Terminal Vertigo is a garage punk band from Washington D.C. Their latest release is 2019's Always On! an inzane mix of punk, surf, noise, and more. We talked to TV about their music, the D.C. scene, what they're working on next, and more. Enjoy!
TERMINAL VERTIGO
Thanks for doing this interview! Can you tell us a bit about the instruments you play?
Matt: I sing and play guitar in Terminal Vertigo and grew up playing drums in a thrash metal band.
Matt: I sing and play guitar in Terminal Vertigo and grew up playing drums in a thrash metal band.
Susan: I sing and play bass in Terminal Vertigo and grew up playing flute in a flute quartet.
How did Terminal Vertigo form?
Matt: Terminal Vertigo was the creation of mine and my girlfriend Susan about 3 and a half years ago, we both grew up in Washington DC for the most part, but have both lived somewhat nomadic lives. We had just moved back to DC from Philadelphia at the time and wanted to put our all into starting over and going into this new phase of our lives strongly. The concept and first few songs all kind of just came to us as we worked on it those first few months and it felt like an epiphany. The perfect outlet to deal with some of our issues past and present while beginning to define our future. We’ve had a couple different drummers over the years.
What have you been listening to lately?
Matt: Lately I have been listening to a lot of hardcore punk but I love rock ‘n’ roll in any form really, it’s what I live my life by. I will go back and forth through different phases of things I guess depending on my mood and what’s going on in my life. I appreciate anything though as long as it’s loud and rebellious in spirit.
Susan: We have the same core taste in music, although mine may stretch along broader spectrum. Rock n’ roll is my go-to, and lately I can’t stop thinking about Mongolian throat singing. It was banned by Christian colonizers who viewed it as “the devil’s voice”, and the ban wasn’t lifted until the 1980s! It has such a powerful sound, of course colonizers were intimidated by it. Disempowerment is the name of their game.
What is the DC music scene like? Any favorite local bands/venues?
Matt: The DC scene is interesting and differs from other larger cities like Philadelphia or New York. It is relatively small and somewhat disconnected. Growing up I remember a pretty strong all ages punk community that put a lot of focus on doing positive things and using music as a platform to say what they wanted to say; less touched by some of the demons that come with the nihilism of the rock ‘n’ roll spirit. It also seems like a lot of the people I knew growing up have moved to other places, but we’re relieved there are still people dedicated to keeping it going. Pretty much all of the local venues we grew up going to have closed, including our old favorites like The Pinch, The Black Cat, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel. Besides The Electric Maid which doesn’t do many shows anymore but that place will always be awesome. The best DC venue today is definitely Slash Run! We started going there because they were putting on amazing shows and then Matt started working in the kitchen. Some notable bands from or around DC nowadays are The Hips, Teen Cobra, Thee Deluxe, Teen Mortgage, Apollo 66 off the top of my head.
Susan: Comet Ping Pong had some great shows too, I got to see H.R. from Bad Brains play there. The manager was also one of the coolest dudes who would never turn away someone in need of a free meal.
Have you ever been to Detroit?
Matt: Unfortunately, I have not yet been to Detroit. The furthest in the Midwest I have gone to hang out is Chicago. Once I was flown out there to be on an episode of Judge Mathis and once drove to see Screeching Weasel and The Queers. I’ve always wanted to go, I like the tough, resilient attitude and obviously have always been huge fans of The Stooges and MC5. Once we can start playing shows again we are itching to get out of here and start touring so hopefully we will come through soon!
Susan: Fortunately, I got to spend a day in Detroit a few years ago. I ended up spending most of the day at the Motown Museum which was incredible! I’d love to go back and experience more of the city, and now because of Remove Records I’m sure we’ll have a list of local bands and stuff to check out!
What are you working on next?
Matt: We are in the process of recording our next EP now, hopefully it will be out within the next year.
Susan: I’m also excited to re-record our demo sometime. I had a bad case of pneumonia at the time of recording vocal tracks, but moreover, I like the slight transformations in how we play the songs since then.
How do you feel about the future of music/art?
M: Well...I do think a lot of popular culture is pretty lame nowadays but as long as there are still people going against the grain and making straight up rock ‘n’ roll I’m happy. It is not quite as popular as it used to be but maybe it is better that way, weeds out the people that are only doing it for the money. Art I am confident will always exist because without it, people would go mad. Imagine a world without T.V…
S: I’m really hopeful that we’re headed in a less corporate direction, as a whole, but especially with the arts. I got to study the evolution of art through time, cultures, and movements while majoring in art history. It’s like one giant conversation spanning space and time. Sometimes the conversation can get boring or irritating or corrupted. But what excites me about the future of art is that people appear increasingly interested in expressing their unique perspective and unafraid to make a genuine statement about what matters. In my opinion, commercialization is one of the worst things to happen to the arts. Hopefully we’ll see a shift in the sacrilegious trend of dulling and dumbing down media into a digestible formula to increase profitability. A less elitist future where people don’t feel they need permission to create and perform.
