Melbourne five-piece, Vaudeville Smash, are a band of three brothers and two mates who’ve built their reputation off their incredible live shows – no other Australian band sounds like them. Vaudeville Smash took their name from an Italian children’s karaoke machine that was around in the late ’80s and list their influences as Hall & Oates, Michael Jackson, Todd Rundgren, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Prince. They’ve also twice been invited to perform at South by Southwest in Austin (after being acclaimed as one of SXSW’s “buzz bands” by The Huffington Post in 2011, they made a triumphant return in 2013). Having recently released their 80s Disco inspired debut album ‘Dancing For The Girl’ to critical acclaim, they are set to take on the East Coast of Australia and Asia.
Tell us about your debut album Dancing For The Girl?
A lot of layers – instruments, harmonies and ideas. Our first couple of EPs were basically us in a studio slamming down a live rhythm track and chucking some vocals and a few extra guitar parts on top. We were going for that ‘live’ vibe. We’ve taken our time with this one – it’s taken over a year to make. It also has some darker moments. Our earlier releases were pretty Sunshine. Lyrically, a lot of songs are about being young and the passage of time. Dancing For The Girl is about that time when you just started going out and thought you were invincible. We sing about love and life and weird things like Ghouls and Sailor Moon. We also have a couple of songs on the album about nights we had a little ‘too’ much fun.
Its got some pretty great reviews thus far. What has it been like to receive such reactions? Did you anticipate it at all?
We didn’t anticipate it but we sure do appreciate it! We worked pretty long and hard on the thing and are all extremely happy with the result. I guess if I were reviewing the album I’d give it a good wrap. Just glad everyone else seems to dig it too!
Do you feel like your debut has been a long time coming? Was it a relief to finally get it out into the world?
Ha, yeah. Our first EP back in early 2010 was meant to be an album, as was the second one a year later. Call me old school but I don’t think a band is truly complete until their first LP is out there. We’re now complete… and very relieved!
Your album has been described as an ‘80s teen movie come to life’. Do movies inspire your music at all?
Absolutely. A large proportion of the songs are inspired by nostalgia and movies are a big part of our childhood (there are three brothers in this band). We grew up on movies like Gremlins, Ghost Busters, Goonies and the Karate Kid. Our first track ‘Ghouls’ was originally called ‘Ghoulies’ like the late 80s horror flick of the same name. Our grandpa would let us hire all the horror movies our mum wouldn’t and we, as little kids, would shit ourselves!
However, we didn’t set out to write a montage to an 80s movie though – it just sorta sounds like one.
What are your favourite 80s teen movies?
Better Off Dead, Goonies (early teens), Revenge Of The Nerds
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod at the moment?
ELO’s greatest hits. What a band!
If you could collaborate with any living Australian artist who would it be?
Probably Sia Furler. I have a feeling we’d come up with something good. And she’s an Adeladian – we grew up there.
What are your plans for the rest of 2013?
I just finished writing a timeline with our publicist yesterday and it’s actually looking pretty busy! We just launched in Adelaide and Melbourne and now head to QLD, Byron and then Sydney for the second leg of our East Coast. We’ll be heading to Japan for Sapporo Jazz Fest in August and then returning to Singapore immediately after. After that we’ve a special limited edition lil’ EP and launch and then the US at the end of the year. There’ll be another East Coat Tour thrown in there for good measure too and hopefully plenty of Festivals come Summer. We’re also aiming to get across to NZ so the next 6 months are going to be hectic but we cant wait!
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
You can get our brand new debut album Dancing For The Girl through itunes.
Vaudeville Smash 2013 Australian Tour
Friday June 21 SYDNEY (NSW) UTS Glasshouse Bar.
Oztix, UTS Union Website and UTS Union desk
Thursday June 27 SYDNEY (NSW) The Loft
http://theloft.oztix.com.au/
Friday June 28 MAROOCHYDORE (QLD) Sol Bar
http://solbar.com.au
Saturday June 29 BRISBANE (QLD) The Joynt
Ph: 07 3255 1579
Listen to ‘Don’t Say A Word’ here:
