Getting to Know: Minnesota Alt-Rockers, Vaudeville
In today’s Getting to Know, we meet Minnesota-based alt-rockers, Vaudeville. They think they are pretty awesome, and aren’t shy about sharing that perspective. If you are in an up and coming band that would like to partake in a Getting to Know feature, contact editor@riffyou.com to receive the questionnaire and instructions. Thanks!
Band Name: Vaudeville
Band Members: Christopher Gummeson (vocals, keyboards), Chris Schara (guitar), AJ Sugar (guitar), Timmy Kosel (bass), and John Olson (drums)
Years Active: 3
City of Origin: Minneapolis, MN.
Who are you and what do you do?
“We are Vaudeville. We make awesome alt-rock-ish music and play awesome shows…because we like to think that we are awesome.”
In 100 words or less, tell us how your band has gotten to this point.
“We constantly promote our band and music, in person, and online. We also do plenty of touring and shows on the road, and reach out to anyone we can to spread the word about us.”
What is your latest release and how would you best describe it to someone who hasn’t heard your band?
“We are about to release a two-part album. It’s an evolution from our first disc. It has a lot more maturity in the writing and elaborate-ness to the music. It’s alt-rock at the core, but unique in its own way.”
When making an album, which aspect of the process do you put the most time into and why?
“It’s probably a toss-up between writing and production. Sometimes songs just happen and sound great in five minutes, but other times, you spend six months on a song and ultimately scrap it anyway. With production, we like to spend a lot of time making sure every part is tight and sounds perfect with our vision for the song.”
What is the best part about your band and why?
“Probably the fact that we are awesome…I may be bias, but with a question like that, it’s all I can say.”
What makes your band unique from the rest?
“I would say the music. Again, I have a hard time really comparing us to other bands. You can see similarities between us and some others, but I feel like our music is something just a little different and unique.”
How does your band survive the challenges of touring/gigging?
“We are actually all dead already, so survival isn’t really an issue. Saves on the food budget on the road too.”
Would you rather be critically-acclaimed; rich and famous; or an under-the-radar band with a dedicated fan base?
“Somewhere in between. We ultimately want people to connect with and love our music, but we also want to make this our living and our career. Not that we want to be extravagantly rich or anything, but to be able to have this as our primary income would be sweet!”
If you’d have to compare your band to another one out there, living or dead, who would it be and why?
“I hate this question…I’ve heard people compare us to the likes of Muse, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, 30 Seconds to Mars, U2, etc…some sort of stadium rock awesome-ness.”
Which band/musician would you like to share many drinks with? What would you talk about?
“I don’t know about the rest of the band, but I personally would love to get wasted with Matt Bellamy of Muse, mostly because I am entirely in love with him…like to a pathetic kind of level. I am pretty sure Mr. Bellamy and I would talk about our future together, where we would live, how many kids we want, who gets what side of the bed, etc…”
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