Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips chats with Maddy Herbert, front person for fab Melbourne-based neo-soul outfit Velvet Bloom, who have a new single out on Friday September 18. (Excuse the occasional background noise as Maddy had a tree emergency and some tree feller fellas doing their thing in the backyard!)
Velvet Bloom is a Melbourne-based neo-soul, alternative-pop and jazz-rock music project featuring ballad style vocals. The project is fronted and founded by Maddy Herbert, who performs solo and with different variations of her live band “The Vito Collective”.
The band had a huge 2019 with the re-release of her debut EP ‘Bitter Sweet’, as well as the release of singles’ ‘Isobel’s Song – Live At Box Hill’, ‘Teach Ya’ and ‘DM ME’ receiving praise and airplay from Triple J/Triple J Unearthed. Velvet Bloom won Listen Up Music Org’s 2019 national ‘Songs That Heal’ competition.
Early 2020 saw the release of ‘Standards’, an up beat alternative-rock, soulpop track that showcases Maddy’s raw and powerful vocals. During COVID-19 Maddy was accepted into the MIME mentoring program through Boxhill Institute and is currently being mentored by Kylie Auldist.
September 18 will bring Velvet Bloom’s next release, ‘7Hundred25’.
This track encompasses the very essence of longing and the prospect of loss. ‘7Hundred25’ takes you on a journey, subtly introducing elements until you realise that you are in the midst of an electronic strings section with choir like harmonies, rolling cymbal crashes and droning bass notes. ‘7Hundred25’ speaks to the fact that an acoustic style song can be entirely full without a major drum and bass section. This intricate single will be released as a part of a ‘Cousin Will Records’ compilation album with artists like ‘The Grogans’, ‘Auntie Leo And The Backstabbers’, ‘Polly And The Pockets’ etc…
Velvet Bloom has supported many established Australian acts like Kim Churchill, Josh Cashman, Death By Denim, Dulcie, The Grogans, Great Gable, Ben Wright-Smith, Zoe Fox And The Rocket Clocks, Teenage Dads and more.
BANDCAMP: https://velvetbloom.bandcamp.com
