Interview with Velvetine

On Monday 18th June I went to the Voice.FM studio in Southampton to interview upcoming and new band Velvetine; their time creating original sleazy rock tunes and successful live shows have brought great things to them. Being awarded for things including Best New Band and playing at great venues in England such as Southampton's The Joiners and Portsmouth's Wedgewood Rooms. In this interview we talk about their brand new EP, the party that will be showcasing it and who they'd like to be stuck in a lift with. Here is a print version of the interview, that I have tried my best to keep word for word as the audio,  enjoy.

Charlotte:  You have an new EP being released very soon, what are your musical influences on the EP?

Velvetine:  Hardcore Superstar, Crashdiet, Buckcherry, Hanoi Rocks, Guns 'N' Roses, AC/DC; a lot of sleaze but a lot of modern stuff as well such as The Treatment, Michael Monroe and stuff like that.

Charlotte:  What are the main themes on the EP?

Velvetine:  We don't tend to write about a specific theme, we sort of write about how we feel at the time. Different songs represent different moods and just generally overall a party vibe, we try to keep it upbeat and classy as we can. Being musicians we have our moments but it's all about having a good time.

Charlotte:  Can you describe your EP in three words?

Velvetine:  Party's one of them definitely, can rock'n roll be one word?

Charlotte:  Yeah it can be one word 

Velvetine:  Happy. So Happy, Rock 'N Roll, Party

Charlotte:  Your EP Launch is this Saturday [23rd June] at The Edge Of The Wedge in Portsmouth, tell us why people should go?

Velvetine:  It's not the EP Launch, it's a EP party showcasing it. It's £2, four bands; four great bands. We're playing with three great bands; Spartan who will be playing Live and Unsigned at The O2 Arena, White Knuckle Bride who have toured with Thin Lizzy and Dead Pinups who have literally the best unsigned band we have heard.

Charlotte:  Recently you supported The Treatment; what other bands would you like to support in the future?

Velvetine:  Well The Treatment again, Reckless Love, Jettblack, The Howling; they're really cool it's Rev from Towers Of London's new band so it would be cool to gig with them  If we're really lucky AC/DC, Crashdiet or maybe Buckcherry if they came down again.

Charlotte:  Where would dream venue to perform; this can realistic or unrealistic?

Velvetine:  Sticky Fingers in Sweden, Hardcore Superstar filmed a DVD there and it's like the Swedish equivalent to The Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth or The Joiners in Southampton. Crashdiet played there and so did Vains Of Jenna, it's a really really good venue.

Charlotte:  A Facebook birdy told me you have a new app under development, what made you decide to do this?

Velvetine:  We're the first local unsigned band to have go at making something up with the modern keeping; it's quite new thing this App store that will give some more promotional value. It will have these ornaments that will keep people more interested; we've got some good ideas for it so it should be good.

Charlotte:  When are you planning to release this app?

Velvetine:  In about a week, it'll be a free download as well.

Charlotte:  You are stuck in a lift; which five people would you love to be stuck in a lift with and why?

Velvetine:  Josh Todd from Buckcherry; he's a laugh, Slash, Bon Scott, Justin Hawkins and Peter London from Crashdiet, that's a great combination. Or it might be all of Steel Panther and one stripper, that would just be carnage.

Charlotte:  Which five people would you hate to be stuck in a lift with and why?

Velvetine:  Justin Bieber, Simon Cowell, who would we hate to be stuck in a lift with; so far we've established Justin Bieber, Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Jedward, who count as two. They'd [Jedward] would be dead, we can stick them together with their hair. It is hard to think of who we don't like; we're quite nice people overall.

Charlotte:  Final question; do you guys have future plans for the band?

Velvetine:  Get signed, get famous. We're going to carry on what we are doing at the moment but the fan base is growing, I mean the most recent gig we bought just over a hundred people to it. We have another headline gig planned for the Wedgewood Rooms [Portsmouth] later this year; which we are talking to some promoters about supporting signed bands. We would also like to try and release an album, upgrade on gigs as well in that time. We would like to play Portsmouth Pyramids; we also need to do adventurous things and not do what everyone else has done.

Thanks again to Velvetine for the interview; was truly a great one and I wish them luck for tomorrow as sadly I can't attend. In the meantime find out more about Velvetine on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

Be sure to attend the EP party tomorrow at The Edge Of the Wedge; Portsmouth, more details of the event can be found here.

Happy New Year and Introducing.........

Hello everyone and happy new year to you all. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. I also thought at the beginning of each year I would write a post about new bands that could possibly make a breakthrough in the upcoming year. 2012 has definitely been a great start for me so far as I passed my driving test last Friday and have already come across some musical talents. So here are some bands that have really stood out this year and that you should definitely look out for in 2012. Click on the titles to access their Facebook pages.


Krash Rover


A dirty grunge rock band who hail from Texas; sort of trailing on Southern bluesy rocks like their Kentucky brothers Black Stone Cherry I think Krash Rover could just be the next grunge band to come out of Southern America and make it big. Hope to see them over here across the pond sometime and to hear more from them.

Simon Says


First hearing about them at university this year I thought it would be great to check them out at The Royal Oak in Southampton. Not only did I find another favourite venue to add to my list, I also came across a fantastic band who have really done well considering they started making music together a couple of months ago. I think 2012 could just be their year; their happy go lucky acoustic sounds have already charmed local audiences in Southampton so far and I think they could get the whole nation to sing 'Peanut butter Jelly'.

The Treatment


I first heard about Cambridge hard rockers The Treatment whilst reading an article about them in their 'Introducing' section and I saw they suggested fans of Aerosmith would like them so I thought I would have a listen. I immediately loved their album This Might Hurt and they pulled off a fantastic live performance, this particular one made it to the top of my best live shows of 2011. I also had the amazing opportunity to find out more about them as I interviewed them this year.

Click here to listen to my interview with The Treatment


Velvatine

Hayling Island rockers were one of the opening support acts for The Treatment when they performed on the Southampton date. I was highly impressed by their enthusiasm and their talent; their appearance reminded me of either Marc Bolan or Heavens Basement but their sound reminded me of AC/DC. I really think that Velvetine will shine more in 2012; only really having heard the band once this year I would really love to use 2012 to get to know Velvetine a bit more. Their performance at The Joiners was a great first encounter.




Western Sand


First coming across four piece rock band from Bournemouth at the Heaven's Basement/Jettblack gig. Hearing their music mostly through live shows I have really been captured by the bluesy rock sounds from Western Sand. It would be great to see more of them during the new year, including a brand new album that I have yet to hear. 

Well there you have the list of bands to look out for in 2012; I shall also be using Tumblr to write reviews this year