VasDeferens: The teen Toowoomba band is more than just a cheeky name

Find out how a science lesson led to the creation of Toowoomba’s fun new music acts and how you can catch them at this year’s Battle of the Bands competition.

ROCK ON: Find out how a Year 8 science lesson led to the creation of one of Toowoomba’s most exciting new music acts and how you can catch them at Battle of the Bands. Three of the four VasDeferens band members (from left) Matt Smith, Hugh Lawrie and Will White rehearsing in Will’s mum’s garage. Picture: Nev Madsen.

What do you get when you combine four good teenage mates, some musical talent and a provocative name?
A ripper Toowoomba garage band brimming with youth and potential called VasDeferens – and they’re making a name for themselves at this year’s Battle of the Bands.

Three of the four VasDeferens band members (from left) Matt Smith, Hugh Lawrie and Will White. Picture: Nev Madsen

“We were in our Year 8 biology class learning about the reproductive system, and when we heard the name VasDeferens Matt (Smith) turned to me and said ‘that would make a great band name’ and it just kind of stuck,” drummer Hugh Lawrie, 16, said.

The Toowoomba State High School Students did admit there was a brief period where they went by another name, but it was only a short lived segway.
“For about a month we were called Cattle Sap because we really, really like milk,” bassist Matt Smith, 15, said.

“But we went back to VasDeferens pretty soon because Cattle Sap kinda sucked.”
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the ductus deferens, also called vas deferens is a thick-walled tube in the male reproductive system transporting sperm cells from the epididymis, where the sperm are stored.

Lead guitarist Will White and vocalist Declan Austin, both 15, make up the biologically well-versed four-piece band who have been good mates since primary school.

They formed VasDeferens at the end of 2019 but only started playing gigs this May.

Will White and Matt Smith practising in Will’s garage. Picture: Nev Madsen

“We recently played in the Toowoomba Busking Festival and at the Met Hotel, so the Battle of the Bands is kind of our first big gig,” Smith said.

“Right now we’re just trying to polish off a couple of our songs and set list as well as write some more originals, but it’s a little tricky when our front man is a couple of hours away.”

Unfortunately the band hit a roadblock in 2019 when Austin moved to Brisbane, but the foursome pooled their pocket money to purchase bus tickets for him to come back on weekends for rehearsals for over two years before everyone got part-time jobs in fast-food outlets to pay for their expensive music habit this year.

“It was pretty hard losing Declan to be honest, because he’s probably the most musically gifted of the group, but we are all determined to keep the band going and we FaceTime him all the time about chords and riffs, because he writes most of the music,” Lawrie said.

Hugh Lawrie is the drummer of VasDeferens. Picture: Nev Madsen

The mateship is present in the band’s heavy but fun rock sound, which they credit to their wide and varying taste in music.

“We’re still figuring out our sound, but we love everything from death metal to jazz and we love the bands Violent Soho, Deaf Tones and Metallica, so I guess they are some our biggest inspirations,” Will White said.

“But our parents and school teachers have been really supportive of the band and all the loud rehearsing. Big thanks to mum for letting us turn the garage into our practice space and Mark Chalmers from Mt Lofty for all of his support.”

Three of the four VasDeferens band members (from left) Matt Smith, Hugh Lawrie and Will White. Picture: Nev Madsen

You can catch VasDeferens at Tatts Hotel on Sunday, August 1 at about 3pm and at the Toowoomba Battle of the Bands Competition on August 7 at the Powerhouse from 3pm before the final round of the competition takes place on Thursday, August 19 in Grand Central from 5.30pm.