| Who were Snow Patrol – plain men who should know better, strumming
with a misplaced sense of self-righteousness – to take indie music out of its
snug ghetto and onto festival main stages? Huh? Vega 4 could be here to
redress that balance, chugging endearingly and seemingly without misguided ambitions
beyond getting a choice few bobbing around their bedrooms. How it should be. ‘You
& Me’ is the new single, it’s a nice little tune and it knows it. It reminds us
a little of mid 90s indie gold (well, a decent fake anyway) in the shape of The
Wannadies and perennial Smiths-aping underachievers Marion. It also sounds a touch
like The Killers once the chorus kicks in and that really can’t hurt. They’ve
got Jacknife Lee at the controls for the single (Bloc Party, Editors, erm, Snow
Patrol) and he’s built a solid enough frame for them that should last longer than
5 minutes. Success is of course reliant on the uncovering of a few more gems,
but this will probably do for starters. As good a time as any to find out where
their heads are at… Where are you now? What can you see?
Where
there is sun and green grass in London there is usually a mass gathering of people.
With both of those factors in full effect as well as a free festival being staged,
I have joined the masses at Regents Park for the Fruitstock festival. Having just
seen Breaks Co-op do a really cool chilled set I’m just waiting for the next band
to get set up now. What was the last thing you ate?
Picnic
food. In this case some salmon in a bun. Pita bread and humus. Doritos. All good
until that runs out and then it’s onto joining long queues for any kind of food.
What was the next album you intend to buy?
Looking forward
to getting a hold of the new Muse album. Each album of theirs has gone from strength
to strength and they make the kind of music that has so much put into every song
that even after multiple listens you still hear something new in the recordings.
What was the last movie you saw?
It was ‘V for Vendetta’ a
little while back. A good movie but more important was where I saw it. It was
the first time I had been in the huge Odeon theatre in Leicester Square and it
was an experience in itself. One of the biggest cinema’s I’ve been in. Go see
a movie in there. What are you most looking forward to?
The
release of our album in October. To people having the opportunity of knowing the
songs we are playing just makes the live shows a whole load more exciting. What
do you hate right now?
The annoyingly overused shorthand internet expression
“lol”. What was the last thing you liked that you saw on TV?
Without a doubt would be the ‘Lost’ series. Very well written. Only slightly frustrating
that it won’t finish for another 4 years or so. Lots of waiting and guessing to
do. Where or how do you feel most comfortable?
One of my grandparents
had this super ultra comfortable laz-y-boy chair. I fall asleep easily enough
as it is but after a few seconds on this chair... What would you class
as your most defining moment?
Still to have it I think. As long as there
is still potential to be fulfilled by this band then that most defining moment
is still to be reached. I would like it to be something like headlining the main
stage at Glastonbury though as that was the dream that carried me across from
New Zealand to the UK in the first place. What are your plans for tonight?
With more acts to see at this festival and the drinks flowing as well
I will probably just chill, think of the laz-y-boy chair and pass out. Relevant
Sites:
http://www.myspace.com/vega4
James Berry for Crud Magazine 2006©
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