For many bands touring the country, Burlington has left a particular impression.

The Heavy Pets are coming back to Nectar’s as part of their “Heavy Planet” tour featuring Backup Planet.

Originally from the Northeast but now based in Florida, The Heavy Pets is made up of friends made throughout different points in life extending from childhood to college, lead singer Jeff Lloyd said.

They blend a wide variety of genres ranging everywhere from funk to reggae, according to the band’s website.

The diversity of the band is something that fans appreciate, first-year Maggie Hallahan said.
“I love the different styles The Heavy Pets bring into their music. It’s nice to have different songs or albums I can listen to when I am in certain moods,” Hallahan. “I’m definitely going to try to go to the show.”

“At the heart of it, it’s all just rock and roll music,” Lloyd said. “We’ve got five different song writers in this band so with that right there you’re going to get a lot of different influences that are going to become part of the music”.

The band’s inspirations are as diverse as their songs. Lloyd was inspired by a variety of artists ranging from Stevie Wonder all the way to Nirvana, he said.

Lloyd also acknowledges the impact that UVM’s own Phish has had on his writing and view of music.

“Phish really kind of expanded my musical views almost into a third dimension and went on to impact the way I played and the way I thought,” he said. “The limitations that I thought of for a rock and roll band were just thrown out the window.”

Though the band’s earlier works are very influenced by these groups, they are trying to expand into different styles now, Lloyd said. He said their newer music is moving further in a direction that is more their own.

The band is currently working on their first self produced album in over 10 years. “We are really creatively hitting a new stride,” he said “We are working on a new record which has really been incredibly rewarding for us and inspiring. It’s been a huge creative catalyst.”

The band has covered much of the Southeastern U.S. on their current tour and had particularly fun shows in Atlanta and Nashville but also look forward to coming to Burlington, Lloyd said.
“We definitely are playing music in the spirit of something that was created right there and putting our own little twist on it,” Lloyd. “There’s a long history of music that has come out of Burlington which has had a huge influence on us and we’re interested in trying to go back and pay our respects.”

Heavy Pets will perform at Nectar’s at 7 p.m. April 22.

“We are really feeling it right now and I think that that is coming across, at least from reactions we get,” Lloyd said. “I think that they the audience get it.”