Metal Faerie

Monday, November 1, 2010

Vacant Head Space

Vacluse Plantation, St. Thomas, Barbados

231-6688 • 233-8906

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hey you. It’s been a while, but I’ve got something here that will hopefully make it well worth the wait. Everything you need to know about Vacant Head Space, plus ... everything you don’t! It’s going to be rad. Let’s go.

It’s 2008. We are at guitar lessons. A rather gregarious and effervescent young bloke by the name Rahn Phillips meets the laid-back, talker-of-much-tripe Jonathan Banfield here. Now, at the Barbados Community College, along with Jonathan’s sister, the quite cute and crisp personality that is Paige Banfield, they will meet the shy but discerning spirit of Philip Norville. He would later introduce them to the charming and comical Craig Haniff. And together these five distinct and dynamic characters would form an indie rock band called Tunda Lizards! Make that Talking Tree!! Make that Vacant Head Space!!!

They sound like super heroes, don’t they? If so they are among the flattered few playing their part in rescuing the local rock scene from total annihilation one gig at a time. Armed with their alternative form of music and dangerous amounts of talent to administer it affectively, they are a driven and formidable force against genre homogeneity here on this little rock called Barbados.

But now, back to the story.

We are at Vacluse Plantation. The sound of a female-fronted Franz Ferdinand permeates the walls down below. Over one full year is passing. It is a full year filled with Jonathan’s mixed drinks (and drinking), Paige’s cooking (Puttanesca anyone?), Craig’s Christmas references in mid-July, Philip’s baking (perhaps cheesecake) and Rahn’s impersonations of just about everyone and everything, except maybe Shock from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is a year filled with friendship, family and music, of forging close-knit bonds that would shape their stage presence, performance and musicianship in the many years to come.

Paige sings, her lead vocals pretty, through her Shure microphone. Jonathan strums a rhythm on his Fender electric guitar, the brand of the band. Rahn’s squeals a lead as Craig’s bass drops a line. Philip’s Tama drums pulses and pound as his Zildjian cymbals clash and crash. Kirk Banfield, the father of the Banfield siblings and manager of the band, stands by, a stalwart source of support and the heart of the operation.

“You could do this, you could do this”, he says, and indeed, they can.

And indeed, they do. They reach five-hundred and fifty plus fans across the virtual interwebs on their Facebook page; it is a throng which grows on average by 15 fans a day. They gather a crowd of seventy-five to one hundred and ninety people at their shows, and join forces to gig with other outstanding bands; bands like Psilos, Standing Penance, South 11 and Fighting Traffic. They feature in local newspapers for their Just Kidding and Uwi Cavehill Woodstock gigs and on this very blog for their steady Monday Nights gigs at Ship Inn. They release five plus originals for their upcoming demo, which will be included in their pending press kit. It is for that this biography is written.

It’s 2010. We are here. The rather gregarious and effervescent young bloke by the name Rahn Phillips is still short-circuiting beside the laid-back, head banging, talker-of-much-tripe Jonathan Banfield. Now, on the stage of The Ship Inn, in the rock scene of Barbados, along with other featured artists at their gigs, the quite cute and crisp personality that is Paige Banfield, thrills and twirls as the shy and discerning spirit of Philip Norville tells their story behind the blur of his drumsticks. Craig rocks out with them, charming crowds and cracking them like eggs with his bass and with his wit. But it is the welding and blending of their personalities that create the chemistry of the band, and this is the real crowd-pleaser.

“VHS is far more than just a bunch of random kid musicians getting together and hoping it works”, Craig says. “History and the most successful bands make themselves, and we are enjoying what we do.”

The members of Vacant Head Space are so close that they all call the Banfield house their home and consider themselves family and friends. They are so close they all trash-talk each other every opportunity they can get. They define themselves as a rock band trying to survive in a pop world and not sell out; as a rock band bringing rock back and wanting their original music to get the appreciation they know it’s due.

