Laneway On Sale Masthead 2025

Interview: 2016 Must-Know - Vitamin

Interview: 2016 Must-Know - Vitamin

Leeds four-piece Vitamin blend funky 80s synth influences with equally as danceable guitar riffs. They're a healthy sweet treat, and we prescribe large doses - each and every day, all Summer-long.

"...be at peace by accepting things that you may have not accepted before."

COUP DE MAIN: What do you think is the strongest emotion a human can feel?
VITAMIN - JARED LAVILLE: I think fear can really change a person.

CDM: If each Vitamin band-member were a kind of candy, what would he be?
VITAMIN: Theo would be a Brainlicker, which is this horrifically sour liquid thing, it's very Theo. Cam would be Bacon Fries, he's just a real savoury character... Harry's hair is blonde and brown so he could be a Banana Skid. I'm allergic to nuts, so I'd be a Snickers bar just to live on the edge.

CDM: How does your songwriting process work?
VITAMIN: We always try and keep it fresh when we're writing. Each of our songs will usually come from quite different places. Some come about when it's just us four jamming in the room, others will be completely written as electronic based tracks then taken to the band. Sometimes just writing a track in a different room or space can be inspiring.

CDM: Do you write your lyrics specifically for the songs, or do you write poems or prose and then evolve them into song-form?
VITAMIN: Lyrics usually present themselves as the song is being written. You kind of just say something without giving it much thought and that will usually lead the way lyrically. After we pick up on what the song is trying to say, that's when we all sit down and really craft the lyrics.

CDM: Lyrically, what's your favourite song that you've written?
VITAMIN: I love the lyrics to a track of ours called 'Breath' - it's all about letting yourself be at peace by accepting things that you may have not accepted before.

CDM: What do you think is the difference between a good song and a great song?
VITAMIN: I think a good song is a song that you can put on and enjoy. A great song is a song that you can't help but be captivated by, even if it's a quarter of a mile away from you at a festival or gently playing on the radio in the background of a taxi ride, it still feels like it's happening right in front of you.

CDM: If you were a country, which song would be your national anthem?
VITAMIN: 'We Are The Champions' by Queen.

CDM: At what age did you write your very first song ever, and what was it about?
VITAMIN: I must have been like 8 or 9. I think that I took the lyrics from 'House Of Fun' by Maddness and basically replaced the word 'fun' with every other word I could think of. Unsurprisingly, I don't remember what the hell any of it was... 

CDM: If V.I.T.A.M.I.N. were an acronym, what would each letter stand for?
VITAMIN:
Vegetables
Idiosyncratic
T-rex
Angelic
Madting
Inter-planetary
Niiiiiiiiiiiice

CDM: What's on your bucket-list?
VITAMIN: See all 7 continents.

VITAMIN's EP 'To Believe' is out now - click HERE to purchase it via iTunes.

Watch the 'To Believe' music video below…

P.S. Click HERE to check out more of CDM's 2016 Must-Know artists in CDM Issue #17!

Loading...
Load next

COUP DE MAIN’S TRUE JAMS PLAYLIST

Open in new window
Open in new window