Mike Vukovich shares the music around with humour
Mike Vukovich of Jackets, Zuffalo, and Manning and The Vook, has a bizarre sense of humour.
The vocalist/bass player says the name of his band, Zuffalo, comes from a list of ‘lost’ words. “Zoofilo is apparently an Italian flute,” he explains. “It is meant to teach birds how to sing, how to fly or be your friend ... I have no idea,” he admits with a laugh. “So we thought, OK, let’s make it Zuffalo.”
His other band, Jackets are about to release their sophomore album. “We recorded it two or three years ago but that is finally getting released!” proclaims Vukovich. “It’s called “(Jackets)” or Jacket in brackets!” says Vukovich, adding the band will première the new album in January 2019. The members of Jackets include Vukovich on bass and vocals, Mackenzie Jordan on vocals and guitar, and Sandy Martin on vocals and guitar.
Vukovich says he always wanted to play bass. “I was at a campfire thing with my family and some guy was playing electric bass. I could not take my eyes off it. That’s what I gotta do!” exclaims Vukovich.
He met “Mac,” a.k.a. Jackets singer/guitarist/producer Mackenzie Jordan, when the pair were teaching music and doing sound at the old Maxwell’s Music House in Waterloo.
“There was a little music scene going on,” recalls Vukovich. “We hooked up. We knew we liked The Beatles and jammed some Beatles together and then that was OK. Then Mac said, ‘How about you join the band?’
Jackets released “Endless Endless” in 2014, featuring a mix of jammin’ roots/rock and roll — from Jerry Lee Lewis infused rocker “Meet Me on The Border” and Vukovich’s Beatles meets Little Feat track “Big Wendy” to the quirky “Always Ending” and sister song “Everything’s Wrong.”
“Sometimes we just jam writing songs, especially during a lot of the early times. We would just start a practice and then it would become a half-hour or an hour jam. We would write songs based on the riff that came out of that,” says Vukovich. “Everything’s Wrong” is just a minute of a crazy jam that we had.”
Vukovich loves vinyl and the vibe of ’70s. That’s easily discerned in his distinctive psychedelic look. The only thing missing is a flower-power painted Volkswagen van which would be a perfect touring bus for psychedelic-funk “celebration of life” dance groovesters Zuffalo.
The band consists of Vukovich on bass, partner/keyboard player Kim Manning, and Sean Steele on guitar. Drummers have included Drew Austin, Eddie Max and Adam Bernstein.
Their rich sound is a paisley mix of Cream, The Grateful Dead, Yes, Little Feat and Tom Petty meets vintage Hollies and the Kinks seasoned with Sgt. Pepper-esque Beatles.
Vukovich says his duo, Manning and The Vook, is a strippeddown version of both bands.
“We play Zuffalo and we play Jackets — more songs that don’t fit on a bigger scale. I think it is cool to mix all of our music in one big pot. There’s not “this band” and “that band,” he says.
“We did my Jackets song “Big Wendy” last night at a Zuffalo show. It is not necessarily like a marriage that way. It’s not, ‘you played my song!’ It is all in the family right?”