I cannot look into the future and tell you their success reader, but I do know they have plans for it. I do know they plan to go as far as they can. I do know they plan on taking over the world. Vacant Head Space has featured at the George Washington House, the FirstCaribbean Mobile Banking Launch, Club Extreme, Crystal Waters and TGIF. They are certain to go, and to feature at, many more places to come. Do not tell these guys that Barbados is the limit, when people have been to Lollapalooza and back again.

Because they will get there, saving your rock scenes, one gig at a time.

Knicky Laurel,

Metal Faerie

#60, 11^th Avenue, Wanstead Drive, Cave Hill, St Michael, Barbados.

424-4203 • 830-5075

knicky.laurel@gmail.com

metal.faerie@hotmail.com

http://metal-faerie.blogspot.com

Vacant Head Space

Vacluse Plantation, St. Thomas, Barbados

231-6688 • 233-8906

vacantheadspace@live.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Interview with Metal Faerie Blog

MFB: What's the origin of your band name?

VHS: Paige. Philip and Craig were pushing for Tunda Lizards. We looked at Talking Tree also. Vacant Head Space originally because Paige forgets her lyrics. Paige forgets everything. But we are serious when we’re ready, and focussed.

MFB: Who coined the name?

VHS: Jonathan

MFB: Have you changed the band's name before?

VHS: No, we’ve never changed it. It was always that.

MFB: What genre of music do you consider your work to be in?

VHS: Indie Rock. It’s a fusion between European Indie and American Rock.

MFB: Who are your major/biggest influences in the music scene?

VHS: The Killers, Muse, Slipknot, Franz Ferdinand, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Tessanne Chin, Blink 182, Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday, Arctic Monkeys, Fall Out Boy, The Beatles, AC/DC, Offspring, Foo Fighters, Guns n’ Roses, Kiss, Bob Marley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bowing for Soup, The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Dreadful Days, The Fray, Sublime, Paramore, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Ivory, Sun Dogs, Driftwould, Orange Sky.

MFB: Who worked on/wrote your originals?

VHS: Nobody. No lie. We wake up one morning and it was there. God sent an angel with a package. A massive package with a fender bass.

MFB: Was it God and an angel or Sandy Claws?

Paige: We don’t believe in Sandy Claws.

Rahn: Wuh you talkin’ bout?! Is Sandy Claws hear?!

Craig: Sandy Claws what.

Rahn: Is Sandy Claws.

Jonathan: More so than anything I would write the basic music, Craig would write the lyrics and then everybody would have their part in creating, and everybody just adds their part to everything.

Paige: Everyone adds their essence and opinions.

MFB: How long does it usually take?

VHS: Honestly, well if we were to like sit down and do it, we could do it like in a day, we could do a song like a day. 3 songs in a week, we knock off three songs a week. That’s what we know cuz we practiced it, you know what I mean? The first song, it started in January, took about roughly a year, 6 joints, 10 bottles of beer, earl grey tea and Egyptian liquorice mint, that’s what we drink.

Craig: I drink water cuz I’m cheap, ladies.

MFB: What is the main theme or topic of it?

VHS: Relationship and situations/issues you deal with when you’re in those relationships, situations you can’t get yourself out of. Its real life experiences.

MFB: Do you think this theme or topic will change with your other songs over time?

VHS: Whatever life happens to dish, we’re going to write about it, if it’s interesting enough that is.

Metal Faerie Blog and Paige

MFB: What is your music background?

Paige: Uh, from the beginning I always liked singing, always like music. That’s a good place to start. My dad used to have me singing a lot of Celine Dion. He would be like, “Come back, come, come, you could sing this, you could sing this.” I used to work with a group, Dun ‘Em Entertainment. I was 15-16. Yeah, it was just a group of my friends, they created this little company, you know what I mean? They were trying to work with me, but I’m really shy, so it was very difficult. I just did a track with Doddy from Azman, not super-fantastic on my part, but it wasn’t bad. I’ll let you hear it one of these days.

