The Familiars & The Vanns Co-Headline Australian Tour 2013 has been announced, with the two self-booked, self-managed bands joining forces to hit the road.

We have a chat with The Vanns about their formation, their sound, and their upcoming tour.

December and January see you kicking it around the country on tour with The Familiars! What can people expect from these shows?
Two sick bands busting out a mish-mash of tunes that will set feet’a tapping and fists pumping.

Can you give us a little background history on how The Vanns came to be?
 We’re all good mates and we just started jamming at our houses and decided to try our luck playing tunes live.

You’ve ditched the study for 2013 to focus more so on your music careers. Prior to this, what was it like balancing a band and education?
 While we were at school doing our HSC’s we tried to limit the amount of travelling we needed to do to play shows so we only really doing local shows. We also limited the amount of gigs so we could fit in as much practice possible into our schedules.

Winning the Red Bull Bedroom Jam of 2012 certainly helped pave the path for your success. What was that experience like?
 Winning a slot time at Homebake was awesome, especially hanging out back stage and seeing what all the bigger, more experienced bands got up to backstage. We also met heaps of other sick upcoming bands and we also received help and advice which led to a show with Jinja Safari at the Oxford Art Factory.

You were also chosen as the focus of the Vivid Ideas ‘access all areas’ – how gnarly! What was that like?
It was a pretty great experience, getting to hang out with the likes of Dave Ruby Howe from Triple J unearthed (who have helped us to get our music to people across the country), and just getting to talk about what all these managers and booking agents thought we should be doing with the band at the current time. We learnt a lot.

Your sound is an eclectic mix of indie and blues with a pinch of rock. Why did you choose to compose this kind of music?
We kind of just sat down and talked about what genres of music we listened to and and enjoyed, and ‘indie’, rock and blues came out on top. We then just jammed out some some ideas and had our first demo out in couple of months.
What was the inspiration behind your latest track ‘Belmore Street’?
The inspiration and rough story behind ‘Belmore Street’ is seeing yourself hit a wall of repetitiveness in a bad way and finding no way out e.g. drinking, women and not knowing who you really are at points in time. The name ‘Belmore Street’ was inspired by the the street in Newtown, Sydney while I was there, and putting all of the above into context, it is how I felt at the time and the name just clicked.

You’ve supported an incredible number of killer Aussie acts – have there been any favourites or standout moments so far?
Playing with Jinja Safari was definitely the highlight of the year for us. Right from the beginning of The Vanns, we have been very inspired by the sounds that Jinja create, so to be playing alongside them was an awesome experience.

What do The Vanns hope to achieve throughout their careers?
Fame, fortune and chicks? Just the norm…

What’s next for The Vanns?
At the moment, there is nothing planned for after this tour. Adam, Bob and Lachie are heading to uni so we’re going to have to work out how to juggle gigs and study again, but it wasn’t too hard last time. We will continue to write and put out singles, but that’s all we can give away for now.

The Familiars & The Vanns Co-Headline Australian Tour 2014

23 Jan – Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne
25 Jan – Rad, Wollongong
29 Jan – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
30 Jan – The Basement, Canberra
31 Jan – Oxford Art Factory (Gallery Bar), Sydney
06 Feb – The Zoo, Brisbane (The Familiars Only)
07 Feb – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay
08 Feb – Alfred’s Basement, Gold Coast

More details and info at https://www.facebook.com/thefamiliarsband &https://www.facebook.com/TheVanns

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine