Australian band, The Vanns came to our attention a good few months ago and after hearing ‘Guilty Love’ we were hooked. Uplifting melodies, soaring indie vocals, infectious surf rock rhythms and engaging lyricism make The Vanns just too good to pass up.
We caught up with the band for an introduction into The Vanns – from where they started to where they are now, and we also got them to teach us some Australian lingo.
Can you give us a brief history of how you came together as a band?
Lachie: “Jimmy and Adam met at school in woodwork and decided they’d like to start a band, but they needed a drummer. I joined after we all met at a party and got way too drunk.”
What was the first gig that you personally went to yourself as a punter? Do you think your first live gig experience had any influence on who you are today – did it spur you on to start your own band?
Adam: “I saw Wolfmother about 7 years ago, even though I was really young, it made me realise how much live music should be appreciated. It made it look like playing in bands was great fun.”
Do you remember your very first gig together? How did it go?
Jimmy: “Pretty terrible. Played a dodgy venue in Wollongong for a little band comp and we got so beat. But it made us push each other harder to come up with some awesome stuff for next time.”
How do you feel the band has evolved since taking those first steps on to a stage?
Adam: “We’re a lot tighter as a band, which is because we jammed so often in the first couple years.”
You’re no strangers to performing live, and you have gained a lot of fans in doing so. So I wanted to ask, what does playing a gig for your fans mean to you?
Lachie: “We’ve realised that the most exposure we can get is just through touring and playing live, so we try to make it the most important part of what we do, and the more we hit the road, the tighter we get as a unit which makes the show even better.”
What’s your favourite song to perform live?
Jimmy: “Don’t Hold Me Back. It’s been in the set since we first started gigging. It always closes the set and it’s just super fun.”
Do you still get nervous before gigs?
Adam: “No. We’ve played a fair bit so it’s just kind of normal to be on stage now.”
Do you remember the first song you ever wrote and if you do, can you tell us a bit about it?
Lachie: “Don’t Hold Me Back. At the time, we were listening to a lot of Jinja Safari, and it can be heard in the track, but it was just the most fun song we could come up with at the time. We still play it today, which means we must’ve done a good job with it.”
If you were to take a classic song by another artist – a song that you love and give it The Vanns treatment. What song would you pick and why?
Lachie: “Roses by Outkast. They’re one of the bands we froth over, so giving them the ole Vanns treatment would be pretty loose. Might start working it out now.”
We’d love to learn some Australian phrases and sayings. Can you teach us some?
If something is a bit weird, describe it as “a bit how ya goin”. For example “See that guy talking to that tree over there? He’s a bit how ya goin.”
Froth means that you just really like something. ‘Look at that babe. She is frothing.’
Loose means that, whatever you’re talking about is pretty wild. ‘We’re going to get loose tonight.’
—