MFB: Were you a part of creating the Entertainment Company or did you come along after it was created and then they worked with you?

Paige: I don’t know if I can remember that long ago. It was a group of my friends, we’re still friends now, you know what I mean, so it was never a situation where they created it and then I came along. It was like Jaicko and his cousin Graham, and then Graham’s best friend Richie, and Current, it was like a whole group of them. They all decided that they’re going to try this entertainment thing. They’re like artistes, they’re graphic artists and stuff, really talented. We just use to hang out and then they came up with the idea of it, and they decided to push my singing a bit, but I was too shy and retarded back then.

MFB: How do you describe your music to people?

Paige: It rocks?! It has elements of everyone’s personality. It’s the Vacant Head Space experience!

Metal Faerie Blog and Jonathan

MFB: Why do you want to record and release your own music?

Jonathan: Because music is something that I love, it’s something that I want to do. I find joy in it, doing my own music, and it shows people the real you. Doing covers is fun but it doesn’t really show people anything, it’s not as much fun as doing your own songs. Doing your own songs you get to do stuff that you want to do, you know, and not structured stuff that other people thought of. That’s more or less it.

MFB: What image do you think your music conveys?

Jonathan: Huh? Our music just really conveys us as ordinary people in a sense. It’s just stuff that really happens between people. You know our songs are about relationships, how things can change up on you. You know how when you’re doing certain stuff, how stuff affects you.

Metal Faerie Blog and Craig

MFB: Who is your fan base/target audience?

Craig: My fan base personally? Uh, my age group, preferably 20 and up. I would say mainly hot chicks. But I’d say between 20 and 40, yeah 20 and 40, yup.

MFB: How would you define the word “success”?

Craig: According to VHS, success could be me and Jonathan at gap bar 20 years from now thinking, we didn’t get signed, we didn’t make it but we tried hard. But that’s also becoming more alcoholics than we already are. But uh, yeah success is just when we’re happy with what we’ve done as a whole. For me personally success is playing. It’s when we can finally go on stage and people are singing our songs, seriously. Like I just want our songs to be heard. They don’t have to be # 1 hits, that would be cool, but I just want them heard man, and I want them appreciated. I want people to say “oh yeah I can relate to this song”, you know, that kind of stuff.

Metal Faerie Blog and Philip

MFB: Do you write your own songs?

Philip: No. I have no writing abilities whatsoever. Drums are the only the instrument that I can play.

MFB: What are your immediate music career goals in the next 1 to 3 years?

Philip: Obviously get signed, leave the island, learn another instrument, and learn to write music, obviously. Uh, that’s about it for 3 years.

Metal Faerie Blog and Rahn

MFB: Who are your musical influences?

Rahn: Well I’d say a lot of English Indie bands right now, and then other than them it would be Mick Thompson from Slipknot, Paul Gilbert and Hendrix. Old blues dudes like Stevie Ray Vaughn and the same Hendrix.

MFB: What are your long-term career goals?

Rahn: If not playing with this band, playing with another band, or uh, I am going to school in LA next year, so I was planning to come back and start a music store, something along that line, and do recordings with people and that kind of stuff. So if not playing out with a band, still something to do with music.

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Vacant Head Space Interview with Metal Faerie Blog

MFB: What would you say your aim is with the sound or vibe you are trying to project?

VHS: To be hype, to make people happy, and let them relate to our music. To let people know that they’re not the only ones feeling how they do, and to enjoy.

MFB: When do you plan to release a full length album?

VHS: Sometime next year, we can’t really pinpoint the month, but mid next year we were saying, cuz it depends on the funds, school, location, you never know.

MFB: Who would you like to have as a guest vocally or instrumentally on an album with you?

VHS: Probably Marvin Marvellous, Marv is the man. Christian Robinson, Jamal Browne, the drummer from Sun Dogs and Driftwood.

