You can take Old Mervs out of the Great Southern town of Kojonup, but you can’t take Kojonup out of Old Mervs.
The two-man WA band have proven their indie rock knows no limits as they arrive home from their second US tour, and dive into an Aussie jaunt with new music from their sophomore album Carparks, released on Friday.
Comprising lead vocalist and guitarist Dave House, 27, and drummer and backing vocalist Henry Carrington-Jones, 26, the laid-back pair grew up together on farms three hours south of Perth and have always found their way back home.
Speaking to The Sunday Times at the Fremantle Arts Centre this week — where they’ll play on October 31 — the childhood mates are continually surprised by their global impact.
“The amount of weird towns we’ve been to that are in the middle of Florida and things like that — You’re just kind of going, ‘How on Earth, and why are you guys here?’ It sort of blows our mind, but it is cool, you definitely don’t get used to it,” House said.
Breaking through in 2020 with their single since Cellphone, Old Mervs released a steady stream of music until dropping their self-titled debut album in March 2025, which reached number one on Australia’s ARIA Chart.
And in 2026 alone, they’ve played a regional Australian tour, headlined more than a dozen North American shows, played some of the US’ biggest festivals, and toured the UK.
By year’s end, Old Mervs will have hit the stage an impressive 85 times.
The mad Dockers fans even rocked Freo merch while performing abroad in recent months, and flew direct from Los Angeles to the MCG to witness a heartbreaking grand final defeat.
“I saw Liam Gallagher yell at a fan or something about footy, and I think I just randomly wore a footy jersey to a show once when we played that day, and I think we won . . . and sort of just kept doing it,” Carrington-Jones said.
The pair have had little time to dwell on Freo’s most recent result, turning their attention to pleasing their own fans with a six-show Aussie tour kicking off on October 9 in Melbourne.
Old Mervs will be supported in Fremantle by The Pretty Littles and Ghost Care, and will gift a guest spot to the winners of their Uncovered Competition as they look to unearth the next local talent.
While their new singles Adeline, Tether, and Old Friend may have an implicit link to life down south, the band members don’t believe they must be home to craft music rich in place and belonging.
“Kojonup is a fair chunk of who we are,” House said.
“I learnt guitar just after school, and our first ever jam together was there which is really cool. So that’s a sentimental kind of thing to look back on.”
When the old mates do return home, they’re genuinely put to work.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not also respite from their extensive touring.
“We both definitely like going home and chilling out, and when I say chilling out, basically working on the farm, doing fencing or jumping on tractors for a bit of seasonal work, harvesting or seeding, sheep work as well,” Carrington-Jones said.
House adds, “The difference between sheep work now is when I’m yelling, I’m cautious that I’ve gotta look after my vocal cords.”
In recent months, the singer’s vocals had been echoed from stages shared by heavy-hitters The Kooks, Lorde, and The Prodigy.
Despite Old Mervs’ regular inclusion on global indie rock bills and proximity to big-name artists, the band members don’t feel they’ve changed all that much.
And “no matter how big” they get themselves, they hope their lifestyle never changes, and that regional venues continue to host them.
“I always say to people, if one day we made a billion dollars, I don’t think I would really change anything. I’d just have a heap of nice cars and buy a nice house,” Carrington-Jones said.
