Almost seven years after the release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Finelines’, British rockers My Vitriol returned to the live circuit recently to play a handful of intimate venues, voted for by the band’s fanbase via their Myspace page. Adam Venton caught up with them on the Bristol leg of the tour and had a well overdue chat with frontman Som Wardner.
R13: Your debut ‘Finelines’ was released back in 2001. We have to start with the question all your fans are wanting to know the answer to; where have you been and what have you been doing?!
My Vitriol:Between the lines was released in 2002, which many regard as an album in it’s own right. Last year we released A Pyrrhic Victory EP. But inbetween there are a lot of missing years / amnesia. ☺
R13: First time around you were signed after only 7 shows, and catapulted into the mainstream media almost instantly. Do you think, in hindsight, that everything happened maybe too quickly? Would this maybe be a reason for a such a long absence? Given the choice now would you have done things differently?
MV:Yes, it was certainly a case of too much too soon, or so it felt anyhow. I guess that made it all the more exciting, but also somewhat stressful. I think we were aware that we had no choice in the matter. We had been given an opportunity that most bands never got, and it would have be ungrateful to not recognise this. Would I do anything different? No. Its pointless to look back and wish it could have been a different way, as that could have actually been worse. You don’t know what you are wishing for, and it turned out really well for us.
R13:Do you feel that, as a band and as individuals, you’re in a place now where you can fulfil your enormous potential and reach new heights? And maybe more importantly, sustain a presence?
MV:We were pretty young when it all took off initially, so yeah. People forget how hard it was back then for a new British Rock band to break out. At the Drive In didn’t get a top40 and Queens of the Stone age only managed one, so when we managed a few we couldn’t believe it! Things are much better for rock music nowadays, its just that the whole music industry has changed due to the internet taking over, of course,…
R13:You’ve just finished your comeback tour, and I was lucky enough to be at the Bristol Fleece gig (review for R13 pending). It was an amazing show. How do you feel the tour went, and how did it feel to be back on the live circuit?
MV:Thank you. It’s great playing live. The audiences have been really warm, so it feels great. I’ve always said a great show is 50% about the band and 50% about the audience! We can’t wait to come back to Bristol.
R13:The venues you played were somewhat smaller than those in which you played last time around. Did you enjoy being back among the smaller, raw venues or do you miss the bigger stage?
MV:There are good and bad things about both. I really enjoy the sense of occasion of the bigger shows and the bigger production level you can take with you on those. But I also love the intimacy of fanclub shows like that we did on this tour due to the atmosphere. We did these shows by request of fans online, as opposed to pushing a release, so we will probably do bigger shows when we have the next release.
R13:Did the turnout in numbers and the loyalty of your fanbase surprise you? There seemed to be a mixture of both old and new fans, spanning across the age groups.
MV:I hope that as we keep going as a band, we can hold onto the people into us, as well play to people who have newly got into the music, which is what I guess we saw that the shows, so we’re happy!
R13:The new material sounded very impressive, can you tell us when you plan to unleash a new album on us? Surely a 7 year wait is long enough!
MV:Tell that to Axl Rose and Kevin Shields! 7 has nothing on 17 years! haha
R13:Are there plans for a more extensive UK tour in the pipeline, maybe in the New Year?
MV:Yes we are looking at dates now for Europe in late February and the UK during March. We will play the towns which fans demand us to play via our myspace.
R13:The music industry at the moment is very impatient, with labels dropping artists almost as quickly as they sign them. How has your label reacted/responded to such a long absence from you? Have they been supportive throughout?
MV:We have always kept as self sufficient as we could, so that would not affect the music too much. The label is partly to blame for the absence, I do remember when I submitted our first set of demos they said “We were thinking more Alien Ant Farm and Papa Roach, more than a Depeche Mode vibe” haha
R13:Where do My Vitriol go from here? What would be the perfect next twelve months for you?
MV:Playing as many shows around the world, and releasing some videos and then the album along the way. ☺