Craig: I would love to work with Rahn Phillips (Philip: I hear that guy’s a douche), on a solo album called Coloured Craig.

MFB: Are you planning on making a video for any of your future tracks?

VHS: A video? Of course.

Jonathan: Honestly b, honestly, y’all just have to give me one thing in the video and I going to be happy ... my crotch shot, b!

Rahn: We plan to get kilts mind you.

MFB: So the camera man is going to be shooting from a bird’s eye view right?

Jonathan: No, that’s when I want my crotch shot.

MFB: So the camera man is going to be shooting from a bird’s eye view right?

Rahn: No, no, no, no. The camera man is going to be right here (reader use your discretion) and we going to be dancing.

Paige: All up in that, all up in there.

MFB: I don’t want to know about it.

Craig: I don’t want to know about it either.

Paige: To be honest I agree with her you know. You can’t have the girls all falling in love with you for all the wrong reasons.

Rahn: I don’t give a ...

MFB: You want true following.

Jonathan: He’s endowed with plenty ... he’s a tripe!

Craig: Yea, but we definitely have plans for videos.

MFB: Alright so, music videos, Kilts and Crotch shots, got it.

Rahn: That could be the name of a song, b! Kilts and Crotch Shots! Yeah that’s Paige’s next song. Be on the lookout for that, Kilts and Crotch Shots! Oh, I’m so happy about this one.

MFB: Who amongst you was in band prior to VHS?

Craig: I was in a band called Lifeline with the current guitarist from CoverDrive Barry, and with Livvi Franc as well, that was a band called Contradict.

MFB: When was that?

Craig: Lifeline was 2003, Contradict was 2005-2006. I mean obviously they weren’t big bands, but they were bands none the less, that helped me get where I am with music.

MFB: So what kind of bands were they? Were they pop bands?

Craig: Lifeline was serious punk, punk rock to the end, b, and then like our guitarist went away, Ishmael, and then our drummer Jonathan he left school ... I guess we all left school and then just never bothered. But Barry was in Contradict too, so him and I just continued the whole thing, and then he more got into like producing and stuff, and then Livvi, she obviously got signed and what’s not, so it kinda just split.

MFB: And Contradict was what kind of band?

Craig: That was mostly a cover band, we didn’t really do anything, we just played QC Pageant. That was really a get-together band for QC’s Pageant. Not really a serious project. Lifeline was more like how we want to get signed and be rich. Yea we just wanted to make money and be famous in a nut shell.

MFB: Do you have a record label because I saw Indie on your Facebook page or are you unsigned?

VHS: Nope. That was literally Indie in the true sense of the word, Independent.

MFB: Are you a member of any music organizations? I know Paige was saying to me earlier about the Dun ‘Em Entertainment.

Paige: Yea it was just Dun ‘Em really that I worked with for a bit.

MFB: What can you tell me about your instruments i.e. are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available?

Rahn: I’m a Fender boy now, I think I’m proud to say so. I was previously ESP but that didn’t work out to my favour. The guitar was just too much work; it was just too much work. It just kept falling apart. If I had the money to afford to get another ESP, I would pay them, but Fenders are more accessible, and I really, really like playing with them.

Jonathan: For me it’s strictly Fender, and nobody else. I don’t have enough money to spend on anything else.

Craig: Fender with either Fender or Ernie Ball strings for me. So yeah, Fender!!!

Phillip: For me, strictly Tama and Zildjian. That’s all I can afford right now.

Paige: I use whatever Jonathan gets for me.

Jonathan: Shure mikes for right now. It’s a good mike once you pay the money; everybody uses them.

MFB: What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/colour preference?

Phillip: For me my favourite artist use to use it. Dominic Howard from Muse.

Jonathan: Quality, for me it was quality and then I actually fell in love with the instrument.

Craig: It was not quality, it was Mark Hoppus, the bass player from Blink182 and Duff McKagan from Guns n’ Roses. It was those two that were really instrumental in like me choosing my bass.

