For fans of power pop, Velvet Crush is one of those bands that felt like they should have been huge—but as drummer Ric Menck explains, that was never really the plan. “We never expected to be successful in a mainstream way,” he says. “It’s not that we didn’t try, but we figured at best, we’d be a cult band.”
The band’s 1994 album Teenage Symphonies to God remains their most well-known, and now, Omnivore Recordings has reissued a companion piece, Pre-Teen Symphonies, featuring demos and a full live show from that era. “We originally put these out in limited numbers through our own label, but with Omnivore, we can reach people who never got to hear them,” Menck says. “There’s also a whole new generation of younger listeners discovering power pop—kids who don’t even realize it was ever considered ‘uncool.’”
Despite being lumped in with the genre, Menck clarifies: “We just thought we were a rock band. But yeah, we got tired of looking out in the audience and seeing only dudes.” He laughs. “That part was a little disheartening.”
The band never officially broke up, but their full-time touring days ended when Menck moved to California while bassist Paul Chastain and guitarist Jeffrey Underhill stayed on the East Coast. “At that point, we became more of a studio band,” he says. “But we never sat down and said, ‘This is the end.’”
While Velvet Crush has been on hiatus, Ric Menck has kept busy playing with Matthew Sweet, a collaboration that has lasted for decades. “Paul [Chastain] and I have been playing with Matthew full-time for years,” Menck says. Despite shifting his focus in recent years—he now helps manage Freakbeat Records—Menck still considers himself a drummer first. “I’ve done studio work for a lot of different people, but playing with Matthew is always special,” he says. “It’s great music, great songs, and we just lock in.”
Now, with Pre-Teen Symphonies stirring up renewed interest, could Velvet Crush finally reunite? “That’s the plan,” Menck says. “We had a big following in Japan and Europe, so we’d love to play some shows there again. Mostly, we just want to get in a room together and bash through the songs. We used to have a blast.”
So, is new music on the horizon? “We still have a bunch of songs we never recorded,” he hints. “Maybe it’s time to finally get them down.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out the video below.
