They’re only second-years, but The Audio Visual Dropkicks have dropped in big to the Dunedin Sound, already playing a fair share of ski club parties and even following Hans Pucket on the road for two shows last month. Critic Te Ārohi chatted with the band about their freshly released EP ‘Greenhouse’.
The Audio Visual Dropkicks are Kaia (rhythm/vocals), Jeremy (bass/vocals), Shaarav (drums) and George (lead). AVDK’s origins start before any of their time at university. George and Jeremy were first to play in a band together, starting in high school after growing up together as family friends. Both went to Carrington College as first-years where they decided to keep the band going but needed a new drummer post-move. Very keen to kick off uni being in a band, it was Shaarav who answered the call in a group chat.
“It all happened fast,” shares Shaarav. “They had a bunch of original songs already written. We were like ‘we could play a gig by Friday’.” And that’s exactly what they did, having their first practice on Sunday to then playing a gig for their entire hall on the following Friday. Kaia joined the band at the start of this year after a unanimous decision in response to a band lineup change. “They wanted a girl. They thought it’d be a point of difference,” Kaia jokes. She received the call on the high of just attending a music festival, recalling her reaction as saying “this is the best day of my life.”
The band describes their sounds as maximalist, while also incorporating themselves into the larger streams of surfy-indie-alt rock. “Music that a lot of people can pick up quickly and sing to,” says Jeremy, describing this shared experience as one of his favourite things about making music. They all contribute to the songwriting. “It’s really cool to aim to take our experiences and our feelings, and ones from our friends, and be able to try make songs that feel like that,” says Kaia. AVDK are also inspired by the scene itself. “There’s been a whole lot of really exciting local bands paving the way for us and [who] have been real big inspirations,” shares George. The band agrees they’ve lucked out coming up as a band at this time.
Their debut EP ‘Greenhouse’ released last Friday. The five tracks span from older songs to new ones written in their current iteration. Kaia puts it best: “It’s a representation of everything that we have been, and an indication of the different things that we want to be going for.” Their lead-up single ‘Ceviche’ is one of their most enduring tracks from their high school days. It’s a dreamy, longing number that George describes as “school dance meets ‘Under the Sea’.” It’s changed as the band themselves have changed and grown older, but retains emotion that Jeremy describes as “reminiscent of some of the feelings [and] romantic experiences of that period… There’s a song on there for everyone. It’s pretty diverse, but it’s definitely all us.”
AVDK celebrates the release of ‘Greenhouse’ with their EP release gig this Thursday, August 3, at U-Bar. They’re opened by The Beatniks and IVY. Over the next month they’ll also be embarking on a South Island release tour with stops in Wanaka, Queenstown and Christchurch. In-house designer Shaarav has designed some merch for the release too that you’ll be able to cop to support them. You can stream ‘Greenhouse’ and keep up with AVDK on socials @audiovisualdropkicks. https://www.instagram.com/audiovisualdropkicks/