The Tex Avery Syndrome is at the cutting edge of Germany’s most wacko metal bands! The Frankfurt five-piece around power-front Laura Gierl have borrowed their band name from the legendary American cartoonist Tex Avery, who had once shaped world-famous characters like Bugs Bunny, Duffy Duck, or Porky Pig. Fits quite well, for this band is just as dashing as his cartoons.

In terms of music, The Tex Avery Syndrome are hurtling down the highway between modern metal and hardcore in an open convertible on the fast lane, picking up some classic rock influences here and there as they go, loving and living the force and the groove, a vital, pristine sound may unleash, allowing the energy to speed them up – carrying anyone along: a The Tex Avery Syndrome show will bang harder than a whole cartoon-load of dynamite, is more lunatic than the Looney Tunes, at least as hyperactive and breathless as a pursuit on Roadrunner and full of surprises!

Quite a few people’s eyes may have popped out, discovering that the rough, deep growls and the aggressive, virulent shouts run from the throat of Laura Gierl. Around the live wire on the microphone, Nico Meister (guitar & backing vocals), Christoph Kipper (guitar), Thomas Mück (bass), and Alex Stehle (drums) are sparking off a blazing inferno of electrifying guitar riffs, punchy baselines & raving beats. There’s wild moshing & raging, partying & churning the brain to the heart’s content. It’s time to get to know the band better – here’s our interview with Laura & Nico!

Well Carl from First Blood, who features the song, has been a friend of mine for many years. I am so happy he moved to Berlin, I wanted him to come to Frankfurt and have him in the video, then COVID-19 came. We postponed the shoot. Things did not get better so we re-thought the video. The entire video has been a „follow the restrictions“ lockdown video. We projected Carl via Zoom onto a white wall live, it’s been such a fun experience. It came out better than expected.

Laura about their brand new video, “All Is Not Lost”

Childhood:

Laura: I started singing in a choir when I was 5 or 6 years old, at around 10 I started to listen to rock and grunge music, and within the next years, the music became heavier. I felt like clean singing does not entirely represent how I feel. I had a lot of sadness and anger inside of me and with metal music, I finally felt understood. I always enjoyed singing and screaming along in my car or during shows, with 19 and joining Reckless I started to professionally work on screaming and growls.
When I started to dress all in black with spike belts and necklaces and going out to metal shows I must say my parents started to be a little worried. They supported me in my hobbies and did not ask me to stop, but I could tell that they could not so much identify with it and always have been a little afraid I might end with the „wrong people“. No one in my family was like me. It got better when I showed them our first videos. My mum came to some shows and saw the development of the band and the recognition we got. Since then they have been fully supportive, realizing how much of a great community metal can be.

Beginnings:

Laura: Some of us have known each other for a long time. For example Nico our guitar player and Thomas on bass. I think I was around 14 when we met the first time and started hanging out at shows and in clubs. I met Christoph and Alex (our former Drummer) when I was 19. They played in a metal band together called Reckless. My roommate at this time was their singer but quit. I rehearsed one or two evenings with them and became their new singer. We went along for like a year or two, but the ideas of how our music was supposed to sound so different, that we called it quits.

Nico: Alex, Christoph, Laura, and the bass player at this time, Leo formed The Tex Avery Syndrome. At some point, Laura asked me to join. Since we needed a new bass player, since Leo moved to Australia, she also asked Thomas if he would switch from guitar to bass for us and become a member of ours. We have a new drummer since last year, another “Nico”, he is a longtime friend of the band.

Behind the name:

Nico: We wanted to have a band name that is not too evil or that contains any word that you have heard all over again within the past years.

Laura: We know we make heavy and dark music but we are in general fun people. We enjoy music, friendship and good times so we wanted to find a matching name. Tex Avery has shaped world-famous characters like Bugs Bunny, Duffy Duck or Porky Pig. When you watch his cartoons you realize it’s not only fun it also has its dark sides. His cartoons are fast, wild, and dashing, similar to us on stage and how we love to mobilize our crowd.

Inspiration:

Laura: I live for music and I believe music can change the world and support and empower people. I love to travel and find my inspiration also on the road. We are all inspired by different genres and music and we leave room for that in our music, too.

Nico: I totally agree. Music has the power to heal and to unite. It feels like this is something we currently need more than ever. For me personally, it’s a huge opportunity to be able to write and listen to music we created together as friends. To show this music to a group of people at live concerts, and they enjoy it is incredible!

Inspiration behind the debut album, Origin:

Nico: The origin era was tough times for us and you can definitely hear that in the music and lyrics. A lot of us struggled with the loss and death of loved ones and very close family members.

Laura: The artwork was done by Mark Kowalchuk,

he does artwork for In Flames and Anders clothing line „Clayman“, but also designs for big skateboard and snowboard companies. I met him during the „In Our Room“ tour by In Flames. He was doing live painting on stage. Great guy! He does not often work with bands, we are so glad to have him on board.

About the artwork of “Origin”

Laura: I battled depression and used music as my outlet. It’s been a struggle for so many in the band, things didn’t go as smooth as planned, and so on. We grew so much along that way. I am proud of how we have handled all of it and how we grew stronger and became even more of a family. We are working on a new album and you can hear and see that we have learned a lot from the origin process. I can’t wait for everyone to hear the new songs. Lyrically I can say they are less looking for faults on the inside and more addressing the surroundings. More confident, less desperate. The music is stronger too.

We are working on a new album. We are planning to release a new song in the first half of next year and are excited for everyone to hear our new stuff.

Nico

COVID-19:

Nico: We are super, super sad that we did not get to play any shows this year. We had shows booked in Europe. Our first shows outside of Germany. We have been so stoked and proud. Gladly most shows got postponed.

Laura: One positive thing is that our drummer could now connect fully to the band. Writing his own songs instead of going on tour with songs someone else wrote. I know he does not mind playing Alex’s grooves, but putting his input into the band made our bond stronger and also helped us grow.

Online concert:

Laura: I think online shows are a little stale now. Everyone does it or tried to do it. People got tired of it. I would definitely record a show and give people the opportunity to watch it. But a live show should be great quality or unique by now and if you can’t make that happen I would give the advice to not do it.

Laura: Some will kill me if I do tell too much. (smiles) I can tell that wet toilet paper wipes are a thing in the Band. They talk about it like it’s some sort of a holy grail.

Nico: There was a coincidence happening during one of our festival open-air gigs some years ago. The hair of our guitarist got caught in the bass head of our bass player. It took them about a minute or two to “solve the problem” as they continued playing the song (and laughed). You’ll find proof somewhere on Youtube!

Fun Facts