Hailing from Kingston Upon Hull, Ryan and Connor from Vulgarians cannot believe just how good their local underground music scene is right now, even going as far to say that it is the best it has ever been, “There are many young bands are coming through at the moment and it’s a great thing to be a part of.” With venues such as The Adelphi, The Polar Bear and The Warren playing major parts in keeping the scene alive, “we’re heading in the right direction”. Through their travels on tour, the band have encountered the wider scene and are impressed with what they have witnessed, “we get to see a lot of grassroots stuff emerging and Yorkshire seems to be in a real purple patch at the minute.”
Grassroots venues are so integral in acting as a platform to showcase up and coming talent, but they perceive venues closure as a real issue affecting their band as well as other budding musicians, “Just this month we have seen the closure of our beloved Fruit in Hull and Sticky Mike’s in Brighton. Add that to Lock Tavern and it spells it out to you.” The band wish there was more they and others could do as a preventative measure because of how paramount music spaces are, “It’s time the industry and government put a stop to ‘developers’ extorting innocent people so some of us can have something to smile about once a week.” Being in a band has its drawbacks at times and they identify external factors out of their control, “Brexit is about to strangle foreign touring opportunities and money as a whole is difficult as financially, being in a band is like having 17 children.” It is certainly true that Britain’s vote to leave the EU will impact upon musicians’ accessibility to Europe, as well as make the logistics more expensive.
It’s not all doom and gloom in the realm of Vulgarians as they rejoice in the ability to embark on nationwide tours, “Getting to do what you love every night. That cannot be beaten!” Despite admitting that touring can be strenuous and present challenges when feeling hungover or experiencing what they note as long periods of sleep deprivation, they are in agreement that touring wins the age-old argument of touring vs recording. “It’s always been touring for me. Adrenal chaos!” Touring so far has not been short of any drama for Vulgarians, how many bands can say they have found themselves embroiled in what feels like a soap drama? “Some guy crashed a supercar right in front of us. We ran out to help them – blood running from heads – and they wouldn’t let us call any emergency services because the lady in the passenger seat apparently shouldn’t have been there..” Weird. A notable tour the band have under their belt is alongside The Wytches, they note this experience as being the one to cement their path into the music scene. “It was an amazing time in our then-fresh career as Vulgarians. We’re forever thankful to them and we’re really good friends now too, so it’s a win/win!”
Music plays a vital role for the band within their career and as an element of their personal lives, “We live and breathe it every day. Not a moment goes by where we’re not either listening to it or thinking about it.” Therefore, they recognise how their music can generate emotions or behaviours within their fans and those who come to watch them live, “We hope people would feel a somewhat emotional attachment to us after seeing us play and we’d like to think our music offers a bare-bodied, honest depiction of who we are as people.” Interestingly Vulgarians choose not to incorporate politics within their music, unlike so many other bands. However, they do insist “that doesn’t mean we don’t have firm political viewpoints or moral fibre. We stand for making the best music we can and hoping that it stands for others too.” Songwriting is a group effort that is juggled around their hectic work life, shutting themselves away in a room till complete, “Our lyrics are often geared towards social commentary and the 9 hours preceding the writing of them.”
The band won’t be locked away for too long though as they are about to embark on a trip to Europe soon, with plans to reach the States soon after, “we are all on the organ donor register so hopefully we’ll be able to flog a kidney or two and go to America next year!” That’ll be worth it, right? Till then, fans can anticipate the debut LP that is due for release next year, in their words – “We better get on with it!”
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Photo by Sam Joyce
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