VANITY KILLS is a UK industrial rock band founded by JOE CROW. After the 2014 debut release “CHAPTER 1: STITCHES” and two music videos the band seemingly went a bit silent.
Joe stepped away from the scene for a bit and explored video game music and was through that lead to do more with VK.
I`ve known they`ve had something new in the works for a little while now so I figured I`d hit up Joe and see what he has to say about it all
Adrian: Start off by giving us a quick backstory to the band. How long have you been around and who`s involved?
Joe: The project started back in 2012 officially. It would have originally been a full band from day 1 but creative differences led to me being left with a band name and no band.
Stitches was recorded mostly by myself with a few guest appearances. I was putting the band together while recording went on.
Now the line up is solid and is myself, Hex Fairydance and Phil Lowman on guitar, John Jeffreys on bass and Sophie Wighton on percussion and samples.
A: I might be wrong but I have this vague memory of you doing something with Al B. Damned a few years back? What else have you been involved with before VK?
J: Yeah! I was originally in Tdqm (Texas Drag Queen Massacre) and was the only holdover when the project changed to abd (Al B. Damned). I worked on “The Darker Side Of Me” record.
I did come back after leaving to play drums while Pip recovered from a broken arm and again much later as guest.
A: Where did the name Vanity Kills come from?
J: The name was born out of a conversation with the dude who would have originally been the singer for the band. I wanted to use the word vanity because it was always my favourite of the seven sins. He added the kills. We did try to come up with a convoluted meaning for it but it never took off.
A: Your debut release, Chapter 1: Stitches came out in 2014. What`s happened between then and now?
J: I took some time away from the heavy music scene and dedicated my time to my personal life. I still wrote heavy stuff but with no intention of releasing it. Just for fun. I did start a fun side career in video game music which i loved doing and was what pulled me back to VK.
A: Dope, Static-X, Slipknot and those type of bands would be my first guesses as far as your influences goes. Are there any others that might not be as a obvious?
J: So many! You’re right about all three as well as more obvious stuff like Stabbing Westward and Ministry. But i was lucky to be brought up around so many types of music. I consider artists like prince, Phil Collins and Michael Jackson as big of an influence as my heavier favourites.
A: The first single of CHAPTER 2; “This Is Gonna Hurt” was released a few weeks ago. You can tell its Vanity Kills but it doesnt feel like youre simply repeating your first release. What are you doing this time around thats different from back in 2014?
J: Back when i made CHAPTER 1, i wanted to include a lot more electronic elements in the music, but at the time i didnt have the knowledge or the means to take it to where i wanted. I did originally have more of that on the record, but a lot were taken out of the final mixes by the producer i was working with at the time.
After the years i spent making music for video games i had gathered so much more knowledge and means that i was inspired to take that over to VK and get the sound i always wanted. We’ve even adding new sounds to the old songs for our live shows.
A: How far along are you with CHAPTER 2?
J: I’ve written and started recording about 22 songs in all. About 12 are finished. The rest need vocals and finishing touches. I could release the 12 ive finished and be done but i really want to be able to choose the songs based on which ones feel best together. I’m aiming for the album to come out in full by spring 2020 but there`ll be plenty to hear between now and then.
A: Are there any shows/tours coming up ?
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J: Yes! We actually just played the first ever VK show recently. Next up we’re playing at the Dublin Castle in Camden, London on Nov. 22nd and The Bunkhouse on Dec 5th. We’re currently booking for 2020 but nothing in stone yet.
A: Last words are yours, feel free to promote whatever you`ve got going on or leave a message for your listeners.
J: Just a big thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting for new music and shows. They are finally coming and im eternally grateful to everyone who has checked us out so far.
Also we finally have hardcopies of CHAPTER 1: STITCHES available from our bandcamp page. I’ve had so many people ask for that so we finally did it.
Officialvanitykills.bandcamp.com
Facebook.com/officialvanitykills
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