A Quick Chat with The Vasco Era

Huge congratulations on the release of your second comeback single ‘Everybody’s Talking About It’ — what can you share about the themes you explore on this track?
Everybody's Talking About It is like a bragging kind of song, like they used to do in the ‘olden days’. “Yeah everybody's talking about it but they're not doing it, but I'm not talking about it.” There's a bit of irony there because I am actually talking about it, even though I say I’m not talking about it. The other little trick of the song is that I say I'm not talking about it and then do a guitar solo a few different times… so the idea is that the guitar solo is the doing as opposed to the talking about it, but you know, it's not really doing anything is it? But that's the idea — I'm not talking about it, you're talking about things and not doing anything, but I am not talking about it because I'm doing a guitar solo (lol). Then there's just a stream of consciousness play on the word 'who' a bunch of times and then a play on the word 'take' a bunch of times and then another guitar solo, so yeah. The song is essentially an ironic bragging song, but the main idea is to channel energy. Lots of energy.

You’re playing a surprise (and free!) afternoon show at The Tote front bar on Saturday, August 9th. What can we expect?
We’ll play as loud as we can. But then there will be bits where we will sing as sweet as we can. Overall, lots of loud instruments and yelling.

And importantly, what time should we get there?
The show kicks off in the afternoon — 2:30pm. We are on around 4pm.

We also heard you announced a headliner at The Corner on October 11th. Can we expect the usual riff-raff of an old school Vasco show?
Yes, but more so. The louds are heavier and the quiets are sweeter.

You mixed ‘Everybody’s Talking About It’—like all the songs on the upcoming album—with Greg Rietwyk (Lunchroom Records). What can you tell us about this process?
We recorded the track with Matt Blach from The Murlocs/Beans, then mixed it with Greg. It was the first take! It was recorded live apart from the guitar solos, which were overdubbed.

On that, what can you tease in relation to the new album, out September?
The album is broken into two halves, which if you're listening on vinyl is Side A and Side B. The point of the first side of the album is to try to capture the ENERGY of the world. It is supposed to have more energy than Iggy Pop’s Fun House. That was the brief. It consists of drum rolls, guitar solos, yelling, bass fills and a little bit of distorted drum machine. The point of the second side of the album was to capture some beauty in this godforsaken land. The brief was to be more beautiful than Roy Orbison’s greatest hits. It consists of slow songs, chords, strings and crooning. I think we may have succeeded in all this, but I’m unsure.

Finally, a 13 year hiatus between records — tell us, where have you all been? Can you each list the best book you’ve read in that time, or the best gig you’ve been to. The pressure is on.
Sid – best book is Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, or however you spell it. The last memorable thing I read was in To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It took the whole book to lead up to ‘the lighthouse’ and then all of a sudden it was years later and everything was broken.
Ted – best gig I've seen is Tinariwen supported by Michael Kiwanuka at Montreux Jazz Festival. Lots of warmth in the room.
Michael – the best book I've read is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. Although it comes with a disclaimer: it is one of the most brutal, full-on pieces of writing I have ever read, and the actual process of reading it is almost traumatic. After you have finished, it sits with you for a long, long time.