The Vices' new track, “Before It Might Be Gone,” digs into pleasure and pain, escaping and facing feelings head-on. “It all started when I met someone who I thought was really special,” the band tells PAPER. “But despite it all, she was genuinely happy. She dealt with her problems and faced them. That made me see a lot of other people who were all in some kind of pain but didn’t deal with it. So I started to write about it.”
The Dutch band (Simon Bleeker, Mathew Louwsma, Jonathan Kruizenga and Floris van Luijtelaar) are premiering the visuals of their latest track today, showing off the energy behind their lives shows. “It’s a good representation of who we are and the sound that we bring,” they say. “Playing live is really important to us, so we thought it would be good to show that side of it too. When we play live together it’s like nothing else matters. You forget everything and your whole mind and body is in the music. That energy man. Being on stage with the people that you know through and through, playing the music that we have all lived. That is just such a fuckin release of so many things. Doesn’t matter if we’re just playing the four of us, in front of 20,000 people or in a bar with 30 people. It’s always that and we give it all we fucking got.”
Below, the band tells us about “Before It Might Be Gone,” what we can expect from their debut album (February 7) of the same name, what they love about playing live and what we can expect from the four-piece next.
What is the Inspiration behind "Before It Might Be Gone?" And how did you dig into the themes of substance abuse and that push and pull between pleasure and pain?
It all started when I met someone who I thought was really special. She had been through all kinds of shit, things that I couldn’t even imagine having to go through. But despite it all, she was genuinely happy. She dealt with her problems and faced them. That made me see a lot of other people who were all in some kind of pain but didn’t deal with it. So I started to write about it. I think it is understandable to sedate yourself in some kind of way and run away from the feelings. A bit later, I realized I was doing it too. So I needed to deal with it. In my experience, you need to feel the bad and face the problems in order to see the road to good feelings again, “Before It Might Be Gone.” That’s my experience at least.
How do you hope fans feel and think when they've heard the track?
If it makes people feel or think anything that’s great. But we don’t want to push people in a certain direction really. A song can mean so many different things to different people, in different moments. Does it make you jump around the room like crazy? Cool. Do you hate it? That’s cool too. Does it take you to a certain time or place? Fuck yes. That’s part of the beauty.
What are some of the other themes of the album? Was it hard to dig into those vulnerabilities while making music you knew everyone would hear?
The album is like a journey of change and all the aspects that come with it. There’s hope, happiness and unconditional love, but also fear, anger and self-loathing. On the one hand, it was kinda hard to dig into all this because it’s something I didn’t do too much before. But if there’s a way to do it for me it’s through music.
How did you approach Before It Might Be Gone differently than your previous release?
This album feels like the most "Vices" thing we've done so far. The whole process was loose and we didn’t let perfectionism get in the way of creating something as honest and raw as possible. For the first time, we incorporated all our different influences and ideas without worrying about how things should sound. We each come from different backgrounds and are inspired by unique things, and often in the past, we followed a set direction. But this time, we let everyone’s musical thinking flow freely, and you can really hear that on the record. In the end, it feels like this album genuinely represents who we are together, and I love that. Also, we recorded in a different place than we did before. We went to London to work with a producer named Charlie Andrew.We’ve always admired his work with Alt-J and more recently, David Gilmour, so we were thrilled to collaborate with him. I think you can really hear the influence of both London and Charlie on this record. It has a side we hadn’t shown before — it’s grittier yet also more soulful.
Judging by the music video, you put on a great show. What's a fun or recent memory from a gig?
Falling down, standing up, jumping in the mosh pit. Finding out after the show that my phone got lost in the mosh pit ... live energy!
What made you decide to show off that aspect of your music and performance for the visuals?
It’s a good representation of who we are and the sound that we bring. Also, we just released it as a single today. Playing live is really important to us so we thought it would be good to show that side of it too. When we play live together it’s like nothing else matters. You forget everything and your whole mind and body is in the music. That energy man. Being on stage with the people that you know through and through. Playing the music that we have all lived. That is just such a fuckin release of so many things. Doesn’t matter if we’re just playing the four of us, in front of 20,000 people or in a bar with 30 people. It’s always that and we give it all we fucking got. It’s quite different from the studio versions. You try to capture a moment in the studio, but when playing live that moment can be different. You try new stuff, you change as a person and that influences your playing. You listen to and follow each other. There are so many aspects to playing live and we care about it a lot, so we thought we should highlight it.
What are you most excited to share with fans next?
We’re coming to the U.S. again! In February, right after the release of the album, we’re coming to the States. We can’t wait.
Photography: Milenco Dol
Related Articles Around the Web
