With Van She on the war path ahead of the release of V I managed to score a sneaky interview with Mikey from the group (and Van She Tech, yo) which never actually made it to print, so it's blog-only now, I guess. Works for me. Copy et paste.D: It feels like forever since that first EP came out. It kind of felt like you guys had disappeared there. What’s happened since then guys? Why the delay?
M: Well in short we got side tracked by techno, blame the MPC for that one. So in the end we went to the UK with a load of tunes we thought would make a good record and recorded them with Jim Abiss the product of which is being released in early August…fingers crossed.
How do you guys think you’ve changed as Van She since releasing the first EP? I spoke to Matt back then as part of the promo and he definitely emphasised that the EP was very much the sound of a band just getting started. How have things progressed?
Yes the band was like a new born child learning to breath a lot has changed in the world we live in and I think we have developed as friends, as lovers and as human beings so the album is a representation of this, a culmination of experiences and emotions.
The self-titled EP covered a lot of territory, from the bubbly, John Hughes-y Kelly to something darker like Survive, but from the first signs of V (the Cat and the Eye and Strangers) the album sounds very very diverse. Can you drop some hints about the whole thing? What can we expect?
We wanted it to have depth, it would have been easy to write ten more Kelly’s but then it would just be same same. There is a song on the record called It Could Be the Same which has that Van She Tech grind to it but then there is the opening track which has been best described as a prog rock opus, so it’s all over the place but in the same place.
What was the recording process like?
We had a ball so many adventures so little ink, were still recovering from it we were there for three months. We would be in the studio all week then on the weekends would go and DJ we played Stockholm, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris and at this really cool party in Glasgow called Record Players. As for the recording Most of the initial ideas were done here in Sydney then we went and met Jim to refine spit and polish.
Are you guys satisfied with the final result? Obviously you’ve taken your time to get things right, but does everything indeed feel that it’s in its right place finally?
Well I think that things can always be better but if it wasn’t for deadlines and budgets things would never get “finished” the number of times we wrote and then re-wrote songs is ridiculous but in answer to your question yes we are happy with the final product.
Moving on to the Van She Tech side of things, I’ve always been curious about why you guys decided to branch out into the realm of remixes and more club-ready stuff. Was it a natural transformation for you guys from the band to the production suite?
Yeah we all met in these environments and we love disco so when we got offered to do the Presets Are You the One remix we jumped and then from there it rolled.
What’s your favourite part of remixing? I remember speaking to Knightlife about it and he said he enjoyed it since it meant he could work with an existing idea and not have to start everything from scratch.
I love Knightlife, what a rocking G! I would say in general it’s when it’s finished and you hear it in a club.
Comparing your older remixes to some of your newer stuff (like the Osawa mix and even the Dragonette remix) there’s a noticeable difference in the scope of sounds involved. Do you guys feel you’ve developed more and are experimenting a bit more nowadays?
Totally, for example we did a kind of R&B intro to our Feist mix. We have to push our own boundaries but be careful not to get too loose, I mean people don’t book a VST mix if they want free jazz!
Is there a really shit side of it too? Like having a remix rejected? You guys seemed to take a break from remixing (to focus on V, I presume) for a while, right? Did you get sick of it?
There is one that got rejected…shhhhhhh. Yeah we had to focus on our own tunes not other peoples.
Which remix are you guys most proud of?
Personally, the Klaxons because when we did it we were not sur about it, I mean we didn’t think too much about it we just did it and to this day when I hear it I think think we captured something at the time that still translates, there is a real sense of positive emergency but it could all go horribly wrong if you don’t “come with me”
You guys have managed to achieve some really impressive stuff with Van She Tech, from the slew of mixes to the big bookings across the world. So what I want to know is what’s next? Is VST its own entity now? Does it feel like that? Although some would say that a VST mix is like an original composition just with established vocals, will we ever see some true originals surface from the project?
Maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe we put our own vocals on top of all the mixes and release that! Ha Ha! Perhaps when and if the time is right. Yes we do new compositions under established vocals…remixing these days is more or less like a collaboration. In some cases the re-mixer should get point’s however I feel this is something that will never change, so maybe it’s better to work on original compositions.
The Australian electro bubble seems to keep on getting bigger, with big albums from Cut Copy and the Juggernauts as well as great new stuff from rising stars like Bag Raiders, how do you guys feel to be at the forefront of that scene what with your Van She and VST stuff but also having a hand in producing other bands like your work with Ladyhawke and both yours and Nick’s work on Pnau’s comeback album?
Ahh thank you. I’m not sure, I mean were all friends and we all do music. It’s an honour to be in the company of those mentioned and those not.
