Indie-Rock outfit VIVAS released their latest single ‘Feel’ on 18th November 2022. Quickly becoming a favourite act in the local underground scene and gathering a loyal following, the band is building on the momentum with their first UK Tour that started in October. They have already played to sold-out venues in Sheffield and Leeds with other dates quickly selling out, and have premiered their latest track that is set to follow the success of their previous ‘Sweet Talker’ and ‘It’s Alright’. Produced and mastered by frequent collaborator Federico Telesca (Kelham Island), ‘Feel’ is a light-hearted Indie-Rock anthem about escapism and the early days of new romance which comes with a fitting visuals and follows the band’s mantra of bringing infectious energy to the Indie Rock scene. Music News caught up with VIVAS to find out more…
Hi VIVAS, how are you guys? First off introduce yourselves! Hi guys, we're the band VIVAS and we are delighted to be joining you in an interview. We are a British Indie Rock band that originates from Sheffield and the members who make up the band are; James Wilson (lead singer/rhythm guitar), Tyler Savage (lead guitar/backing vocals), Kane Ibbertson (bass guitar/backing vocals) and Keaton Barker (drums).
Tell us about your latest release ‘Feel’? Our latest single 'Feel' is a song that celebrates having a good time and gives you a sense of escapism. The song is very light-hearted, easy to listen to and aims to capture your imagination quickly by getting straight to the point as the song clocks in at just 2:42. Overall the song is about putting a smile on people's faces and giving them a positive energy each time you listen to it.
The music video for ‘Feel’ is really fun and shot beautifully. Tell us about the filming process of it. We are very pleased you guys like it! The video idea of a 'house party' had stuck in the minds of us all as soon as we recorded the song - as the song gave off that kind of vibe. We took inspiration from other Classic Indie Rock music videos such as 'C'est La Vie' by Stereophonics.
When it came to getting the right person in to shoot the video - on multiple occasions, we were messed around by the original person we wanted to use to record the video. After originally agreeing to do it, he kept postponing the project to prioritise other things, with very little regard to us and provided very little transparency. We ended up pulling the plug on that person and it looked like we would never get a music video done for the song. Shortly after this happened we got in touch with a good friend of ours Neil Hargreaves about shooting the video. The music video idea and his expertise were a match made in heaven and everything from them on was done extremely quickly and professionally. We want to thank Neil for producing such an amazing video and all the hard work he put into it.
You guys are quite a new band only starting this year and already have UK tour that is selling out fast, how you feeling about that? It honestly feels very surreal. Especially as this is our first ever UK Tour and it has been put together independently with zero backing from a label or manager. Despite this we have sold out venues in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow. We get such a thrill out of seeing people having a great night when they come to see us live. For anyone who comes and buys a ticket for one of our shows, we always try to bring our best and do our best to make everyone feel a part of something special - this is our number one priority. We want to say a huge thank you to anyone who has bought a ticket and shown us your support.
Talk to us about your influences as a band. The music that we create is Indie Rock based as the blueprint for us is very much Arctic Monkeys meets Catfish and the Bottlemen. Our influences can range from Indie Rock to Pop Punk all the way to Hard Rock, Pop and Jazz. We like to bring as many musical influences to the table as possible to help bring lots of variety to our music to help us keep evolving. Having lots of musical influences means we can carve our own unique sound within the blueprint of what we're going for.
Something very interesting for you, it is the close connection to Def Leppard with Tyler being the son of bassist Rick Savage. Tyler, tell us about growing up with a dad like Rick, did he impact you as an artist? Despite my dad being who he is and the success he has had in the music industry, he is just like any other normal dad. I am very grateful as he is an amazing father as well. Growing up I had very little interest in music at all - so I was never overly invested into what he did or who he was. Whereas some people will look at him and think 'the bass player in Def Leppard', 'Rockstar', 'Rock god' or '80's icon', I will always look at him and think 'Dad' before anything else.
My dad left me to my own devices when it came to discovering and liking music. He never forced any music on me and it was something I naturally gravitated towards since my early teenage years. I have my own music taste and he has his. Having said this, we do like a lot of the same music and we're constantly recommending music to each other - which I think is really cool!
What can we expect from you in 2023 guys? Lots of hard work and a good time! Everything we have done in 2022 now has to be bettered by what we do in 2023. We already have everything in place and set up for this to happen, with countless unreleased singles and big unannounced shows. We go into the new year with lots of optimism and positive energy that we hope will rub off to even more people discovering the band for the first time. Up the VIVAS x
