By TERRI LEE FATOUROS
The HouseWreckers definitely live up to their namesake but in a good solid way. Just imagine a hard rockin’ party with everyone just shaking it out dancing, with the music so worthy that you don’t give a **** as the house shakes apart with the heartbeat of music gone wild.
Come on… what do you expect when you have guys like Greg Trennery legendary bass player from Phil Para band and Andy Phillips Cadillac Walk, Alex Pavlis formally of The Vague Sensations on guitar and vocals and the incredible Venom, former drummer of Electric Mary and Phil Para rolled into the mix? Freakin’ awesome, that’s what.
The HouseWreckers is a new band recently formed and literally shakes any venue with a great blend of blues and rock. Trennery had a vision of putting together a great versatile outfit that could rock as hard as any and also play the blues in their own way. It seems they are doing just that, because as three distinct individuals, they’re certainly morphing into their groove of being The HouseWreckers.
Pavlis is the song writer who gets his inspiration from everyday things but keeps it simply; it’s nothing too deep and meaningful, well not yet anyway.
Venom plays like his namesake and does so ‘cause he just likes it. He claims he pulled his name out of the hat because Elvis was already taken. Trennery has a rider wherever he plays, a brother within two hundred metres and a hair straightener for his long black hair. So you get the picture don’t you? A bunch of bloody good musos, albeit larrikinish somewhat, who have a blast gigging together.
I managed to have a chat to the boys before their gig at On Top Bar in Ormond recently and here is what they had to say.
“I’m really rapt playing with these two guys as I used to watch Greg and Venom play with Phil Para at the Espy most Saturday nights, and never dreamed I’d end up forming a band with these dudes,” says Pavlis.
Venom chips in saying there is always two sides of every story and claims that he and Greg can’t actually believe they are playing with Alex Pavlis. Laughter ensues.
The subject got around to full time jobs and Trennery claimed he digs graves for a living and Venom said he worked with him. In fact, Trennery actually drives a vamped up black hearse called Gor that’s been decked out and looks truly scary but ever so cool.Their business is called Grave Diggers … so they said!
More absurd and funny chat continued until Venom cut in and reckons he measures the dead for length and if people are interested then they can contact them at Fawkner Crematorium. But it’s only for people under 5ft 10.
So with this mind set underway amid much laughter, nonsense, and fun, we continued.
“It’s the chip board coffins that makes it affordable,” says Venom. “And a team of robots that make the coffins which by the way, we are training to dig graves at the moment.”
“Bloody robots,” quips Trennery, “They are starting to get a bit of a trade union going and Venom here doesn’t think it’s going to end well.”
“Well it’s probably because we aren’t paying them so they kinda arced up. So our grave digging might be going through a hiatus. But we are in negotiations with the teamsters at the moment,” laughs Venom.
To this Trennery quipped in by claiming they either finish with grave digging or hit pay dirt or train them to sing and play guitar.
“Come on guys, don’t go on strike as we need you, it’s give and take,” Venom pleads.
Trennery jokes: “We put you together by a nut and a bolt at a time. We need to find the softer side of robots…”
Just then the manager walks past, sees me filming Trennery, and shouts “oh yearh” into his ear, scaring the crap out of him leaving him finishing his words in a higher octave… “and yet they have done this to us,” concludes Trennery cracking up with laughter.
Venom continues, stating they are uprising because they are running them on AC when in fact they wanna be on DC.
The penny drops and all guys realize their mistake. The robots want to convert and get it straight from the source, it’s a power struggle!!
The guys were a bunch of fun with not much straight talking going down. They had me in stitches. What could you expect when you have these guys together in a band, in a small room just before a gig; pumped up adrenalin, that’s what.
Finally the one thing agreed by all band members to convey to the rebellious robots was: HOUSE WRECKERS DON’T WRECK THE HOUSE.
Catch the guys gigging at the Espy in St. Kilda, On Top Bar, and venues on the peninsula.
Facebook: HouseWreckers Melbourne.
Email: housewreckersblues@gmail.com
