Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned Aberdeen band Vansleep to find out more…
Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the band name?
The band comprises of Kyle MacRitchie (Vocals & Guitar), Keir Smith (Guitar), Bryn McLernon (Backing Vocals & Bass Guitar) and Bilal Benzahia (Drums). Kyle and Bryn met at school, then picked up Keir and Bilal through the local Aberdeen music scene. The band name is something that was picked because we thought it sounded good to the ear and rolls off the tongue easy enough! Avoiding a name that started with “The” was a conscious effort.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Our main influences when growing up were Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro and Arctic Monkeys. All remain big influences for us while these days we take a lot of influence from bands such as Interpol, Editors, The Ninth Wave and Man of Moon. We enjoy dark sounding music so we always like to keep our ears open to new stuff that could inspire some of our own writing.
How would you describe your sound?
Our sound is much less in the way of Indie Rock than it is Alternative Rock, almost all song ideas that have been worked on in rehearsal have had a “moodier” vibe to them than previous. Although that being said we would still describe our sound as Indie-Alternative Rock with touches of Post-Punk.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our latest release is the single Chambers. It’s a song about departure and losing someone from your life, geographically speaking. The lyrics I feel give off quite a self deprecating vibe. Could have done more kind of thing, while overall musically it carries that more moody, Post-Punk vibe that we’ve been into.
What’s your local music scene like?
Aberdeen has quite a varied music scene, with venues that cater to slightly different styles of music between them. We have a big group of bands that are all friends with one another which makes for a great network of people supporting each other doing what they love.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
As with a lot of bands, COVID has interfered massively with our plans but within the next 12 months we hope to get back to gigging in some form along with some more released music, with one song in particular hopefully out before the end of this year!
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
All of us could agree that being able to collaborate with someone such as Josh Homme would be an amazing opportunity given his talents as not only a songwriter but a producer. Working with Josh Homme on any level would be a pretty mind blowing for us. As a producer he is someone I (Kyle) look to as someone who can do no wrong…
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
We have played with one too many drinks more than a few times. It’s something that happened back in the very early days, never now of course!
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
The only thing people need to know is where to find our music! Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, Amazon etc…you can reach us pretty much anywhere.
You can find out more about Vansleep via Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Twitter or YouTube.
HOME 