STARTING their South African tour next week are London-based four piece band Vuvuvultures ( pictured) who plan to knock your socks off in Pretoria, Joburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town.
VVV are in London as we chat via Skype. It’s 9am on their side of the world and the band are easing into the morning with a cup of coffee at hand.
Fronted by Harmony Boucher (vocals), the members are Nicole Bettencourt Coelho, Matthew Christensen and Paul Ressel. Ressel is absent from the interview but the rest seem laid-back as we talk.
Christensen says: “This will be the first time we’re playing in South Africa, but there are three of us who are actually from there originally. So I guess it sort of seemed like a natural thing for us to do. Also, the shows there are amazing, we were offered to do RAMfest and thought that would be a brilliant thing to do and a bunch of shows around it. And also the weather’s amazing.”
Boucher smiles: “It’s always a plan of ours to get anywhere that’s hotter than here. So as soon as we get the opportunity, we say yes.”
As for their sound, the guys say there are a range of influences: “Some people have said it’s kind of like Zed Leppelin. Musically, all four of us have such different tastes that there’s stuff leading in from all areas and music styles… some hard rock influence, indie, electronic, stoner metal… quite a range. We look like a rock band, but definitely do not sound like a specific rock band,” Christensen says.
As for their music, Boucher says: “We’re definitely influenced by a lot of sci-fi things some of the time and a lot of nerdy things, fashion, pop culture, literature. And we all contribute to the songwriting. It’s almost like a scientific process. It’s like… right, we need a beat, now we need some other things, we need some lyrics and okay, there, we have a song.”
Having just released their debut album, Push/Pull, VVV seem stoked to talk about it. “Releasing the album was amazing, that was a really big deal for us. Also, playing live music is what it’s all about. It seems like a rare thing but there’s so much other stuff that goes into making it all work.”
So what can South Africa expect?
Says Christensen: “A range of different things, playing big festival shows and playing acoustic shows as well.
“So there’s quite a lot that they can sink their teeth into. Some songs work better on the big stage and some work better on acoustic environments so I guess people can expect… a lot (laughs).”
VVV plan to release some new tracks in the future, write lots of music, and tour as much as possible. They also focus on changing their live shows but right now they want their journey to be a surprise, so you’ll have to wait to find out more.
• Catch VVV at Park Acoustics on Sunday, at Live – the Venue and The Winston in Durban on February 27, RAMfest Joburg on March 7 and Cape Town on March 8. See www.vuvuvultures.com