INTERVIEW: Vinyl Theatre
For a select few bands and musicians that have been fortunate enough to break out of the Milwaukee music scene, Summerfest serves as a homecoming of sorts. Among those making a trip back home this year are Vinyl Theatre, the indie-pop band that made a quick impact in their hometown before signing to Fueled By Ramen. We talked with the band ahead of their show tonight at Miller Lite Oasis, and got to know more about their new album, “Origami”:
B&E: You guys just recently put out your second album, “Origami”. Does it feel different to go through the album process the second time around?
VT: This is definitely the first time we’ve been able to spend a month straight in a studio perfecting our songs. Our first record was more of a compilation of songs we had put out over the course of 2 years and finally bundled together. Origami is a more cohesive record we were able to build over the course of 3 years, it’s a big step up from the resources and time we used to have.
B&E: Where did the album title originate from?
VT: The record’s all about self awareness and self improvement. Taking your failures in life and learning from them. Creating something new out of your failures. Rearranging to better take on the trials of life. We felt like Origami just captured that quite perfectly.
B&E: What was the writing process like on this record? Were you at home, or did it start to develop on the road?
VT: We wrote a lot on the road but most of the songs just became stepping stones for the next. When we finally have a few months off focus purely on writing we wrote the majority of the songs on the record. We never really settled on a song until we felt like we had that ‘lightning in a bottle’ feeling when playing it through.
B&E: What do you think the biggest change is for Vinyl Theatre, from “Electrogram” to “Origami”?
VT: When doing this record our main goal was to chase new sounds in every aspect of the song writing process. We didn’t want to write the same album and we wanted to make sure that we were free as musicians. This album has more of a rock and roll sense to it in our eyes and the meanings of the songs are very close to the heart for us.
B&E: We always love a good tour story. What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you on tour?
VT: We have had so many weird and or funny things happen to us over the last few years. I think one of those moments that sticks out to me is a show we played early on in our touring career. We would always get so pumped before shows and we came out hoping to slam down on some chords and make some noise, the only problem was that the all of the speakers were turned off so we looked pretty funny.
B&E: While you’re back home, is there any bands that you’re hoping to see at Summerfest?
VT: We are definitely looking forward to hearing Walk The Moons set after we play. There’s always an awesome lineup so it’s hard to narrow it down, but Awol Nation and the band who open for them, Iron Tom would also be a really fun show to see.
B&E: Finally, what’s the one place you have to visit when you’re back in Milwaukee?
VT: I think it’s different for all of us, but one of the coolest things about Milwaukee is definitely the lakefront and all of the places that you can go to that are right there. There’s a lot that this part of Milwaukee has to offer.
