INTERVIEW WITH VAUX
Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo[at]truepunk.com| with Quentin Smith, lead singer. 14 October 2006.
Hello Quentin! How are you doing and how is it going with VAUX in 2006 ?
Hi, Things are going well with VAUX. It’s been an interesting year marked by the “official” release of Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice. It’s great to finally have the album out and it’s starting to feel like we can now move forward. We’ve all been thinking of new songs and have just begun emailing around ideas.
After you self released your new album at your live shows, you finally released the new album “Beyond Virtue Beyond Vice” on Outlook Music. How do you feel like ?
It’s a huge relief to be able to walk into a store and see our album on the self. It’s been a long, trying road to get to this point and it’s very rewarding to have it all come together. Now we just need everyone to hear it. We are very proud of the finished album and hope that lots of people get to enjoy the blood, sweat and tears we poured into it.
Your new album had to come out on major label Lava, an Atlantic Records imprint. How did it happen that you had your full album recorded and decided to leave the label ?
Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice was supposed to come out on Atlantic/Lava. Unfortunately the team of people we worked with started to disintegrate just weeks before the release date. We were left in limbo right as the first single went to radio. Not a good place to be. Our album was out of everyone’s control, including the label. Fortunately we were lucky enough to get all the masters back. Atlantic was very respectable in our departure and gave us full ownership of all that we had worked together on.
You chose to self release your album on your own VX Records and Outlook: how did you decide this and why did not you get back to your older labels as Volcom or Equal Vision ?
After leaving Atlantic, we were in the unique position of owning our album. We didn’t want to turn around and “give” it to somebody else. That’s when we were approached by Outlook, they offered to licence the album from us. This was just what we were looking for, we could create our own label and use Outlooks’ resources to promote and distribute the album. It’s been a very positive relationship so far.
I read that some troubles happened when your disc came out on illegal peer to peer sites because of Atlantic mailing out promos. How did you react when you knew your disc was on illegal sites and your work was … fucked? What is your opinion on this sharing thing? Do iTunes and legal download sites really work?
ITunes is huge! I think there is a large part of the computer literate, music-loving demographic that doesn’t like to “steal” music. Itunes is a great, convenient solution to this problem. As far as people downloading our music for free?? Hmm, I’d rather have someone listen to our band and come to see us play than worry about album sales. Anyway that our band can reach people is acceptable in my eyes. Especially if you live in an area where it’s not readily available, like Europe. If lots of people have gotten Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice from friends or off the internet then that’s cool, just come watch us play when we are in town!
I know you had a song featured on iTunes for free download as song of the week: do you think this help independent bands?
Our song got over 250,000 downloads the week it was featured on iTunes. That is huge for a band like us that is trying to get exposure. We don’t have the budget of a Major where bands are literally crammed down your throat by the marketing machine. Having support from places like itunes helps out so much.
For the new release I think you added a new song entitled “Don’t Wait”, which I think was not on the album that had to come out on Atlantic – did you make some other change for “Beyond Virtue Beyond Vice”, expect the new cover art?
Adding “Don’t Wait” was the only change. The cover art was finished before we left Atlantic. I must admit that I like the hand-made versions the best. D.I.Y.!
For “Beyond Virtue Beyond Vice” you went to England to record, with Garrett Lee, who worked with the likes of U2 and Snow Patrol. From the final recordings, it sounds like you are slowly but constantly changing, from your first album which was very fast and aggressive, this new one has got slower moments. What makes you go on developing new sounds?
We’ve been a band for almost a decade now. Change is not only natural, but also what keeps things interesting. We are always up for a challenge musically. We just played a handful of acoustic shows on this last tour and they were a lot of fun. I was very nervous, as we’ve never done that kind of thing, but after we finished it felt like a major hurdle was crossed. Progression keeps us on our toes.
You released two EP’s : “Cocaine James” and “Are You With Me”, that features remixes of your songs. Who made them and how do you judge the final remixes ?
The EP’s were more of a vehicle to release the b-sides from the album. The “Are You With Me” remix was done by our guitarist, Chris Sorenson. Baltimore Ravens star player, Trevor Price did the new version of “Cocaine James.” I think it’s really fun to listen to a different interpretation of one of our songs. I’d love to hear the whole album remixed.
Following your summer dates on your Myspace blog and your Warped Tour shows, it looks like you had a lot of good times but bad times altogether. I mean, some bands cannot stand touring in a van and then quit the tour but from the pics I had the idea you had a lot of fun. How was this summer vacation experience ?
We try and make even the most trying times fun. This usually involves messing with unsuspecting passers-by. I’d say the highlights of our summer was the time spent in the van; playing cards, eating snacks and watching movies. It was a tough summer because we felt that we were playing on a travelling “marketing tour” that had more to do with promoting it’s sponsors than it’s bands.
Which is the new songs that you enjoyed the most playing live ?
Most days my favourite is “The Rope, The Pistol, The Candlestick.” I like the transition between the beginning and end, still gets me pumped and I’ve heard it a lot more than most.
So I read you started working on new songs for your next album: how is it going and what have you been working on so far ? What are the biggest changes or developments your fans should expect from VAUX ?
We are still in the early stages on new material. We are most likely going to approach writing differently this time around. I think this will keep the songs sounding new and keep us interested in the process. We are going to be emailing around ideas and adding to the ones we are sent. I’d like to build out very rough songs then go to a studio and really fill them out. The music will be as exciting and challenging as ever, that I can assure you of.
One last question: will you be able to come to Europe anytime soon ?
Europe is the number one priority in 2007. We have always felt that Europe would support our style of heavy, intelligent music in a way that no-where else could. I can’t wait to see things start moving in Europe.
I really thank you for taking time to answer to my questions. Good-bye & keep up the good work for your upcoming album!
Related Links:
wearevaux.com
myspace.com/vaux