Bringing all back home, what’s in store for Van She for the next twelve months? You guys are following in the footsteps of Cut Copy and the Presets releasing some huge albums, are you guys feeling nervous about that at all?
Nervous? No. I hope it’s a huge year.
M: Well in short we got side tracked by techno, blame the MPC for that one. So in the end we went to the UK with a load of tunes we thought would make a good record and recorded them with Jim Abiss the product of which is being released in early August…fingers crossed.
How do you guys think you’ve changed as Van She since releasing the first EP? I spoke to Matt back then as part of the promo and he definitely emphasised that the EP was very much the sound of a band just getting started. How have things progressed?
Yes the band was like a new born child learning to breath a lot has changed in the world we live in and I think we have developed as friends, as lovers and as human beings so the album is a representation of this, a culmination of experiences and emotions.
The self-titled EP covered a lot of territory, from the bubbly, John Hughes-y Kelly to something darker like Survive, but from the first signs of V (the Cat and the Eye and Strangers) the album sounds very very diverse. Can you drop some hints about the whole thing? What can we expect?
We wanted it to have depth, it would have been easy to write ten more Kelly’s but then it would just be same same. There is a song on the record called It Could Be the Same which has that Van She Tech grind to it but then there is the opening track which has been best described as a prog rock opus, so it’s all over the place but in the same place.
What was the recording process like?
We had a ball so many adventures so little ink, were still recovering from it we were there for three months. We would be in the studio all week then on the weekends would go and DJ we played Stockholm, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris and at this really cool party in Glasgow called Record Players. As for the recording Most of the initial ideas were done here in Sydney then we went and met Jim to refine spit and polish.
Are you guys satisfied with the final result? Obviously you’ve taken your time to get things right, but does everything indeed feel that it’s in its right place finally?
Well I think that things can always be better but if it wasn’t for deadlines and budgets things would never get “finished” the number of times we wrote and then re-wrote songs is ridiculous but in answer to your question yes we are happy with the final product.
Moving on to the Van She Tech side of things, I’ve always been curious about why you guys decided to branch out into the realm of remixes and more club-ready stuff. Was it a natural transformation for you guys from the band to the production suite?
Yeah we all met in these environments and we love disco so when we got offered to do the Presets Are You the One remix we jumped and then from there it rolled.
What’s your favourite part of remixing? I remember speaking to Knightlife about it and he said he enjoyed it since it meant he could work with an existing idea and not have to start everything from scratch.
I love Knightlife, what a rocking G! I would say in general it’s when it’s finished and you hear it in a club.
Comparing your older remixes to some of your newer stuff (like the Osawa mix and even the Dragonette remix) there’s a noticeable difference in the scope of sounds involved. Do you guys feel you’ve developed more and are experimenting a bit more nowadays?
Totally, for example we did a kind of R&B intro to our Feist mix. We have to push our own boundaries but be careful not to get too loose, I mean people don’t book a VST mix if they want free jazz!
Is there a really shit side of it too? Like having a remix rejected? You guys seemed to take a break from remixing (to focus on V, I presume) for a while, right? Did you get sick of it?
There is one that got rejected…shhhhhhh. Yeah we had to focus on our own tunes not other peoples.
Which remix are you guys most proud of?
Personally, the Klaxons because when we did it we were not sur about it, I mean we didn’t think too much about it we just did it and to this day when I hear it I think think we captured something at the time that still translates, there is a real sense of positive emergency but it could all go horribly wrong if you don’t “come with me”
You guys have managed to achieve some really impressive stuff with Van She Tech, from the slew of mixes to the big bookings across the world. So what I want to know is what’s next? Is VST its own entity now? Does it feel like that? Although some would say that a VST mix is like an original composition just with established vocals, will we ever see some true originals surface from the project?
Maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe we put our own vocals on top of all the mixes and release that! Ha Ha! Perhaps when and if the time is right. Yes we do new compositions under established vocals…remixing these days is more or less like a collaboration. In some cases the re-mixer should get point’s however I feel this is something that will never change, so maybe it’s better to work on original compositions.
The Australian electro bubble seems to keep on getting bigger, with big albums from Cut Copy and the Juggernauts as well as great new stuff from rising stars like Bag Raiders, how do you guys feel to be at the forefront of that scene what with your Van She and VST stuff but also having a hand in producing other bands like your work with Ladyhawke and both yours and Nick’s work on Pnau’s comeback album?
Ahh thank you. I’m not sure, I mean were all friends and we all do music. It’s an honour to be in the company of those mentioned and those not.
Bringing all back home, what’s in store for Van She for the next twelve months? You guys are following in the footsteps of Cut Copy and the Presets releasing some huge albums, are you guys feeling nervous about that at all?
Nervous? No. I hope it’s a huge year.
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