The Fearless Vampire Killers have currently left the stakes at home and packed up their touring van for shows in Victoria and New South Wales. I recently caught up with band’s lead guitarist Al Marx to chat about his band’s unusual moniker, their new single “For You and Me,” and the album to come.
I love your band’s name. It’s got to be one of the most creative in the music industry at present. Where did it come from?
Honestly, we stole it. It was a bit of a throwaway title to begin with, but I think we’ve all grown to love it. The only real aim at the time was to have an obscenely long name to dwarf others on bills.
You weren’t worried about the wrath of a thousand young Twilight fans at all?
It might get a little bumpy, but we maintain it’s just a phase.
I’m sure most people won’t forget your band’s name in a hurry, but can you describe your sound for the uninitiated?
The closest we can get is bluesy-western-surf-rock.
You’re touring your home state at present, and you’ll end up in Sydney in July. How are the shows going?
We haven’t had so much fun since the ice-cream mountain. That was a happy day.
I hear that your last Melbourne show generated some major buzz. What is it that makes your live shows so special?
Our live show has always been our focus. If we’re in a good mood you’ll have a good time. If you have a bad time it was the sound guy.
You’re out promoting “For You and Me,” which is the first single from your unreleased debut album. Why did you decide to go with this song to introduce Australia to the record?
There are two other songs we’re planning to release from this album. One of them is laid back and melancholy, the other fast and brash. “For You and Me” fits nicely in between so we thought we’d wuss out and play it safe.
You don’t hear a lot of bands these days tapping into that surfabilly sound as you have with this single. What attracted you to it?
I think we’re attracted to sounds more than anything. Each genre has it’s own set of tones, and that music has a great set of sounds. We like to take it apart and put it back together in a different way, like a monkey with a camera. I don’t know why more people don’t.
The song’s been doing great things on Triple J and community radio, as have your previous singles. How important have those outlets been to your success thus far?
We always underestimate how a release will be received. So far Australian radio has been very kind to us. We’d like to send it a little ‘thank-you’, but we don’t know where it is.
As I mentioned we won’t hear the album until later this year. What can you tell me about it?
It has ten tracks and is about yay long, by about yay wide. You should see it flapping about in spring. Pretty happy with how it’s turned out.
After this tour wraps up, what’s next for The Fearless Vampire Killers?
We plan to be the first band to summit Everest without the aid of oxygen tanks after a few short trips to Sydney and the album release of course, so stay tuned.
You can still catch The Fearless Vampire Killers on their current tour at the following shows.
8 June 2011 – The Loft, Warrnambool
9 June 2011 – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
10 June 2011 – Newmarket Hotel, Bendigo
11 June 2011 – Torquay Hotel, Torquay
12 June 2011 – The National Hotel, Geelong
Image used with permission from Two Fish Out of Water
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