Fearless Vampire Killers Interview

Fearless Vampire Killers Wicked Spins Radio Interview

By Phlis

Fearless Vampire Killers are a UK based alternative band that have made a great impact on the alternative scene, they are loud and they are proud. They are unique in every sense of the work both in the way they sound and the way they look. They are playing at the Halloween Whitby Goth Weekend 2013, as part of Wicked Spins Radios coverage of WGW we got chance to catch up with Co.Vocalist Laurence Beveridge.

Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourselves?

We’re a rock band from Beccles (the jewel of the Waveney) via Hemel Hempstead. We play music we believe in and we’re not afraid of looking fantastic.

Kerrang labeled you ‘The new band of our dreams’, has there anything else been said about you that is good and also have you heard anything said about you that is so bad or silly that it just makes you laugh?

Rocksound said something about us being the cure to everything mundane, or something like that. I really liked that. We often get called faggots etc, but those remarks only ever come from close minded morons.

The concept of you each writing a track for Exposition is a great one, where did that idea come from and how well did it work in they end?

It was just a natural process. We all write music, and we’re all quite good at it, so its something we’ve considered for a long time. I guess we wanted a good way of introducing everyone to our five characters – both in a musical sense, and the conceptual.

You are playing Whitby Goth Weekend this year, what does it mean to you to be playing such an iconic festival?

It’s exciting. We actually ventured to Whitby once before on a kind of Goff pilgrimage . We’d just played a show in Middlesborough and we didn’t know where to park are van and sleep for the night. Then our driver mentioned how close we were to Whitby, and so that night we had a 2am wander around the abbey. It was quite a magical time.

We are seeing a lot of the music festivals we know and love dying through lack of support and also costs of running the festival, what would it mean to you if we completely lost our music festivals and to you what is the importance of supporting the festivals as a whole?

It’s important, but I don’t think we’ll ever lose them. I think the price of eating and drinking makes it difficult for people to fully enjoy themselves, but I think when festivals realize that, hopefully things will get better.

You are working quite closely with another of Whitby Goth Weekend’s bands, headliner William Control. What is it about William that makes him right for Fearless Vampire Killers and what is it like to tour with him?

Well, for one he’s the Gothfather! But really, it’s his work ethic and his dedication to his art that really drew us to him. He understands what we want to achieve, and he knows how to get it done. Touring with William is a bizarre but intriguing experience. He doesn’t drink, but he can party harder than everyone, and he doesn’t suffer fools – he’s not the kind of guy you want to cross. He does his own thing.

Militia For The Lost deals with a lot of issues like the struggle to find a place in society, love, loss and addiction, to you which song on Militia For the Lost has the most power and emotion?

Probably Mascara Tears and Vanilla Spice. It’s the last song on the record, and it’s mostly on the piano. It starts as a simple break up song. It’s basically a scenario I went through a few years back. Half way though the song however, it starts detailing my feelings of worthlessness and need to find a replacement substance for the person i’d lost. By the end it’s laying out the battle lines, and condemning the world that took this love away from me. It’s old, but the melody was great, and it fit the concept perfectly. It was a very last minute addition to the album.

At Whitby Goth Weekend they have a lot of events in support of The Sophie Lancaster Foundation and the great work they do, have you yourselves been target of any discrimination and what do you feel is the importance of keeping Sophie’s memory alive?

Yeah, especially at school. Most of us suffered some form of bullying and discrimination. For me, it was because I was chubby and had long hair. For that I received a daily dosage of violence and humiliation. Remembering Sophie will hopefully inform the world and remind them that not all discrimination is racial or sexual.

Technology has made the world smaller and in some cases life easier, what do you feel are the good and bad aspects of technology?

Music being ruined but at least we now have string winders.

In this technological age what one gadget could you not do without and what gadgets do you hate?

Couldn’t live with out phone and mp3 player. Hate phone and kindles.

People categorize and try fit music into genres, sub-genres and a lot of people feel its all getting a little too fragmented and stupid now. What are your thoughts on all this fragmentation and instead of putting your music into a genre can you describe it as a dessert?

Genres are for hipsters. And if we were a dessert. Tiramasu. Bizzare, delicious.

Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, is there anything you would like to add?

Fight the power.

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