Brooklyn-based
four piece Vivienne Eastwood first came to our attention this fall, after the
release of their fantastic Shook EP. Immediately enamored, we went on a quest
to find out more about this crew. Our discoveries are recorded below – we hope
you enjoy them. If you haven’t heard Shook yet, we recommend it highly. You’ll
be smitten as soon as you hear the opening track, just as we were.
How and when was the band
formed? Vivienne Eastwood
started around 2012. I moved into an apartment on Grand St in Williamsburg. (LG
from the band Dead Leaf Echo was moving out and I got his old room!) I didn’t
realize it at first, but I was right around the corner from my friend Jenny's
apartment. She had a drum set at her place and her neighbors didn't seem to
mind too much when we would play. So most of the Viv East songs started out as
just guitar and drum jams. I had been playing electronic music for a while
prior to this, and it felt good to dig out some old distortion and chorus
pedals and focus on guitar based music.
A
little while later my friend Lindsay joined us playing synthesizer. She played
bass lines and lead parts at the same time on a Roland Juno 1, and sang
harmony, and it sounded rad! We shot a music video in the Hamptons for our song
“Facelift”. Lindsay moved to LA, and we
slowed down for a bit… continued to write songs. One time we played a show at Cake Shop that
was just Jenny and I. Eventually, our friend Bailey started playing bass with
us, and we asked this guy Phil to play lead guitar with us. We released an EP
in October called Shook and
we play shows around Brooklyn pretty frequently.
Can you tell us what the
band has been working on and what you've got forthcoming in the near future
(new releases, tour, etc.)? We’re working on a music video for our song “Nons”
which will likely feature some really cool aquarium footage! Bailey and Phil have a ton of cool images
worked up for merch, so we hope to have some real slick t-shirts soon. Jenny
has been getting pretty deep into electronic music, she’s been working on a
side project called “Alien Kisses,” which sounds real dark and synthy!
Besides
that, we have a bunch of new material that we’ve been working on in this new
lineup. We’re starting to organize the material into two categories: “fuzzy”
and “jangly.” I’ve been playing around with the idea of releasing two different
albums, one for each sound or style, so watch out for that! And we’re all
getting our passports renews so that we can do a world tour in 2017!!
Do you consider your music
to be part of the current shoegaze/dream pop scene, or any scene? Defining
one's sound by genre can be tiresome, but do you feel that the band identifies
closely with any genre? How do you feel about genres in music, in a general
sense? Yeah,
sure, I think we set out to try to write music in the style of shoegaze and 90s
UK indie rock. We’ve tried to pull some grunge into the mix as well. More
generally speaking, I think we’re trying to sound “pretty” and “aggressive” at
the same time. I’m really interested in different guitar textures and layering.
I’m really into effects pedals and playing with guitar tone. Some might call
that shoegaze or dream pop or whatever. I think these ‘genres’ are fine as long
as it’s descriptive and helps you to understand the music.
What do you think of modern
shoegaze/dream pop/psychedelia artists, any favorites? I mostly enjoy the modern
stuff. I recently downloaded a couple of
Pinkshinyultrablast albums… they’re amazing! And I’ve seen Wildhoney play a
couple of times in Brooklyn, they sound sooo good live! I’ve been listening to You’ll Never Get To
Heaven & Grouper a lot at the homestead.
What is the most important
piece of gear for your sound? Any particular guitars/pedals/amps that you
prefer? I’ve
been using the Eventide Space pedal at our live shows lately. I’m just starting
to get into the variety of types of reverb you can work with on that thing… it
is insane the amount of signal processing you can do! I like to use a couple
different kinds of fuzz and overdrive pedals, and I believe that Phil and I
both prefer the sound of a single coil over humbucker pickups.
What is your process for
recording your music? What gear and/or software do you use? What would you
recommend for others? Our process for recording is changing a lot right now. I used to make
demos of Viv East songs with drum machine samples and direct guitar in Ableton
and be really happy with the outcome, but lately we’re trying to get a larger,
more produced sound. We recorded most of the drums on the Shook EP with Drew Citron from the band Beverly at this place
called Alphaville. Recording drums in a large space was a nice departure from
the sound of really crisp drum machine samples.
I like both sounds though… I guess it depends on the song.
Can you tell us a little
about the band’s song writing process? I’ll write guitar parts by using a loop pedal, and
present stuff to the band and try to come up with interesting arrangements for
everything.
When it comes to label
releases versus DIY/Bandcamp and the like, what is your stance, if any? So far we’ve only released
our music independently. There’s certainly a lot of instant gratification in
doing this, but I think we’re interested in working with a label someday.
Do you prefer vinyl, CD,
cassette tape or mp3 format when listening to music? Do you have any strong
feelings toward any of them? I prefer mp3s right now… better yet, wav files!
If you had to choose one
track that was the ultimate definition of your sound, which would it be and
why? For
me, for a while, it’s been “Rose Pedals,”
or at least that’s been the sound I’d like to strive for. But it’s been really
fun to see things develop and move away from that sound too. I imagine the next "fuzzy" EP will sound more like “Rose Pedals.”
Can you tell us a little
about what you are currently into (books, films, art, bands, etc.)? Lately, I’ve been reading
Jean Baudrillard’s “In the Shadow of the Silent Majorites.”
What artists (musicians or
otherwise) have most influenced your work? “I can only write music when I’m looking at a
Kandinsky!” Lol not.
