Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I (Matt) used to play in bands a lot when I was younger and had always wanted to get back into it but never got anything serious going, during the lockdown period I had some songs that were ready to record so I talked to Scott who I knew was keen to be in a band. We put a few more ideas together and went into a studio with my brother who is a producer and put the ideas down. Euan is a weapon so I called him and asked him to come in and play bass which he did, he’d never heard the songs and just played what he felt and it lifted the songs to a new level. Jordy has been drumming in bands forever and he came in and recorded the drums for 7 tracks in 2 hours which was wild to see. It was a pretty garage approach, just taking what everyone had and putting it together to see what we had.
It was basically an excuse to hang out and have fun and be creative.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I (Matt) had guitar lessons when I was younger but haven’t really played seriously for the last decade, just picking it up to noodle every now and then.Jordy had guitar lessons as well but never any formal drumming training. Euan is a very accomplished jazz pianist and can play pretty much any instrument you give to him but has never really spent a huge amount of time on the bass, and Scott has never sung before except in his car.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Teacher of the Year’?
A: We have a lot of different tastes musically, Euan has a long history in jazz, Jordy is probably most influenced by disco and psych rock. Scott is into a really broad range of genres from emotional storytelling hardcore to hip hop, and I am mainly into punk, hard rock, and any guitar driven stuff.
The name actually came from a few of our friends, the school we used to work at used to give a teacher of the year award every year and Euan and Scott won it in consecutive years. Every time Scott would go anywhere around the school people would chant and clap for him and it became really funny to us all. Every other name we suggested was either taken or garbage so when the boys suggested TOTY we were all over it.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Vampira’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Vampira is actually a really old song, I wrote it in probably 2009 or 2010. It’s about becoming a young adult and then seeing your friends start to get girlfriends and different interests so they don’t have as much spare time. Just that normal phase of life where people go from kids to adults and start living their own lives and friendships and finding excuses to not hang out with their original group of friends.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Yeah, we are actually releasing our debut EP on September the 16th, available on all of the major streaming services
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: Lyrically the focus of our songs is taking responsibility and dealing with your own mental health, taking responsibility for your actions and responding to things that are important or present in society. Musically we play energetic tunes with some intensity. I think each of us gets a chance to blend our influences into each tune.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Easily, it’s just an opportunity to hang out and have fun as a group of mates and we also have something we have created that we can be proud of. It would be cool if we could keep doing this for a few more years and keep writing new songs.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: We don’t have a set process, usually it starts with a riff or chord progression that gets refined and then the lyrics get workshopped until we are happy. Vampira started with the intro riff which I had for ages and then the chorus lyrics, so the rest of the song was built to link those parts together. Scott and I are spending more time writing together lately so we just try to pick up on whatever ideas we think are cool and run with them.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: We have been pretty lucky people and the band is still pretty young so we haven’t had to face any huge difficulties yet.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Being able to write, record and release an EP independently is pretty cool, I’ve always wanted to do that and to do it with this group of guys is really cool.
I assume this is secondary to winning the Teacher of the Year award for the other boys.