interview with VaniShine
Have any of you played in other bands? Yes, all of us. Me and the drummer (Monty) in four or five bands, the bassman in another one.
How is it that you started playing music? I started because my father plays classical guitar. One day he teached me some chords.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Alvaro guitarrist 38
Gaizko Bass 40
Monty Drums and Keyboards 41
Vocals: On Process.
Have you had other previous members? Yes, since the band was formed, a lot of members, except the drummer and me.
Did you make music even when you were young? Yes, I played in my first band at the age of 15
Where are you from? We are from Basque Country.
What year did the band form? The band was formed in 2004. But we played the first gig in november of 2005
What's your style of genre? It’s difficult to define. We have many different influences because we were formed on bands with diferent styles, and I think that we’ve got our own style. In the same song you can listen power metal cuts, simphonic metal, hard rock..
What inspires you? Our inspiration are our daily experiences.
How often and where do you reherse? We rehearse three times a week on our own local.
How have you developed since you started with the music? I have matured a lot through these years in VaniShine. When you are young and you begin, the only thing you search is to be like that musician or like the other one….. Through the years you realise how important is to be yourself and have your own style in the way you play, in the way you compose, etc, and not to be just another copy.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? Of course, I have my job and another hobbies like run, ride on mountain bike, surfing…
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We had some booking agencies, but not with good results. Now we think we dont need them.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We don´t close any door, but there are too much intermediaries. Nowadays, Internet give us the oportunity of being known by our own.
What made you decide to make this music? Nothing concrete. We make the music that we feel inside us, with no thinking of styles or labels.
What are your songs about? Our songs are about the cotidianity of our lifes, about what we see, what we hear…. Some are more poetic than others, some have more fantasy than others, but all of them with a background for think about.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Principally our drummer, monty, with the help of the rest of the band.
Have you done any covers live? We have one of Nightwish / Moore “Over the Hills and Far away”
What language do you sing in? English.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? I dont know well, I think that the most people attended were around 1500 in Bilbao and the least i think that were ten people
What ages are most of your concert attendants? From teenagers to middle fifties
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Normally it depends on the latest LP we have released, but we try to vary.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? No, we had some cities in where we play regulary.
What was your latest gig? One in a city near of Bilbao.
Have you had to cancel a gig? Yes, this year we had to cancel one.
Where have you played live this year? In two cities near Bilbao, on January.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? When we will consolidate the new formation, we’ll begin to play first in a regional level to get experience with the new member because the objective is to make a tour through Spain some months later.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Since the first album. We have CDs, caps, T-shirts, picks..
Where can people buy your merchandise? In Our gigs and in the website. www.vanishine.com
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? We upload to internet our music in order to be downloaded free. If the people want to help us they can purchase merchandising, cds,also they can go to our gigs… We produce our albums and because of that, we can sell them cheaper. We think that if the music would be cheaper and more benefits would go to the artists, people would buy more than now.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? We think that nothing has changed in the industry. There are too many intermediates that make the music more expensive. Also, the companies always are searching of easy selling. I call it “fast music” like the “fast food”. It’s more important for them selling fast than the quality or talent.
What do you think of my work? I think that is very important because the big broadcasting media only support to the musicians or bands that have on their back big recording labels that can pay to these media. Its clear that the only way to be known of a lot of bands with a lot of talent is through these kind of médiums like yours
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? To be known by more people.
Do you have any role models or idols? No, I have too many influences but i have no idols.
Why do you think that they exist? They exist because the most of us need to have references in our lifes, especially when we are too young.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? In my personal opinión, i think that nowadays bands get their inspiration from the yesterday bands, its true that there are new tendences, but its easier for me to find inspiration in the old ones.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Not to have a stable formation.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Keep on rocking. Dont loose the ilusion. The music is created to feel it. Play it with passion and with the heart. Its important not to see the music like a business or a showcase to impress the others. you have to live the music intensely and dont leave yourself falling in desperation, its hard, but its worth to.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Everyone of us have a personal way to get it. In my case i usually sleep ten minutes before the gigs in order to disconnect my mind.
Do you have any new material? Yes. We have our latest CD. Tears From The Sun. It was released on December ‘15
What are your web sites?
https://www.facebook.com/vanishine/
https://twitter.com/_vanishine
How can people reach you? By Facebook, By mail [email protected], By Twitter
What are your plans for the future? Promote our new LP with a new Singer and record it again with her. We will upload "Tears from the sun" with the new voice. We will record another LP next year.
