Vambo – Interview

This week I’m having a chat with the lads from Vambo, a hard rock four piece that are making a name for themselves as the festival’s choice!   Always a crowd puller, Vambo’s 70s inspired brand of classic power rock goes down a storm, so lets find out more!

VL:  How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?

Vambo: We are a primarily a rock band with many influences dating back to the 70s but try to remain contemporary in songwriting and production techniques.

VL: Tell us a bit about your background – where you’re from, how you came to start making music

Vambo: Vambo are from Surrey mainly. Three of us have been together for seven years now and our new drummer joined us late last year. The band was started by Jack Stiles and Pete Lance who met via an audition for a different band. There have been one or two changes over the years but this hasn’t changed what Vambo stand for.

Whilst we are from Surrey, we have played London venues extensively, selling out and moving up venue capacity size to accommodate the new fans made as time has gone on.

We are very fortunate to have very accepting partners/wives who support us wherever and whenever possible. We are also extremely lucky to have Jack’s Dad Ray, who is our live sound engineer, producer and mixer.

VL: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?

Vambo: Inspiration comes from different sources, happiness or the opposite, or hearing someone else`s music – It`s different almost every time but the main goal is always to create something new and outstanding. Our influences are diverse, spanning from hip-hop, pop, all the way to metal, and everything in between.

VL: What are your aspirations as an artist/band?

Vambo: Wildest dream would be for Vambo to be successful, in our eyes that means making the music we enjoy playing, and selling out larger venues with dedicated fans who enjoy our music – we also see this as a realistic dream with hard work and dedication. Whilst we keep our feet firmly on the ground, we want to play as many festivals as possible so that more people can hear our music – we are not afraid to work to get there.

VL: What has been the proudest moment in your music career so far?

Vambo: We’ve been lucky enough to have played Download Festival twice, over the same weekend, on two different stages (Dogtooth and RIP). Also playing the Isle of Wight festival, 4 different years, was superb (once under a difference name). There are many more, but these stand out!

VL: Promoting music can be a real challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?

Vambo: It can be challenging as social media is an amazing tool but can be very taxing. We have our own methods we like to use, sometimes this hinders us, but being different is important to us. We try to keep things interesting and to a high standard where possible!

VL: Any performances coming up?

Vambo: We have a few that are announced but we have many more to be announced so keep an eye on our socials for the announcements, some of them BIG!

Currently we have:

24/03/2023 – Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff – Charity Fundraiser for Llamau – https://tinyurl.com/mr7n6xhm

15/04/2023 – The Globe, Glossop – A Night with Hannah – https://www.seetickets.com/event/a-night-with-vambo/the-globe/2471442

22/04/2023 – Giffard Arms, Wolverhampton – https://tinyurl.com/3zspfn2e

05/08/2023 – Just Push Play Festival – www.justpushplayfestival.co.uk/product-category/ticket

VL: What are you working on at the moment?

Vambo: We are working on our second album which is now 80% finished. It`s been challenging to follow our debut album, which received great reviews by both the industry and our fans. We are very excited about this album. It’s a new vibe, stepping away from the typical Classic Rock sound in our opinion. We have gigs lined up, with festivals to be announced too. We are hoping to reach Europe this year, we have some planning in the works!

VL: What song do you wish you’d written and why?

Vambo: Tough question haha

Pete – I`d say Toto – Rosanna.  To me this song is a very close example of how a song can be perfectly written and recorded. It`s a simple song that has catchy grooves and melodies with dynamics across the song (pre chorus drops for example). I love the production of it – It has brass sections in it, various other bits that surprise you along the way (organ, piano etc). It`s an over 5 min long song originally but I don`t get bored for a single second listening to it – if you are writer, then you know that that`s hard! The tracks show great musicianship! Crazy good guitar work presented by Steve Lukather throughout the song. I have many, I could easily name a couple of Prince tracks also I wish you`d hear more music like this played by young bands.

Jack – probably Iris – Goo Goo Dolls. I think the lyrics are very moving, and it has one of the best ballad choruses ever written, in my opinion. Also Sail – AWOLNATION comes to mind. It’s sexy, very unique, and I love his voice on the song.

Dave – that would be Dirty Love – Thunder…it was the first track I watched a live VHS of at the age of ten and it blew me away. Watching Harry James started my drumming journey.

James – we are going to say on James’ behalf The Knack – My Sharona. Don’t ask us why but we know James wish he had wrote it! 

VL: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, that you would change if you could?

Vambo: Big radio and TV stations want to make a living by playing older bands (ACDC, GnR etc), which is fair enough but it`s very limiting nowadays for newer bands. Sometimes you won’t get played on major stations purely because you are a ‘new’ band, we have come across this many times. It`s not always the case, but it certainly happens a lot in our experience. This puts the industry at risk in the long run.

VL: What’s the most outrageous thing you/your band has ever done?

Vambo: We opened for The Hollies once and the whole band went on stage pretty much naked playing for thousands at a summer festival. The core fanbase of the Hollies is between 60-70 years of age, you can imagine their faces.

VL: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online? 

Website: Vamboofficial.com
Store: https://vamboofficial.bigcartel.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vamboofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vamboofficial/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vamboofficial
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2yQVokl4RVlAbu9nFyGYXL?si=0bda475b851b46d0

What do I think?

I first encountered Vambo at Winter’s End 2022, where I was having a pretty miserable time for various reasons and was about to call it a night and head back to the hotel.   Vambo took to the stage with so much professionalism and energy I literally did a 180 degree turn to stay and watch.   On the back of that I immediately booked them for a festival I was planning, I just knew that this band’s live performances needed to be seen!   I’ll be going to their show at The Globe in April and looking forward to catching up for a chat.   I would advise anyone reading this to get on YouTube and watch the video of Vambo performing ‘Burn’ live, I’m giving nothing away, but it will blow your minds.   Vambo deserve to make it big, and with their talent and dedication there’s no reason why it wouldn’t happen.

Vambo links:
Band/Artist location – London England
Website – Facebook – You Tube – Soundcloud – Merch – Twitter –
Instagram – Itunes – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – Lastfm
Check our page for Vambo