Chatting to Gus Vasic, Quin Grunden and Jordan Lewis from The Grogans feels like chatting to a couple of mates from high school.
Ready to head out on their biggest tour to date next month, the Melbourne surf rock trio are keen to share some new music with their fans, starting with their latest single, ‘How Would You Know’. The track gives fans a glimpse at some of the chilled out, mellow music that’s coming on the next record – an ode to weekends away with friends, it’s the epitome of humble beginnings.
“We were just down at Ocean Grove this one weekend, bored, and we built this teepee, like a friggin huge teepee, and it was sick,” Vasic explains. “We spent all day doing it and we were just chilling that night and just wrote it inside the teepee. That was the basic process, we just wrote it there, then jammed it a bit at home and came up with some new bits to add to it.”
‘How Would You Know’ captures the sentiment perfectly, with an easy-going guitar riff setting the background for a chilled out, yet insanely catchy chorus. There’s also a hint of the blues influence that’s prevalent in so much of their catalogue. The new single is a step away from their heavier tunes, but provides an opportunity for the boys to test out some different music on fans, in preparation for their next album.
“There’s a lot of heavy stuff and a lot of chilled stuff, so we wanted to try a chilled one to start with and go from there,” Vasic says. “We’ve got a lot of different stuff on the next release.”
With inspiration drawing from bands like A. Swayze & the Ghosts and The Growlers, the boys have promised a broad variety of new songs heading our way. ‘How Would You Know’ is a great indicator of just how genuine the band is, and their formation in 2016 highlights this.
“Quin and Gus have been mates for years,” Lewis tells us. “I moved to Sandy (Secondary College) in Year 11 and that’s when I met Quin. Quin and I were just jamming and he introduced me to Gus and it just clicked.”
The success The Grogans have found since then has possibly surprised the band more than anyone else – the project was pretty relaxed at one stage but that quickly changed.
“We never really thought that this would be a serious band or anything, we were justing doing it for a bit of fun,” Lewis continues.
Having finished an east coast tour for their 2018 album, Grogan Grove, and since embarking on a songwriting trip to Torquay, The Grogans have their sights set on putting on a great live show for the ‘How Would You Know’ tour, which kicks off in Melbourne on Friday July 5 at The Workers Club.
“We’ve got some more visual aspects coming to our shows, especially for the album launch,” Lewis says. “New songs as well. New songs are the best thing to play because it’s refreshing, there’s more energy.”
When asked about the places they’re looking forward to touring the most, it’s hard to keep track of all the names, and their obvious excitement is infectious.
“The Dungeon, Newcastle, cos that’s an all-ages show – and Melbourne, obviously – that’s where we always play, it’s a more comfortable place to play and it’s always fun,” says Grunden.
Other stops on their ‘How Would You Know’ tour include Mildura, Adelaide, Canberra, Wollongong, Perth, Brisbane, and even Mt Hotham. The jaunt will take them through July and into August with an all-ages performace in-store at Oh! Jean Records concluding the journey.
The Grogans’ national ‘How Would You Know’ tour kicks off in Melbourne on Friday July 5 at The Workers Club. Grab your tickets at theworkersclub.com.au.
