New Sensations: An Interview with The Vaccines

 
The Vaccines came out of nowhere. This past fall, NME sent a writer to a gig of theirs and that seemed to be it: they exploded. The band were an enigma to music journalists and fans when word began to spread. They didn’t even have a website, Facebook page or record deal: they simply had a few songs that floated around the Internet.

In just a few months things changed drastically for the London four-piece. They signed with Columbia, played Jools Holland, did a few shows in the US that gained them attention and even got themselves a nice little website , Facebook page  and Twitter account. Just before the band took SXSW, they released their much-anticipated debut, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? to stellar reviews. I spoke to singer Justin Young about the band’s beginnings, recording and making it in America.

Salvatore: How did the band come together?

Justin Young: A friend of ours actually started this band (but quit pretty quickly) and convinced Freddie and me to join. Pete and Arni came a couple of months later. The idea was just to have some fun. We had a practice room we could use for free, so we just met up a few times and wrote some songs.

Being a band from London that plays skuzzy surf-rock, is kind of not the ‘norm’ of what one thinks of when thinking of that city. What are your inspirations? Does the city inspire you?

Often, not sounding like you’re from a certain place, when in fact you are, comes down to wanting to be something you’re not. With us, though, I feel it’s more about escapism and paying tribute to the music we listen to. Having said that, London inspires me, and us as a band, massively. All I sing about is the city’s people and places. I’m inspired by those around me and events in my life. And, as I live in London, it’s only natural that it’s going to inspire me.

Within less than a year, the buzz around this band has been tremendous, how do you explain it?

I can’t really explain buzz. Bands don’t start the buzz themselves. People do tend to get excited about things very quickly. It’s flattering but it’s important to remember that people lose interest just as quickly. It can be dangerous. We have a lot of faith in ourselves as a band and the music we are playing, though, so it is nice to feel validation. I do think a lot of it is down to the fact that there are very few guitar bands with pop sensibilities coming through at the moment.

You did not even have an EP to accompany this buzz; does that add pressure to your live shows to really deliver on the hype?

Not really. As we’re not the ones making bold statements, the pressure isn’t really on our shoulders. It’s on the shoulders of the people talking it up. That said, we’re always keen to prove ourselves. When we play, we want people to feel an energy and excitement. We want people to enjoy themselves and to love the songs. You should always feel pressure to perform and deliver. Hype or no hype.

How was it working on your debut?

We’ve done it very quickly and simply in a virtually live set-up with very few overdubs. We wanted to capture a moment and an energy that we feel we achieve live. You’ve got to make your first album first.

It seems to be a trend now that surf pop is coming back in a big way, with bands such as yourself, Soft Pack, The Drums, Male Bonding, Surfer Blood. Do you think more bands will emerge with this style? Why do you think it is making such big waves again?

I actually wouldn’t put us in the same category as any of those bands. I think it’s a side to us, but not the most important thing. Obviously, when one band comes along and does well or sounds good, it inspires a bunch of other people to do something similar. But I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that the music that the bands you mention seem to be inspired by is simple and fun and often sonically very interesting. Revivalism is so inherent within the culture of new bands and new music that it’s inevitable all forms of good pop music experience a renaissance at some point.

With The Guardian, NME and various music blogs praising you, you have been critical favourites. How do you respond to such high acclaim? Does this add pressure to fine-tuning your craft?

I think I’ve answered this already. Every band feels pressure to perform. We really love what we do and we loved what we did before other people had an opinion about it. We’ve worked very hard to get our music to a point where we’re proud of it. We don’t read anything written about us. If you believe all the positive stuff, you have to believe the negative stuff. That’s distracting and, as soon as you start questioning what you do, it’s game over. We just focus on what we’re doing. Even if no one was talking about us, we’d want to make a great record and play great shows.

The way you have been introduced to the world has been very mysterious. Not much is still known about you but the basics. What would you like people to know about you that you feel is important and what may surprise them?

We actually feel we’ve told people everything that is relevant. People know our names, what we look like, what we’ve done in the past and the music we play. That’s more than I know about a lot of people! It’s funny that people thought we were trying to be secretive with our blog. We didn’t expect anyone to want to know anything, so that’s why we didn’t tell anyone anything. The blog is actually quite revealing. It’s a pretty wide-ranging insight into our influences and inspiration.

So, after all the buzz, you proved your worth to those that may still be sceptical or never heard of you before on Jools Holland. What was that like?

That was so great. It was an honour. Quite surreal! I’m sure a few eyebrows were raised, as it was very early to do it, but I don’t think there is a better way to prove yourself than to play your songs with passion to as many people as possible. I’m happy to be judged on our songs. That’s fair.

What is going through your head taking the stage each night to a crowd who are begging to see you?

We all get nervous about putting on a good show. The best shows are the ones where you feel natural and when you feel like the audience are enjoying themselves. I think we’re preoccupied with thoughts of playing to the best of our ability!

With everything that has happened to you in the last 12 months, do you think you are ready to take on America?

Yes! I can’t wait to go and give America what we’ve got.

I ask this of many foreign acts: is it a big deal for you to make it big in the US?

Yes, but no bigger than it is anywhere else. That said, the USA has inspired all of us massively. Culturally and musically. It’s a very important part of this very English band!

Salvatore Bono is a lifelong music-lover who has attended countless concerts and spoken to nearly 200 artists. In 2006, he started the music website www.officiallyayuppie.com, on which a version of this article appears. He is also a corresponding music blogger for The Huffington Post and he currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

ShareThis