne. I was [actually] born in Melbourne and I’ve been coming here a lot of my life. It feels good to be playing here, it’s nice to be in a different city.
So, what’s the plan? Are you going to be frequenting a lot of cities around Australia?
We’re only doing Sydney as well and that’s it, for now.
Leading up to that, my final question, what can we expect from you guys in the coming months?
Everything…Everything. I just want to do as much as I can while I’m young.
…Releasing songs, touring…
Yep, all of that.
