The Voodoo Fix, formed in southern Los Angeles, plays in an eclectic style that blends rock & roll, blues, and soul to create a very unique sound, something the music industry has been desperately craving. The band has now completed two European tours and is currently touring the U.S. While traveling on their tour bus, I was lucky they were willing to take their eyes off the road long enough to chat with me. The Voodoo Fix’s high-energy and contagious good vibes seen on stage are just as apparent in their off-stage personality.
Abe Rivers-Lead Vocals/Guitar
Emmett Rozelle-Drums
Scott Parrelli-Guitar/Vocals
Will Halsey-Bass/Vocals
So, you guys are on the tour bus right now; where are you headed?
We are on our way to Pensacola beach. We’re playing two nights at Bamboo Willies. We’ve been on tour in the U.S. since the fall, and before that in fall 2017 we were on our European tour.
How many tour dates do you have on this tour?
Oh wow… I lost track a long time ago… about 120-150 dates since April.
How is the tour bus dynamic? Do you guys ever get sick of each other?
Yes… but we each have our own little habits and routines to make shit go smoothly. Like, we each have our favorite seat…. Plus, we drive ourselves, so our tour bus is really just a van. Lucky for us, Abe usually does the late-night and post gig driving for us, so that helps.
When do you find time to write music/lyrics? Who writes your songs?
A lot of the music is developed on the road, and then we’ll actually write if there’s any down time or on off days. Sometimes ideas will come to us in the van, before a show, or in the hotel, but there’s not a lot of creative time during the tour. We do a lot of collaborative writing; every song is different. It might start with a lyrical hook, a bass groove, or a guitar riff. The last album was mostly based off of the bass and the drums.
Do you record on the road or only when you are in between tours?
We’ll do rough recording like an acoustic guitar in the hotel room, but we don’t really record on the road. We do it in Nashville mostly, and there’s a studio in Memphis that we sometimes record at.
When did you guys get together? How?
The earliest formation was in fall 2006. Will, Scott, and I (Abe) met in college; Scott was a freshman, and the two of us were juniors. We were in a blues band for a school project. The first official line up under the name Voodoo Fix was in 2007.
Had you been playing a lot of shows before the Lightning 100 competition and live on the green?
Ya, we were already in the groove, playing a lot and touring. That kinda set us apart from the other bands in the competition. Touring really picked up in 2011-2012.
Whose idea was the theme of the music video for Back for More?
The idea had been kicked around, but it was inspired by some of our new friends in Nashville, just kind of wheelers and dealers who helped out the band. We also played up what we do in studio or on the road.
You guys have one of the best tour stories I’ve ever heard. Can you tell us about it?
In 2013, we were headed from NY to Jersey, and we got stopped in traffic gridlock waiting to go through the Holland Tunnel. We were taking turns sitting behind the wheel, so we could stretch or walk around. Scott went to get food, lost track of time, and before he came back, cars started moving. We started driving without him, and ¾ of the way through the tunnel, still no sign of him. Scott, food in hand, attempted to run through the tunnel on the maintenance walkways. In his fedora and his ray bans, he caught the attention of the cops. He didn’t get in any legal trouble, but he was stuck on the other side. Eventually, he hopped in the bed of a landscaping truck to hitch a ride through the tunnel.
Now can we talk a little about your experience with PRA Audio? I know several of you are using the WiC, could you tell me who is playing wirelessly on this tour?
We’ve got all three guitars and the bass playing wirelessly.
Will, as a bassist, how would you describe the quality of tone on the low end?
Great! There’s, like, no loss in tone. I have no problem going anywhere on stage and as far out into audience as I want.
What kind of venues are you guys playing in on tour, and how is the range with the WiC in the different kinds of venues?
We’ve mostly been playing in clubs with 200-400 person capacity, a few festivals, outdoor stages, and theatres. With range, there are a lot of factors, depending on what else is going on in the venue. Sometimes we can get all the way to the other end of a small club.
Do you notice a difference in quality of sound between the standard model and the ELF model?
No; they both sounds great. It’s small and convenient, durable. Sometimes in other wireless, antennas hang off the system, but with the WiC its inside so it eliminates that problem.
Artist Interview: The Voodoo Fix