I caught up with Vega Bay after they played the main support slot for King No-One. Vega Bay brought summer vibes to Rescue Rooms on a dreary November evening. Opening with ‘Drench’ and lead singer Sam asking the crowd to have a boogie with them, they then teased the release of new music, playing new song ‘So Far’. A crowd-pleaser ‘Sometimes It Rains’ got the crowd off their feet and singing along. Closing with ‘Badmash’, the crowd started to mosh and were filled will energy for King No-One.
Did you guys enjoy that?
Sam: Yeah and it was really nice to get the crowd going at the end.
How do you balance student life, making new music and being in a band?
Sam: We don’t really. We’re all students, I’m at Nottingham Trent, Freddie is at Manchester, Bram is at Derby and Ned is at Sheffield Hallam. We’re all over the place. The main problem that we have got to overcome is the fact that Ned and Fred are in different cities, so we try and arrange rehearsals to be around the gigs.
Ned: I have lectures tomorrow and am getting a train back to Sheffield in an hour. We mainly focus our gigs at the cities where we are at uni.
Sam: We sold out our first show in Sheffield a couple of weeks ago, with Scruff of the Neck.
Ned: We’ve played in Manchester as well. We’re quite lucky, as we’re getting about, we’ve built up a reputation in Nottingham and now are in new cities.
Sam: We don’t take ourselves too seriously. Fortunately, the cities we are at tend to be really good for music. Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield three of the big cities in the North for music.
Do you have any other shows planned other than the BBC Introducing gig at Metronome on the 22nd?
Sam: Yeah, we do actually, we’re playing at a zine fest for my mate who is on the art course at Trent. They publish a zine and have a party and want us to come play at Rough Trade, which will be sweet.
Ned: Come January we’ll be doing a show for the EP launch. Gigs just kinda pop out the ground.
Are there any local bands you support and would recommend?
Sam: We love loads of Notts bands. Yeah, it’s a big community in Nottingham. The music scene in Nottingham is really good and we all support each other.
Ned: Super Furniture, we’ve been playing with them for years, like since we just started. We were just starting out and they were just taking off and we just started getting pally with them and other bands, like Brown Lion Zoo. They’re brilliant. Also, Soft Girls & Boys Club and Do Nothing.
Sam: Yeah, they’re lovely guys. I wanna plug Brown Lion Zoo, their single release show is on the 7th December at JT Soar. Soft Girls & Boys Club released 2 singles quite recently and they’re both wicked.
Bram: I saw Kagoule at Rescue Rooms.
Sam: Yeah Kagoule are sweet, love them.
What music have you been enjoying lately?
Sam: I think one of the main things that defines us as a band is that we have all got an eclectic music taste, I don’t think any of us particularly stick to one genre or sub-genre, we just listen to a vast amount of stuff.
Freddie: I saw Easy Life in Manchester, where the singer got up onto the bar during the performance and it was a good show. There’s a drummer from London called Yussef Dayes who I like.
I then mention that he has been supporting Tom Misch.
Sam: I like Tom Misch’s stuff with Loyle Carner and Loyle’s new song “Ottolenghi”.
Bram: There’s a band called Crumb.
Sam: I’m going to plug your mate in Bleach Boy, I really rated their single.
What are your favourite venues to play in Nottingham?
Ned: In terms of favourite venues I have an absolute soft spot for Rough Trade.
Sam: We’ve got a good rapport with the people that work at Rough Trade and it’s a really nice venue to play. We like Bodega and Rescue Rooms as well. We cut our teeth in Bodega I think, that’s where we got a lot of our first gigs. The Maze and Bodega were our first stepping stone. It’s daunting when you start out and no one really knows you, but you stick at it, get better and end up playing Rescue Rooms main support.
You played a new song tonight, is then any other new music on the way?
Sam: We are currently working on a new EP and are going to be releasing it early next year.
Ned: In the studio all we have left to do is the vocals.
Vega Bay are releasing a new EP early next year and will hopefully see them at more shows and even summer festivals next year.
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