Vaya is made up of 4 hard working guys from Thunder Bay, Ontario. So don't say nothing good ever came out of northern Ontario! After playing with the likes of Alexisonfire, Simple Plan, Billy Talent, Moneen, and Spitalfield, they've released their lp, One More Story of a Bleeding Heart, went back into the studio to record the new 4-song ep, Tonight is Murder (slated for release February 15), and are embarking on a tour this spring/summer. Josh, Ian, and Jip (minus Matt) answered some questions about recoding the demo, promo plans, the geographic difficulty of touring in Canada and other stuff for us in late January.
|
This line-up includes a new bassist. There were some 'issues' with the former one, Josh fills us in, 'me and Ian and Jip eat breathe and sleep Vaya, so this bassist was being an ass and keeping us in the dark with his plans…I was in a band named Korova that disbanded shortly after we decided to give the shitty bassist the boot. So we snagged the bassist from Korova, which was awesome, cause now all 4 of us are really happy. And Matt (the new bassist) adds so much life to all the old songs, and has great new ideas. Plus he and I are really solid rhythmically, so its just all around a great line-up.' Jip describes it as they're so together musically, it's like they 'talk in music.' 'We all know what we want from the band, and we're all doing what we can to achieve it,' he says. Ian paints Jip as the 'mom of the band', and Matt as 'everyone's love slave.' Vaya's demo was done at Meat Head Records, with Eric Weller stepping up as producer. 'he did a great job, but Ian is, in my opinion, much better at mastering. So Ian mastered the thing, and it turned out great', says Josh. |
|
Ian's take, 'I guess you can say that Eric engineered the ep, and Vaya produced it. He didn't change our songs at all, or make them any different to the way we played them live. So that took a week... and then eric started mixing... and he mixed, and mixed, and mixed. Until finally he gave it to me to master. Which I did a decent job if I don't say so myself.' I concur. You're listening to No Ground, right now, aren't you? Josh's thoughts on recording, 'I got all the drum tracks done in like 1 and a half hours. But on one track I was having trouble, cause I was recording drums to Jip's guitar parts, but this particular song was one that I needed the bass part. So after a little break I came back to the song and was ready to do the take. I started it up and I realized that there was no sound of Jip's guitar coming through my headphones! It was hilarious, because I tracked that song strictly by memory on that take, and that was the take we ended up using. Every other track was done in like one or two takes.' |
 |
 |
Says Jip about it, 'recording the demo was a better experience than the last recording we did. This one only took 25 days or so, as opposed to almost a year for the other one. The recording process was rather smooth, since Eric knew everything as to what he was doing.' 'We have a full length called one more story of a bleeding heart out. And we found ourselves not playing *anything* off of the disc... so we realized it was time to go back into the studio a produce an ep for people to eat up like rye toast', 'so it's going to be put out on with help from Meathead, however the whole thing is basically diy, as our first album was. I guess a sad point is, we hacked our old bassist during the recording time, actually right after his tracks were done... and got someone new... the bassist now, Matt Brieland' And so comes the summer tour, 'we are planning to have an ad in Exclaim! Magazine the month before the tour, so as to alert the public of the fact that we will be harassing their hometowns soon. We were going to try and get in touch with Zed, a tv show on CBC, to see if we could perform live on the show whilst on tour. Radio shows are also something we'll try to be on, most likely just campus radios.' says Jip of the promo plans. |
|
And all they're really looking for is a chance to get out and play for as many people as possible. '...get at least a decent number of people to come judge and appreciate us at our shows', says Ian. When touring in a country like Canada, where everything is so spread out, there are a separate set of challenges to face, that vaya manage to avoid for the most part, as they're staying in Ontario (with a short detour in Montreal, Quebec). 'southern Ontario is not bad at all, since there are many large cities within the same general area, with only 1 hour between some,' says Jip. Notes Josh, 'we are staying mostly in Ontario, and a lot of cities are only a few hours apart. But if we were to go cross country, as I'm sure we will in the months after our first tour, I could definitely see it being a pain in the ass.' 'Vaya has never toured much further than small town northern Ontario. It's hard for a band from such a little centre as Thunder Bay to get started doing anything', adds Ian. 'the nearest major city is Winnipeg and that's 9-10 hours away. In booking our Eastern tour, which will take place in May and June, I've had much difficulty booking shows even in such a booming scene as southern Ontario. |
|
|
I asked them about the priority given to images that are used to promote vaya, says Josh 'top priority, these are things that represent us and the music we make, so they are very important.' It's a big task that most bands face, creating music, and all that's used to get people to notice it, but Vaya are not exactly computer geeks, 'most of our artwork is not created by us, but in fact by a friend of mine in Santiago, Chile. Pablo Saba listens to the music, and then creates artwork, which is then approved by us,' explains Jip. So what do they want to get out of this anyway? Every band's in it for their own reasons. Josh is hoping for Vaya to be added to an indie label's roaster and tour for 'a few years'. 'Just as long as I can pay the bills and play music, I don't care about much else', he adds. Jip describes his relationship to the other guys as brotherly, and just wants to tour with them and achieve some success. And Ian's just looking to play till he dies. |
As to what they are after in a label, they're looking for one with a family atmosphere, who are really looking out for their bands, like Fat Wreck Chords or Drive-Thru.
I think it's safe to assume you've listened to the song on the page before this one, and that you're hooked. You'll have to keep your pants on for the release of Tonight is Murder, on February 15, until then hop over to purevolume for the 2 more songs leaving and prelude.
5 albums (or more)
|
Josh Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth Deftones - self titled Alexisonfire - self titled Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing |
Jip Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth Interference - Everyone's Eight About Everything Fugazi - Red Medicine Foo Fighters - One By One NoFx - So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes |
Ian Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute Pretty Girls Make Graves - Good Health Motion City Soundtrack - I Am the Movie Million Dead - A Song to Ruin Rescue - Volume Plus Volume The Fire Theft - s/t Mae - ...Destination Beautiful |