Rahn: Kirk Hammett and Hendrix. Kirk Hammett had the guitar I had before this. Then I also found out he plays Strats and that’s so cool you know. He plays ESPs and Strats. So if I could get a guitar that was a fusion of those, then I would definitely save the money for it.

MFB: Where have you performed?

VHS: George Washington House, Combermere School Pageant, Charity Fundraising for the Skate Boarding Community - Irie One, FirstCaribbean Mobile Banking Launch, A Private House in Sandy Lane, Ship Inn, Hilton, Club Extreme, Aussie Beach Bar, Gap Bar, Standing Penance Rock Party, UWI Woodstock, Crystal Waters, TGIF.

MFB: What are your favourite venues?

VHS: Club Extreme, It was like Just Kidding but on a bigger scale. We just rented Club Extreme for that. Hopefully we can get it again, b, cuz that was a good venue, that was the best venue we’ve had. The crowd energy was mad, b.

MFB: Do you have any upcoming shows?

VHS: Just Action, like Just Kidding, only with Liquors and Strippers.

MFB: What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?

VHS: 24-7 practice, especially on weekends, with song-writing sessions every other day.

MFB: What has been your biggest challenge as a band?

VHS: Rahn, and each other, and the non-existence music industry, sponsorship, and booking gigs.

MFB: Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

VHS: Work hard, network, socialise and make friends.

MFB: Are you seeking fame and fortune or are you content to just do this as a hobby?

VHS: If it comes that would be great, we don’t mind, and we would take it. We would at least like recognition, and pay would be cool.

MFB: Are you looking for an independent label deal or a major label deal?

VHS: We just want a label that will push you. Truth is you can only put your cards out there and take what you get back; it’s gambling.

MFB: How do you rate your live performance ability?

VHS: Our performance has really improved but there is still room for improvement and we’re working on it.

MFB: What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?

VHS: Find people that you can connect with outside of music, and that are looking forward to the same things as you. Find good mentors, and people that care about you. Be able to take constructive criticism and not act like a penis.

MFB: Is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?

VHS: Kirk Banfield, Anne Blanchard, Debbie Nicholls, Zellie Banfield and each other.

MFB: Any last words? A favourite thing to do, a favourite colour, a favourite sound, a favourite scent, a favourite food.

Rahn: My favourite number is 7. I like Oreos and Earl Grey Tea.

Philip: My favourite number is 3. I like cheesecake.

Jonathan: I like Snickers and our band meal - spaghetti and meat ball sauce, Bolognese ... Puttanesca!

Knicky Laurel,

Metal Faerie

#60, 11^th Avenue, Wanstead Drive, Cave Hill, St Michael, Barbados.

424-4203 • 830-5075

knicky.laurel@gmail.com

metal.faerie@hotmail.com

http://metal-faerie.blogspot.com

Monday, September 20, 2010

UWI Woodstock: The Rock Arcs (cuz all the rest was filler) 15.08.10

Rivenis, Testament and I are warmly welcomed by the big, burly sound of Tearhead’s familiar lead vocals crooning Switchfoot’s Meant to Live. Standing Penance is on the stage. A remote crowd semi-circles ‘round the raised platform like judge, jury, vulture. With half of the beloved family settled before them on our old blanket, I flit around faerie-style snapping as many advantageous shots as I can. In the midst of the crowd I glimpse members of Vacant Head Space and Psilos.

It doesn’t take but a moment before my head begins to bang and my horns are raised. The energy comes easily, like an old ritual revisited. Valkyrie flashes me a smile. Hanjible salutes me with his own horns in turn. Lexx is busy setting the stage on fire. I wish the other half of the family - Avi, Andre, Kadeem - were here. We need to show these frozen and flavourless fools how to move to the metal, how to break their fukn’ necks.

