An interview with Vanity Fear
An interview with Vanity Fear
What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
(VF) I (Matt) came up with the name several years ago while watching TV one night, and it just hit me like lightening and I knew I had to save it for the right project and that day finally came! It’s a clever play on the famous pop culture publication Vanity Fair on the surface, but is actually a metaphor for modern culture. As a society we use our vanity to cover our fear. Fear of what others think, how you look, what you feel. And if that’s too deep and pretentious, then it also sounds really cool.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
(VF) Sometimes it starts with a feeling, but usually the music comes first. We try to make as many new song instrumentals as possible as blank canvases. From there, the vocalists have the opportunity to pick and choose depending on what speaks to them. With three singers, there’s never a lack of something to say.
Thematically, it’s usually up to the core vocalist and what they trying to express. For example, if Heather begins a song, then Matt and Brandon will supplement lyrics and melodies in or to support her idea. The same goes for each vocalist. Each person is passionate about different things, so we try our best to be supportive of one another.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
(VF) Sometimes it starts with a feeling, but usually the music comes first. We try to make as many new song instrumentals as possible as blank canvases. From there, the vocalists have the opportunity to pick and choose depending on what speaks to them. With three singers, there’s never a lack of something to say.
Thematically, it’s usually up to the core vocalist and what they trying to express. For example, if Heather begins a song, then Matt and Brandon will supplement lyrics and melodies in or to support her idea. The same goes for each vocalist. Each person is passionate about different things, so we try our best to be supportive of one another.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
Although we’ve written under specific perimeters in the past, what’s freeing about this project is that it’s only what comes natural. Sometimes the music is heavier and sometimes it’s more electronic, but it’s always organic and authentic.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
(VF) Unfortunately we’ve only had the chance to play live once due to the current pandemic and the fact that we’re currently spread out over 3 cities and 2 states. At the beginning of December, four out the five members got together for a live acoustic performance of our 2020 EP & album releases (EP:Faith & Optophobia) we called ‘Unplug 2020: Vanity Fear Live’. A few of the performances can actually be seen on our official YouTube channel or on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/VanityFear. Brandon and Jeff got together a week before our performance and transposed both collections into beautiful acoustic versions that really shine a different light on some of the great songs from both collections. Hopefully we’ll see the end of this pandemic soon and can plug back in and go full volume!
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
(VF) Unfortunately we’ve only had the chance to play live once due to the current pandemic and the fact that we’re currently spread out over 3 cities and 2 states. At the beginning of December, four out the five members got together for a live acoustic performance of our 2020 EP & album releases (EP:Faith & Optophobia) we called ‘Unplug 2020: Vanity Fear Live’. A few of the performances can actually be seen on our official YouTube channel or on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/VanityFear. Brandon and Jeff got together a week before our performance and transposed both collections into beautiful acoustic versions that really shine a different light on some of the great songs from both collections. Hopefully we’ll see the end of this pandemic soon and can plug back in and go full volume!
What plans do you have for the future?
We work hard and we work fast! Since our inception in May of 2019, we’ve already put out 3 full albums, an EP, and a collection is music videos and a BTS series called ‘The New Normal’, where we documented the process of writing our most recent album ‘Optophobia’ in the midst of a pandemic. We do EVERYTHING 100% independent, and we mean everything! Videos, recording, mixing, mastering, writing, marketing; all of it! That being said, we’ve already begun pre-production on our next, most ambitious project to date; ‘New Eden’. This is more than an album, it’s a fully immersive experience that will include an album with 12-15 tracks, a series of 3 narrative driven music videos that will guide you through a full cinematic experience that we haven’t seen done on an independent scale. We actually just finished setting up our Kickstarter campaign which is now live, so if you’ve ever wanted to be an executive producer, here’s your chance!