VICTORIA: “Playing to the bigger crowds tends to be easier”

New London band, VICTORIA, recently visited Leamington’s very own Assembly in support of the king of dreadlocks, Newton Faulkner. Boar Music found out how they’re getting on.

Boar Music: So, how long have you guys been together?

Joe Housley: We’ve been together as a five-piece for around 18 months, so we’re quite new really. We used to be a four-piece, then our old drummer moved to keys and we brought in a new drummer and it’s been like that since then.

BM: How would you describe your style of music?

JH: We like to think of ourselves as alternative pop. So, kind of like pop music with a bit of a twist.

BM: Do you write your own music?

JH: Yes, we’re completely original writers so we write all our own stuff. Charlie, the keyboardist, is an amazing songwriter so he tends to write most of the stuff and then records all the music up into demos. Charlie starts an idea off and then if one of us are in the house or wherever we kind of join in, so there is a lot of co-writing together.

BM: Are there any personal aspects in your songs or do work more around a generic theme?

JH: There are a lot of bands where every song is about a love story or something. We’re slightly different in terms of the songs we write because we tend to go outside the box and think about other themes. But we try and still shape it lyrically into something that can still come across as a love song. We’ve got a song called ‘Vertigo’ and that’s about fear of flying – Charlie wrote that song. It’s such a cool theme because it sounds like a love song with the lyrics and the melody but it’s actually about a fear of flying. We try and make the songs a bit different rather than sticking with the whole lovey sort of thing. Every song is very personal,  whether Charlie’s written it or I have. They’re all from our own experiences; we don’t tend to write a song about something that hasn’t happened to us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmETygZHocA

BM: Which bands or artists would you say influence your music?

JH: We love acts like Coldplay, One Republic, that sort of sound, so that’s a massive influence to us. We also like a lot of harmony in our music, so we like bands like Queen and things like that as well. There’s a lot of different influences there.

BM: What was your music history before you joined the band?

JH: I used to do a solo acoustic sort of thing, nothing really that major, just YouTube sort of stuff. Alex, our guitarist, and Charlie used to be in a band – they’ve known each other since they were about 12. Chris, our drummer, was also in a band. We’re all from different projects but met in London and we’re going forward together.

BM: Do you face any difficulties working together as a band?

JH: We all live together and we’re all best mates so we literally never have any arguments. We all blend really well I think. When we play live one of the things people tend to say to us is that there is a lot of chemistry together on stage, so I think there are really no problems at all when we’re playing live or anything. It’s quite an easy process for us because we all get on so well.

BM: Are you excited to be supporting Newton Faulkner on his tour?

JH: So excited! It’s our first ever tour as well so we’re absolutely over the moon that Newton asked us to come on tour with him. We’re playing to like a thousand people a night, which is unbelievable for us because we’re used to playing in smaller venues. So yes we’re absolutely excited! We’re just taking it all in, really.

BM: Are you big Newton fans?

JH: Yes, definitely. We’ve been with him from the first album. When I told my mum and dad they were so excited about it because they also have his album and stuff. He’s such a nice guy as well so it was the perfect opportunity for us.

BM: Would you say that you blend well with Newton? How has the crowd reception been?

JH: There’s definitely a difference between us. Newton’s very acoustic orientated – he’s got a three piece going on; a drummer and another guy playing keys and bass and all sorts. It’s really cool but there’s five of us so there’s a bit of a bigger sound, a louder sound. We really hope there is an alright blend, we don’t want to be playing in front of crowds who are like “why are they supporting Newton Faulkner?” I’m sure it’s fine – I think the crowds are responding quite well.

BM: It must have been a bit surreal, then, going from playing in small venues to suddenly performing in front of thousands of people every night. Have you faced any difficulties at all?

JH: Our first day was in Edinburgh and that was a sell out: 800 people! That was a very, very nerve-wracking moment for me personally – I’m not sure about the band. Walking out and knowing there were 800 people out there and they’ve never heard any of your music is kind of a very anxious feeling. I think that was kind of a worry in my mind going into the tour; I was really hoping that everyone would love what we do. But as soon as the first night was over we just settled right into it and we love it now. Playing to the bigger crowds actually tends to be a bit easier: you don’t have that awkward kind of silence in-between songs, and you get more of buzz from it. It’s an amazing experience playing in front of that many people.

BM: What’s the biggest venue you’ve played at so far?

JH: We did Liverpool O2 Academy three nights ago – that was 1,300 people, sold out. That was incredible for us, literally our favourite ever show. I think Norwich is pretty big too; we’re playing at the Norwich Open in a few days time, I think that’s about 1,300.

BM: So, are you guys used to the lime light now or do you ever find yourself getting nervous or anxious from time to time?

JH: The boys are really good at staying calm before going on – they kind of just get really buzzed up and jumping around, they’re just so excited about going on. I tend to get quite anxious rather than nervous, I kind of just pace the room a bit. We’ve played together for a while now so we’re a lot more confident in each other; we all just want to make a good show out of it. It’s kind of more an adrenaline buzz now, rather than nerves.

BM: Do you have any plans for after the tour, any more singles in the pipeline?

JH: We released our latest single Friday just gone called ‘The Edge’, it’s on YouTube and it will be available on iTunes very soon. So our work will be focused around trying to promote that single. We’ve also just announced that we’re going on tour again February next year around a few venues. We have four dates confirmed at the moment and we’re trying to get some more.