An Interview With Vanilla Sugar
An Interview With Vanilla Sugar
REPRESENTATIVE
What inspired the name of the band and what are your influences?
I wanted the band name to be representative of myself, without just using my birth name. Vanilla comes from a nickname I was given in high school, “JP Vanilla”. Sugar comes from the term “Kitty Sugar”…please feel free to google that term when you’re not at work….hah! My musical influences are Mindless Self Indulgence, Sleigh Bells, Grimes, The Prodigy, and KoRn. KoRn & The Prodigy definitely influenced my darker/creepier side, along with Vanilla Sugar’s looped beats and metal undertones. Sleigh Bells & Grimes influenced the poppier side of the tracks, while the influence of Mindless Self Indulgence’s in your face vocal style is evident in parts of the songs.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
When writing a song, I find that it usually starts with the music; a synth riff or a drum beat… everything else is built from that. Once the music is done, I tend to go freestyle a vocal idea in the studio. Not every line is kept, but lyric ideas are created from those recordings. I am trapped inside of my head a lot. This album dives into that, and I confront myself for the first time through lyrics. The music videos give a wonderful view into the insides of my brain. Life experiences really influence me. It’s a way for me to get things off my chest. I have a very bad habit of holding onto bad experiences and letting it eat away at me. When I write the lyrics around the issue, it’s as if I am releasing it from myself and it’s a very freeing feeling. I like for people to know they are not alone. There is someone else out there, like them.
TRAPPED
TRAPPED
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
When writing a song, I find that it usually starts with the music; a synth riff or a drum beat… everything else is built from that. Once the music is done, I tend to go freestyle a vocal idea in the studio. Not every line is kept, but lyric ideas are created from those recordings. I am trapped inside of my head a lot. This album dives into that, and I confront myself for the first time through lyrics. The music videos give a wonderful view into the insides of my brain. Life experiences really influence me. It’s a way for me to get things off my chest. I have a very bad habit of holding onto bad experiences and letting it eat away at me. When I write the lyrics around the issue, it’s as if I am releasing it from myself and it’s a very freeing feeling. I like for people to know they are not alone. There is someone else out there, like them.
FEELING
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
I write music that I like to listen to. It’s a combination of many different genres. I grew up listening to Metal, and began exploring Electronic music in High School.
Creating a song is an amazing feeling. You created this piece of music from scratch. Then, performing it live and watching people get into it and sing it back to you is an even more amazing experience. It’s unlike anything else.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Ideally the whole set is performed live. I am creating shorter sets though; it’s always good to have different set lengths! I have asked my fans to vote on their top 5 tracks from the album to build my shorter sets. I move the songs into an order that feels good for performing (each song tells a story) and build awesome transitions to perform in between each track. I love for the audience members to be able to have some variation instead of the show being exactly like the album.
VOTE
VOTE
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Ideally the whole set is performed live. I am creating shorter sets though; it’s always good to have different set lengths! I have asked my fans to vote on their top 5 tracks from the album to build my shorter sets. I move the songs into an order that feels good for performing (each song tells a story) and build awesome transitions to perform in between each track. I love for the audience members to be able to have some variation instead of the show being exactly like the album.
MUSIC VIDEO
What plans do you have for the future?
| I will be touring the UK with The Birthday Massacre in 2021. I am really looking forward to it! I plan to shoot and release more music videos. The goal is to have a music video for each song! |