Welcome to the weekend – a couple of days off when you should have plenty of time to explore the wonderful world of music. It’s our pleasure to kickstart your journey with Vanity… who we’ve featured before after a fashion! They were previously known as Vanity Draws Blood and we had them as Band of the Day in early 2015!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are based around the South London area, we are all fairly local to each other.
How did you meet?
Most of us met through friends on nights out, the only 2 members that knew each other previously before joining were Ryan (vocalist) and Elliot (guitarist). As the band has gone on we have grown to be more of a family than a bunch of mates.
How long have you been playing as a band?
The band started in 2010 but the current line-up wasn’t founded until 2012. The first few years were spent trying to work out how everything works in the music industry. We had no clue! After a few of the original members left and we got new members in we didn’t really start to find our sound until our first official EP I Witness. That’s when we started to gel and come together during the writing process.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Vanity Draws Blood was the original band name when it first started up. There wasn’t any deep meaning behind it. As we have grown and matured as a band we decided now would be a good time to shorten it to Vanity alongside the release of our new musical direction.
What are your influences?
As a band we have a diverse collection of personal music tastes and influences ranging from classical to country, from grime to metal. We also draw influences from movie and game soundtracks. We apply our own individual ideas and come together to create hard hitting rhythms and vocals, melodic leads and ambient soundscapes.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We always strive to write music that is more than just a song. We come together with an idea, theme or an emotion and work hard to reflect that in what we write.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Perspective // Dread has a much more darker lyrical theme which is portrayed through powerful metaphors and symbolism to reflect an internal struggle between light and dark, good and evil. Perspective // Empathy has a much more personal lyrical theme that comes from our own personal struggles and life experiences.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We have lost count of the amount of shows we have played over the years. We’ve recently done a tour with Chelsea Grin in Russia and can honestly say they were some of the best shows we have ever played. It was the first time playing in Russia and the reception we received was unforgettable. When we play a show we always try and keep the crowd captivated with our energy and you can see how passionate we are about what we do.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We once had a piggyback wall of death at one of our shows which was hilarious to see happen. If you want wildest thing to have seen, it will always come down to Download Festival, seeing bands like DevilDriver set the record for the largest circle pit or Rammstein’s pyrotechnics are awe inspiring.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Our vocalists don’t use anything special just your standard SM58s. Our guitarists and bassist all use Line 6 POD HD Pro X’s, they are fantastic units especially for the price you pay and give us the flexibility we need. In terms of guitars, one of our guitarists uses a Mayones Setius 7 string and other uses an Ibanez RG421. Our bassist has a Squier VM Jazz Bass and all of us use D’addario strings as we found they were long lasting and extremely reliable for touring. Finally, our drummer has a Mapex Horizon drum kit and Demon Drive pedals. In terms of cymbals, he uses Sabian. They have a great build quality with plenty of character and versatile enough to work in almost any style of music.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We have just released our new music video “Tranquil” which you can view on our YouTube channel (or scroll down!). We will be releasing our new EP Perspective // Empathy on the 22nd September which is currently available to pre-order from iTunes.
What are your plans for the rest of 2017?
We aim to focus our attention on further growth as a band musically, we are always looking for ways to develop and be inspired by a range of influences. On completion of Perspective//Empathy we had already envisioned the next step musically, which will be another drastic change for us. Using the range of musical influences we accumulate, the music we are already writing is another exciting step into the unknown for us. As well as working on this we are planning a couple of tours to see the year out and push this release with the emotional expression it was written in.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We would love to support either Periphery or Northlane. Both bands have been huge influences to us and to have a chance to play alongside them would be an incredible experience. We would also have our hometown friends in Confessions of a Traitor join us on the lineup. We have played many shows together and would love to share that experience with them.
From previous (scary) Band of the Day Yovel: Will you just stand and wait, until the day they seal our fate?
We should go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of the whole thing to blow over.
From another BotD, Halflives: What do you like most and what do you like least about touring?
The best part about touring is travelling to new places, meeting new people and playing amazing shows. The worst part of touring is the lack of sleep, long drives in a cramped van and wondering when the next shower will be! There’s only so long you can last on baby wipes and deodorant.
And from Crejuvent: Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?
Because they are carrion eaters waiting for me to drop dead so they can eat my flesh……
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