The opening chords to Godsmack’s I Stand Alone ring out. The taciturn throng responds with an enthusiastic and encouraging cheer. Reserved though they may be, they are at least still riveted. I Stand Alone leads into their second original for the night, My Pain, the title track of their recently-launched debut album. Strangers to their sound never will be again after this moment. It is a definitive and distinct thing, intense and appealing.

Hard, heavy hits of rock classics like System of a Down’s Chop Suey and Drowning Pool’s Bodies are nostalgic and exhilarating. The band’s song selections and playing are superlative tonight, their performance solid and seasoned. Hanjible’s extraordinary backing scream harmonises with Tearhead’s final sustained note as the set comes to an end, and I laugh out loud at Rivenis’ embittered exclamation of “So yea though, I hope you know that that’s the end of the show.”

I would call it an accomplished, rather inspired, start myself.

Vacant Head Space assumes the stage, and with an authoritative Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd, starts their set. A sense of plan and purpose permeate the air, and even before I bear witness to it, I can tell they have given this performance plenty of time and thought. I am excited. I sense something wonderful brewing, something fantastic. Before long they show me exactly what it is and, finally, exactly who they are.

Gone is the pop. Still present is the dub in their cover of Slow Motion by Vybez. I do not believe there is anything wrong with a rock band covering a song from another genre, but by doing so that band can tread the rather precarious line between being what is best in and authentic to rock and being what is popular and trendy, more in the vein of party bands like Nexcyx and Strategy. They should never be afraid to get exclusive.

This however is more than pardonable and soon overlooked as the guys and girl of Vacant Head Space go completely crazy towards set’s end with Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Craig rocks out. Jonathan bangs head. Philip is a blur behind his drum sticks. Paige jumps and twirls. Rahn spins, short-circuits and then explodes with a deep guttural growl synchronous with Craig’s lead in the song. (Both twirling and guttural growling receive the Metal Faerie Seal of Approval by the way).

They give one of the most energetic, show-stealing performances I have ever seen, play spectacularly and really sell themselves as a rock band, with magnificent skills and showmanship. As the music pulses and pumps to a peak and pinnacle that few take the time to end on here, I am baffled and incredulous that this is the same band I reviewed less than two weeks prior to this event. Tonight, they are awesome.

Psilos prepares to play on the prominent platform before us. The night is no longer young, but in its prime. More than half of the onlookers have disappeared into the dark of it. Notwithstanding the less than five hours of sleep I am to have, I am neither tired nor inclined to leave, as we wait in anticipation for the night to fully unfurl then wrap itself up again.

It begins. The music is a seamless, fascinating fusion and flow of R&B flavoured soft rock and progressive funk, with a dichotomous and dynamic blend of myriad genres, the most discernable of which are reggae and jazz. I confess my confusion to Test as to why Christian McDonald, the electric rhythm guitarist isn’t on lead vocals. His voice, from what I remember in his previous band Eulogy, is excellent.

Regardless, theirs is still a charismatic and compelling, stellar performance. Compelling enough to move what is left of the listeners there from the dark of the shadows into the light of the front of the stage. Lead vocalist Komi Barrow has a tonally-superb and sophisticated voice which is well suited to the love-oriented lyrical content of their songs, and harmonise quite beautifully with Christian’s backing vocals.

Bassist Elton Wharton, and especially drummer Kevin Small both deliver distinguished and noteworthy performances of their own, as lead guitarist Scott McKenzie solos with feeling and Christian hops and twists from one foot to the other in keeping with the timing of the music’s rhythm. Psilos moves across the crowd as they move across the stage. They move the energy raised from its pinnacle to its plateau.

The crowd responds to their recognisable, familiar, easily digestible, original music with its curious, deliciously-distorted experimental edge. I respond to it as well. And as the night reaches its culmination and end I think to myself that this is what is needed for the scene here to grow and to thrive; energy; more multi-band events for the fans, more exposure for the players and their music, for their artistry and their showmanship.

This is why we are here.

Signed,

The Metal Faerie

ROCK PICS!

Standing Penance