I recently got the opportunity to talk to Vinny of The Vinny Club and Adebisi Shank about Adebisi’s new album.
Let’s start off with an introduction shall we? Who are you and what do you do?
Hello! I’m Vinny. I play the bass in a band called Adebisi Shank.
Since you’ve released your last album you’ve spent some time in Japan with LITE. How did that influence the sound on the new album and how you write music as a group?
We’ve been to Japan 3 times now and it’s pretty much our favourite place to play…in terms of influence on the sound of the new album…that’s a tough one…I know one thing though, LITE definitely encouraged us to get tighter live. They are an INSANELY good live band!
Would there be much difference between a Japanese crowd and an Irish crowd? Which do you feel more comfortable playing?
Eh I guess the main difference is Irish people like to talk at gigs whereas Japanese people are pretty quiet…you can hear a pin drop when it gets to a quiet bit in a song, which can be pretty disconcerting, but is pretty amazing when you get used to it. We only really feel comfortable playing in front of Greek farmers. They love us!
Once again talking about LITE, they describe themselves as “Math-Rock”. I’ve heard you as a band rejecting this label in a previous interview. What do you dislike about “Math-Rock” and how would define the music you create?
Well none of us like maths for a start…I’m not even really sure I know what math rock is… I know for us aligning ourselves with a genre just feels like imposing a limitation on our imagination. And what’s the point of that? What if we wake up tomorrow and want to make our Inuit nose flute album?
Inuit nose flute? Please that’s ridiculous everyone knows that’s a saturated market. Conor from Villagers will be on your new album, that’s an interesting blend. How was it working with Conor and is he a fan of the Shank?
We played together a while back and kept in touch after that, he’s a really cool dude and, obviously, a ridiculously talented guy.He mentioned before that he might be up for doing something on the album so when we wrote the song Europa we gave him a shout. Really happy with how it turned out. Same for all the collaborations actually. So nice having ACTUAL musicians on our album as opposed to us chancers.
Will that guy you dragged up on stage at the Twisted Pepper gig be making an appearance on the next album?
Haha he will yeah. He’s a whizz on the aul Inuit nose flute that lad.
What have you guys been listening to while writing and recording this new album?
I dunno about the rest of them but I’ve been mostly listening to Prince, Flying Lotus, Caribou and Def Leppard.
I know you’ve probably been asked this umpteen times but what’s the story behind the mask? Also does it help you pull?
The story behind the mask is that the lads don’t want anyone to know that this bloke is playing bass in their band,
Maybe I’d pull more if I left it off.
What would you say is the biggest difference between this album and the first one?
I think the last album was a collection of songs but I think this one is a cohesive album…also the songwriting was more collaborative this time…also this one is nearly twice as long!
Now time for some asinine personal questions. What are you listening to right now as we speak?
Right now as we speak I am producing Not Squares amazing album. Multi tasking, oh yes.
Last movie you watched?
Splice. I liked it. Even though any time Adrien Brody was onscreen all I could think about was Brodyquest.
I was watching The Darjeeling Limited the other night and had the exact same problem. What would your last meal be?
A big green mushroom.
Will there be another Vinny Club album?
There will be! Bless your heart for asking. Yeah I’m gonna do one in September I think. It’s been a while!
I will be counting the days. Of course you want to plug the new album but is there anything else?
Ah we’ve a few surprises coming up alright. Exciting times! I can’t really say anymore than that. Top secret stuff innit. Need to know basis, for her eyes only. Octopussy.
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Adebisi Shank’s second album This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank will be out August 20th and is available on The Richter Collective website and Tower Records. They play their launch party on the same date with support from Bats, tickets available from tickets.ie.