Charleston, S.C.
If Vampire Weekend Went to Public School
“www.heyrocco.com” :http://www.heyrocco.com

“Our live performance is always something special,” says Heyrocco singer/guitarist Nathan Merli, who sometimes wears a cape. “There is a difference between just running over songs and pouring yourself into your performance in a unique, spontaneous fashion.” Their friend Josh Sullivan refers to them as “if Vampire Weekend went to public school,” though their Facebook page says they fall somewhere between “dark pop” and “meth rock.” Tanner Cooper (drums) and Merli “started playing terrible classic rock music together as early as middle school,” he says. Then, Chris Cool (bass) joined and they were in a cover band in high school. By 2010, the Charleston, S.C.-based friends went a different direction as a trio and started writing. Merli says that making 2012’s Comfort was bizarre as they had recently lost their close friend and manager and, starting fresh, they made the record in Cool’s bedroom. “In the van, we’ve been spinnin’ Kanye West, Nada Surf, The Smashing Pumpkins, and we have listened to ‘Linger’ by The Cranberries 8,429 times this week.” Besides working on an EP and hard touring, they are now “eating a lot of McDonald’s and writing any chance we get when we are home.”

“Our live performance is always something special,” says Heyrocco singer/guitarist Nathan Merli, who sometimes wears a cape. “There is a difference between just running over songs and pouring yourself into your performance in a unique, spontaneous fashion…”