When asked how The Vasco Era would celebrate the release of their debut album, drummer Michael Fitzgerald replied, ‘I guess if we sell 5 million albums in the first week we’ll buy a big boat and sail around the world’. Seriously? ‘No, we just want to start playing heaps of shows and get the album out there’.
The trio from Apollo Bay in Victoria also includes brothers Ted (bass) & Sid (guitar/vocals) O’Neil. Sid, Ted and Fitzy all grew up together playing in bands since they were in their teens. ‘We’re all just mates. Most of the time it’s all really good’ says Fitzy on being in a band with two brothers. ‘I’ve only really ever had one problem’. It involved the band driving down a freeway at 100 km/h, Ted’s phone ringing, Sid answering the phone and Ted kicking Sid in the head. Poor Fitzy was stuck in the back unable to do anything.
The band began recording their album in September last year at Different Fur Recording in San Francisco. ‘The actual recording was over a month… normally when people record they do it over two months…so it was a bit stressful’. The month long recording process was all work and no play according to Fitzy. ‘We didn’t get to see much because we had two days off the whole time. We were working 12 hour days’. Who ever said that being a rock star was glamorous had obviously never met a real band before.
Jeff Saltzman was chosen to produce the album, having previously worked with the likes of The Killers and The Black Keys; both bands favourites of the Vasco Era. ‘We signed up to Universal Records and they gave us some names of people to talk to…he seemed really cool and laid back and interested in what we were doing with the album’. Major record labels are notoriously renowned for not giving bands freedom when recording their album. Usually all they care about is selling as many records as possible. This was not the case with The Vasco Era and Universal Records. ‘We had a lot of ideas already and they pretty much just wanted to make sure that we did it with someone with a bit of a name…someone who might help us’. It’s nice to know that there is still some originality in music we listen to and it isn’t all created with the idea of becoming a #1 single. ‘We didn’t want to make a strong commercial album and it sounded like he [Saltzman] was up for that’.
And the finished product? Ten blues/metal/rock (whatever you want to call it) songs on an album titled ‘Oh We Do like to be beside the Seaside’. The title obviously comes from the fact that Sid, Ted and Fitzy grew up beside the sea in Apollo Bay. ‘The whole album is like a big story…based on experiences from Apollo Bay’. Two songs off the album are already getting airplay, titled When It First Showed Up & When All Was Lost. But according to Fitzy, people should wait until the album comes out so they can hear the songs properly. ‘With this type of [concept] album its hard just putting one song on the radio…because the album as itself flows so well…to listen to one song by itself can be a bit confusing’.
Oh We Do like to be beside the Seaside’s sound is a lot different to their last two EP’s. ‘The first EP was pretty bluesy and the second…we won a competition to record so there wasn’t much time of effort put into it’. The Vasco Era believe that this is a showcase of their best material with no song on the album alike. ‘One could be really soft and acoustic…and then the next one could be really rock’.
The Vasco Era’s influences for this album came from a wide variety of artists, although when Fitzy was asked the question, he wasn’t quite sure whether they had actually had any influence on them. ‘We listen to Bob Dylan and Nick Cave and grew up listening to Neil Young and The Beatles. I don’t know whether they influenced us. They probably did…it makes sense they would because where else would we get influences’? Fitzy didn’t always know that he would one day be a drummer but couldn’t find anything else to do. ‘I’ve always been into music and I played music a lot growing up. I didn’t know whether I’d do it as a career or not’. So what would he do if he wasn’t a rock star? ‘I also played a lot of sport as well. I think the idea was either do sports and if you’re not good enough try and do music. It ended up that I wasn’t good enough for sports so I gave music a try’. I’m sure a lot of people, especially musicians will agree.
The Vasco Era are getting restless and cannot wait to showcase their new album to the world. After the album is released on May 5th the trio will embark on a national tour beginning at the end of May (after they’ve sailed around the world on their big boat). ‘We’re really happy with it [the album]. It’s just a matter of other people hearing it… hopefully everyone likes it’. Fans have been waiting a long time for this album to come and according to The Vasco Era, they won’t be disappointed.
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