Video Villain Interview

Posted by hugo on 5 January 2009
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Video Villain pic

Video Villain gets the honor of being our first interview of 2009! Congrats girls and guy!

SMILE: So, who is Video Villain and how long have you guys been performing together? There isn’t much info on you out there, so give us the beef.

Video Villain: We’ve known each other for a few years, we used to play gigs together when we were in different bands and sometimes meet up for a drink. It was actually when we met up for a drink more recently that we discovered that both of our band’s had come to an end, so we thought we’d join forces and Video Villain was born.

SMILE: I ran across your song “Low” in a music blog. Does it surprise you that other artists and Djs are taking a liking to your work? Obviously, you know you’re growing in popularity when your songs start getting remixed and spread around the blogosphere. Did you know Modernaire before they remixed “low” or did he just surprise you with it? What’s the remix process like for you?

VV: Cam actually knows Alex from Modernaire well. They both live in Manchester and hang around the same places. We love getting remixes/mash ups of our music. As a new band, it’s really exciting to have people interested in your music and it’s cool to hear what they do with it. We’re in the process of getting a remix done by Pirate Robot Midget. He remixed Nine Inch Nails (our favourite band) so we feel really honoured that he is taking the time to remix a track from our own bedroom demo!

SMILE: I read how you bought some synths off eBay and took a trip up to Scotland, pretty hilarious story. In it you mention that your engine was fried when you made it back to London, did anything else crazy happen along the way and what in the world are Uncle Joe’s mint balls?
(editors note: http://www.uncle-joes.com for inquiring minds)

VV: Yeah, we officially cooked Lucy’s car’s engine. She has a Nissan Figaro… it looks like a 50’s wind- up toy. It’s designed to be more of a weekend car but we thrash it and put amps in the back so it looks like it’s doing a constant wheely! As for Uncle Joe’s (you mean you haven’t tried them?)… you’re missing out! there is even a song written in their honour.

Here’s the chorus:

“Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls keep you all aglow
Give ‘em to your grannie and watch the beggar go
Away with coughs and sniffles, take a few in hand
Suck ‘em and see, you’ll agree
They’re the best in all the land”

SMILE: Have you started touring yet? Got any plans to hit the US soon? Any idea when the debut album is going to be released? Got a name yet?

VV: Whoa nelly! we have only been going a month or so, we haven’t begun gigging yet. We plan to early in the new year. We have lot’s of staging ideas that we are probably going to have to tone down… we don’t want to end up with a Spinal Tap style Stone Henge but we do like the idea of involving some video elements.

SMILE: Seems like you have it all going for you, you have a clothing line called art disco, (i really want the “killer rabbit” Tee). Who started that side project and how long have you been doing it? Do you find that operating an actual business gets in the way of music?

VV: Marie and myself (lucy) began Art Disco about 18 months ago. It all started when we were offered a ridiculously low percentage of our merchandising for our last band. We did/ do all the artwork so it felt strange sending it off for someone else to print and in return, screw us for money! We’ve always been into fashion so we decided to take it one step further, and set up our own printing studio and online store. It doesn’t get in the way as it gives us an outlet for our art other than music.

SMILE: Are there any other projects the band is working on, side bands, McDonalds franchises, hahaha? anything we should expect in the future?

VV: As Art Disco we also do designs for other bands, independent clothing labels, and posters for club nights so that keeps us very busy… think the McDonald’s franchises may have to wait.

SMILE: Before you were Video Villain, you were known as Dead Disco. Marie and Lucy started Dead Disco in North Yorkshire and continued together through art school in Leeds. How was it like starting up? any major struggles as a band? what’s the most memorable moment of your journey. How did Video Villain evolve from Dead Disco?

VV: Dead Disco was our previous band, Cam was also in another band (The Clerks/ Maudite Dance). Both came to an end at a similar time and we were really excited to be able to make music together. We were always wanting to be a bit heavier/ industrial as we felt somewhat restricted in our last bands.

The most memorable moments from Dead Disco were playing Leeds festival, and recording in LA / spending too much at the Rose Bowl monthly Flea market…although we still kick ourselves about the things we didn’t buy from that place. There was a pair of vintage Nike Air Jordan 1’s…the extra high ones that were banned because they snapped peoples ankles. We would have suffered a limp for them but alas we’d just spent our last dollars.

SMILE: Got your eye on any labels? Any labels got their eyes on you?

VV: It’s still early days, we wanted to start a band and remember what it was like to enjoy making music and to make music for ourselves…and if other people like it too that’s an awesome bonus.

SMILE: What is your main focus as a band?

VV: We just want to enjoy ourselves and let it grow organically, not like a mutant GM vegetable. That doesn’t mean to say that we don’t have motivation… we have bags of it.

SMILE: What do you plan on doing for the new year 2009?

VV: Begin gigging, keep writing and getting interesting people to remix us/work with us. We’ve got a couple of things planned, but we want to keep them under our hats for now.

We generally want to meet a lot of people and have a lot of fun…oh and we want to go to Japan. They have awesome clothes and shoes there in small sizes. Bonus.

SMILE: Now, because we aim to gather the most complete and robust information on bands that we deem ‘worthy’, here’s a short silly questionnaire (that’s really just for shits and grins.)

Gold or silver? Gold

Pizza or sushi? Sushi

Favorite food to bring on tour? Uncle Joe’s mint balls

Guilty pleasures? Goldie Hawn

Worst thing about being on tour? As long as there’s a video player on the bus and we can get our Goldie fix we’re happy.

Celebrity crush? Whoopi Goldberg and Christian Bale whens he’s in the throws of a mother rage

Movie we must see? Videodrome / American Psycho

Memorable moment for 2008? Christian Bale’s mother rage, he’s sexy when he gets the red eye.

Plans for New Years? Party, eat haggis, drink whiskey.

Can I have that awesome t-shirt? I think we can sort something out.