Dots: Hello Pete, how are you today?
Pete Robertson: I'm good, I'm well, I'm freezing. We just got back in from LA yesterday and it's 25ºC out there so the British temperature's a slight shock to the system...
Dashes: Having been booked in for the much-heralded opening slot on this year's NME Tour and being generally hyped to the high heavens this year thus far, is it increasingly more difficult to ignore the pressures imposed on you as a band?
Pete: No, not really - we're aware of it happening but we're not letting it affect us too much really... It's obviously very nice, and is giving us greater exposure which can't be a bad thing. But it's a bit of a double-edged sword in the sense that we're now finding ourselves having to live up to other peoples' expectations, having to justify the hype in peoples' minds thus prohibiting listeners from determining whether they like it or not so there is a bit of a trade-off, but ultimately we're very flattered and we're enjoying it.
Dots: With the record, entitled after a certain question [What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?], have you already exceeded your expectations from what you could possibly achieve with The Vaccines?
Pete: To be honest, when we started out we didn't really set ourselves any targets in terms of commercial success. Of course you've got to live but we were all more or less surviving before. I remember the first time I met Freddie [guitarist] he said: "You're probably not going to like this, but I genuinely don't care if we make one record and it doesn't go anywhere" because he felt as though what we were doing was really important and that The Vaccines was exactly the right thing for him at that moment in time. We all felt exactly the same; all we really wanted to do was to make an album that we could be really proud of whilst remaining creative, to keep improving essentially and right now we're doing that, our live show's getting better by the gig and the album is a great snapshot of what we do. We're really proud of it.
Dashes: So what can we expect from the record?
Pete: It's a very varied LP. I think when Wreckin' Bar came out as a double A-side with Blow It Up, we wanted to release those two together because they are very different songs with a common theme, like two sides of the same coin. But they represent the breadth and diversity of the complete record, whilst Post Break-Up Sex is somewhere in-between I think. Obviously Wreckin' Bar is a short, snappy thing with an up-tempo, punky element, quite Ramones-esque in its essence and there's a couple of them on there, I think we've incorporated a whole ton of influences; one of the tracks is about five and a half minutes long containing hints of The Velvet Underground though, whilst in other places there are traces of Krautrock. Ultimately we're in search of good pop music.
Dots: Originally touted as the torchbearers of a reinvigorated '50s/'60s garage aesthetic, do you hence feel as though you've veered away from that style somewhat?
Pete: Certainly we love those sorts of records, but I guess if we had a brief, not that we ever did, we were after something as close to timeless as we could achieve so when we got together, we actually made mixtapes for one another, each one with around 100 tracks on it covering everything from '50s rock'n'roll to '60s garage and girl groups, lots of sexy girl groups, then '70s punk, '80s hardcore, 90s grunge so there was a bit of everything. We were eager for the record not to sound in any way like a pastiche of sorts, we didn't want one track for each genre we were into but the songs certainly cross over and transcend genres quite frequently. There's quite a broad spectrum of sounds on the record, and it's quite diverse in terms of its subject matter with certain songs concentrating on vivid imagery from times gone by sat beside songs on love and loss, anxiety etc. Basically a lot of the emotions that surround you whilst growing up...
Dashes: There's always been a furore regarding the social backgrounds of musicians, the likes of The Enemy ranting and raving in the shadow of the Gallaghers. Were you fearful your backgrounds may potentially hinder your successes as a band?
Pete: No, not really! The issue only really cropped up on our radar when we were asked about it. We're definitely big fans of bands that've come from quite different backgrounds to ourselves, but ultimately if all of your favourite bands came from one particular social class then you'd end up with quite a one-dimensional iPod. Similarly, if you aimed to listen exclusively to the working class heroes, you'd end up burning a lot of records so it's not an issue for us. And also, all four of us come from very different backgrounds, we're not a working-class nor an upper-class band so it's never really touched any nerves.
Dots: Quite a radical departure from the music Justin once released, how did you all come across one another and were there any conflicting influences that had to be compromised?
Pete: Whilst London is one of the greatest and most revered musical cities in the world, looking at the active members within its musical scene, it's not that big a pool of people so you end up hearing of everyone within quite a short time of being integrated within it. I knew of Justin without really knowing his music, and I also knew of Freddie. I've known Árni for the longest, probably about three years now, having played together alongside various other artists. So Freddie and Justin got together having met one another through a friend, and then threw some ideas around, ideas that they became quite attached to and I think they both felt quite refreshed making that brand of music. So they then decided to expand and roped in Árni. I was basically round at his having dinner one evening and he played me a couple of very rough demos from the early days and I just fell in love with them instantly, before coming out with something along the lines of "I need to be in your band, please." We all met up and had a bash, and it just worked instantly. I think I first met the guys last April and I guess we decided to really knuckle down around May, having written a few songs that we were really happy with. We then locked ourselves in a room for around three months. In all honesty, I don't think Justin writes songs any differently now to how he did before. He brings them in to us on an acoustic, he's a fantastic songwriter and I think his songs could be dressed up in any way really. It's just the culmination of all of our influences that results in our sound.
Dashes: Post Break-Up Sex is seemingly forever more omnipresent over the radio waves these days. Congratulations. Did you ever feel that it's title may hinder such airwave omnipresence?
Pete: Not particularly, although the radio play it's had thus far has far exceeded any of our expectations. But we felt like it touched upon an omnipresent subject, a universal experience that nobody wants to talk about. I think it's as metaphorical as it is literal too, and I think everyone can relate to it one way or another. And the other cool thing about it is that it's not just a male-orientated message, but can apply to whoever, regardless of genre.
Dots: Is it purely metaphorical, or perhaps based on true-to-life experience? If so, did it have the desired effect?
Pete: Oh it's definitely written from a personal and literal perspective, but I think you could potentially draw other meanings from it. I wouldn't have thought it had the desired effect as he wrote a song about it..!
Dashes: Tipped for fairly substantial things this year, what were you doing this time twelve months ago?
Pete: This time last year I was actually working in a pub and I think I was kind of auditioning for a band on the side. It's quite strange to think that, reminiscing on working away in a pub and slogging away on the London session scene, trying to find some work...
Dots: Finally, as anticipations run rife over the record, do you fear that you may potentially not live up to expectations as the music industry ceaselessly searches for the next act to 'blow up' as it were?
Pete: We're an ambitious band and we'd like to be successful, but we'd like to be successful on our own terms and not on those of what's been said by others. I guess it's tricky being perpetually set against the hype but we're really happy with the direction in which we're moving and that's about the size of it!
The Vaccines head out on the NME Awards Tour from tomorrow alongside Crystal Castles, Magnetic Man and Everything Everything, kicking off at the O2 Academy Glasgow and culminating on February 19th at Brixton Academy. Remaining tickets for the tour can be acquired here as of now. Stick with Dots & Dashes for our take on the tour...
