Fancy getting into a bit of Trouble this summer? Vintage Trouble?
We’d urge you to do just that as one of the best new rock bands on the planet continues to draw warm praise from fans and critics alike.
With debut album The Bomb Shelter Sessions ready for a full UK release this month and the band still out on the road we caught up with frontman Ty Taylor.
rushonrock: Why has it taken you so long to front a band that sounds like the most natural fit for your voice?
Ty Taylor: I grew up on this kind of music and it has been inside me for some time. It’s one of these situations where I’ve done so many different things in my life but, because I’ve been incredibly lucky, I’ve arrived back at where my roots are. Everyone has a story around how their character and their personality was shaped and I grew up with a lot of soul in my life. I was surrounded by James Brown, Otis Redding, Ike and Tina Turner and around that there was R&B and rock. But soul is what I was conceived into.
rushonrock: Did Vintage Trouble click from day one?
TT: We recorded the album three months after we got together. We recorded it in a few days. As a band we’ve been together for 15 months but even from our starting point to now I’ve gone even deeper into understanding what we’ve got to do. We all love the 50s, the 60s, rock and soul and everyone and everything about that period. Even people like the Stones. We all love that period and you see that in our performances. The fact that we’ve done so many shows means we’re the real deal live.
rushonrock: For a young band you’ve made incredibly quick progress – how come?
TT: In LA we had four different residencies. We have a fanbase over there of 1,500 people a week. As a new band we really did luck out. But what’s been great for us is that we haven’t missed any steps along the way. We started off in a little studio and three weeks later we started playing shows. We got Doc McGee as a manager and he took us to London. We did the Jools Holland show and then we were asked to go on the Brian May tour. Right after that we got offered some of the Bon Jovi summer shows and we got to record at Abbey Road. It’s been a good ride and fast climb but we’ve done things the right way.
rushonrock: So if things are so good why’s it taken you so long to get going with Vintage Trouble?
TT: I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to find myself in a band like Vintage Trouble. I suppose it’s just been a timing issue. I suppose I just wasn’t ready before now. I suppose to sing in a band like Vintage Trouble you have to have stories to tell. I started the band just after I’d emerged from the most beautiful and horrific time of my life. I was going through the hardest financial period of my life and I was desperate for refuge. The songs I started to write reflected things that had been bottled up for so long. It’s necessary for me to need a reason to yell music rather than sing it politely.
rushonrock: What do Vintage Trouble bring to the rock n soul mix?
TT: The universe needed Vintage Trouble and what we do. Yes we’re in a hi-tech world but we have to remember where we are and where we’ve come from. We need to show the youth in our industry that you don’t need to have a lot of frills to be in a great band.
rushonrock: You’ve spent the summer bouncing from arenas to clubs and back again – where are you most at ease?
TT: You’re never going to replace the atmosphere of a club show. Earlier this summer we played a club date in Manchester at the university and the walls were dripping and the ceiling was dripping and you could feel the sweat all around you. You’re never going to replace the sound of what individuals are saying to you up on stage and the vibe that creates. You’re just never going to get that in a stadium. But then again, as a musician, playing in a stadium in front of thousands of people is a childhood dream. I suppose the best way to describe it is that the club’s the adult dream and the stadium’s the childhood dream. The club is raunchier and sweatier and you actually get to touch the people out front – it’s that sexy. The stadium is the grand, opulent alternative. It’s like that scene on Titanic where you’ve got the grand ball on one floor where everyone’s very proper and being served a banquet and then you’ve got the working class party below deck where the real action’s at. As a musician I know which one I’d choose – it’s the club.
rushonrock: What’s it like playing first on the same bill as fellow New Jersey natives Bon Jovi?
TT: Opening up for Bon Jovi is such a huge honour. Every night we got to look at these people who have maintained an incredible consistency and retained a link to their fans. Every few years they have a current hit and they are still incredibly important.
rushonrock: Are you a fan of the band?
TT: As a kid I loved Bon Jovi and I loved rock. I grew up with it. As an aspiring singer, I always looked up to Jon Bon Jovi. There are certain bands that you can tell are like a family and Bon Jovi is one of those bands. To be supping lemonade with them after a great meal is a thrill. I have no problem spending time with my heroes but I have a hard time pretending to be cool!
rushonrock: Do Vintage Trouble look to Bon Jovi as the perfect role model?
TT: I consider our band to be a soul band, rather than a rock band. But it’s all about making music. You understand what music is all about and its effect upon people. That’s what Bon Jovi are all about. That’s what we’re about. I cannot name five bands who do it better than Bon Jovi. They’ve continued to affect people the world over and they do it in a joyous way. They represent a certain joy to people and that’s what we pride ourselves in – giving pleasure to people who love music.
rushonrock: Considering you’re an American band you’ve spent a lot of time in the UK – is breaking the British market part of the overall plan?
TT: Basically we’ve been in the UK since April. By the end of this year we’ll have spent nine months in Britain. We knew from the beginning that we needed to release and promote our album in the UK. It was always our plan. We’re such dreamers. We used to think about Tracey Chapman and remember how the people in Britain knew about and accepted her music in the very early days. People get our music here. We go to pubs after the shows and people don’t talk to us about being in a band – they talk to us about real stuiff. They want to talk about music and what makes us tick and there’s an honesty and a passion there. People here tell the truth. But there’s an expectation of quality in this country. Compared to the US it’s more of a cultural melting pot and we love it.