Post by tackhead311 on Aug 10, 2009 17:26:02 GMT -5
Today i caught up with crazy VAGIANT (Boston)'s Hellion!!!!! Ya all know her song on Rockband a little dittie called Seven!
Vagiant (often stylized as VAGIANT and are referred to as such) is an American all-female punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was initially formed in 2005 by four employees of the gaming company Harmonix after Helen McWilliams (stage name Hellion) sent around an email to the entire company.[1] Since forming the band has gone under several member changes leaving McWillliams and LoWreck as the only remaining original members. Most of their notoriety has come from the inclusion of "Fuck the Kells" (censored "FTK") in Guitar Hero II[2] and "Seven" in Rock Band.
Vagiant's music features a fast paced, high energy punk rock base. Stylistically and vocally they are akin to Joan Jett and The Distillers, while lyrically coming off as abrasive and blunt as their sound. Vagiant is a staple band for the Boston area and even features landmarks such as The Kells in their music.
souce wikipedia
1 What is on the musical horizon for Vagiant?
We're finishing up our new album this week and we're psyched about it. It's our first album with Smokey on guitar and Julie Two-Times on bass. We don't have a name for it yet – maybe some of your readers can help us out with that!
did you hear that freddyites help name VAGIANT(BOSTON)NEW ALBUM!!!!
2 I love your band's sound. What are your influences?
Thanks very much. We all have our own individual influences, but we're definitely influenced by classic punk stuff like Stiff Little Fingers, Cocksparrer, the Stooges, that kind of thing. And also the quintessial rock 'n' roll stuff that everybody is influenced by, like AC/DC and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. We're also majorly influenced by all the great local bands from Boston and Providence, like the Midnight Creeps, Buried in Leather, Tenafly Vipers, and our good friends Razors in the Night. And LoWreck is obsessed with Journey.
3 Since you work for HMX as well, does that make it easier or harder for your band?
A little of both, I think. We got a ton of recognition and exposure that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise – it's really amazing for us to get mail from people in other states and other countries. But yeah, I mean, I'm really busy – the videogame industry is a killer. That can make it hard to play in a band, for sure.
4 What goes into Vagiant's song writing process?
A lot of Jim Beam, incessant giggling, and LoWreck throwing her sticks at us.
5 I haven't had a chance to see you guys live, so can you describe a typical Vagiant show? Any cool covers you guys like to do?
We love playing shows. I always have a lot of fun with the audience. We try really hard to keep the energy up throughout the set – we're not a band that will do those sort of "we know the audience hates this but it's fun for us" kind of songs. There will be no 10-minute improvised wankathons at our shows. We make bad jokes and play loud and drink a lot and try to make everybody have fun.
6 What is the coolest venue you have played?
We loved playing the Middle East downstairs when we were playing the Bosstones' Hometown Throwdown. Oh, probably the best was this place Blondeshells in Maryland. It's run by a mother and daughter and the venue is their basement. All these local kids come out, they feed the bands dinner and breakfast and let you crash on their couches, and the sound setup is EXCELLENT. We kinda thought it was gonna suck, but it ended up being one of our favorite shows ever. It's great to be able to play a foot away from the crowd – I hate being all high up on a stage. It's not our style.
7 What is your favorite story from the road?
Man, tour was so much fun, it's hard to pick a favorite. At one point we went on a detour and ended up riding a carousel in the Monroeville Mall – where they filmed Dawn of the Dead. And I had a lot of "food tour" places that I was super excited to hit, like Melt in Cleveland and Primanti Bros. Fuck, everything was fun. All that travel and no sleep makes you giddy so everything seems incredibly hilarious. Even the van getting broken into seemed sort of funny, given that it was the middle of the day and we were on our way to get tattoos… and instead sat in the busted-up van in the pouring rain waiting for the cops and brushing broken glass off of pizza that we'd left in the van overnight.
Basically every day that we were able to get out of bed, pull it together, and do it again was a great day.
8 HMXHellion's All-Star band, who would be in it?
Well, I love my bandmates. But All-Star? Fuck, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Tina Turner. And me on back-up vocals – really, really quiet back-up vocals.
8 Can Vagiant gold star their song in Rock Band?
Ha, no. No we cannot. I'm fucking good though… just sayin'.
10 Your thoughts on the upcoming RBN ?(Rock Band Network)
I'm really excited about it. It's such a well-designed program – it kind of weeds out the super amateurs and the kids who would be creating "songs" as a joke. You have to be a serious musician, or at least an aspiring musician who is serious about music, to get a song up on RBN. I think tons of small, unsigned bands are gonna get great exposure from this, and Rock Band players are going to be on the frontlines of discovering new music.
11 Any advice for anybody wanting to get in the music industry?
Yeah, don't. Heh, no it's fun. Just don't ever expect to make money, and don't try to be something other than what you are. You can be the most extreme version of yourself, but don't try to be somebody else. It'll never be fun otherwise.
12 Whats on Vagiant's tour rider?
Well we're an unsigned band, so no fancy tour rider for us. I can tell you that the things that were most important to us to have in the van on tour were bottled water, Yogi Tea, briefcases full of White Castle hamburgers, and baby wipes. If we were swank enough to get a rider, my guess is it would include chicken wings, Chelada, Narragansett, cupcakes, and cute puppies for us to hug when we're bored.
13 Vagiantpalooza, who would be on that bill?
Ooh, good question. Definitely the Razors boys 'cause they're our touring buddies and we love them. I'd actually love to just have a giant festival show featuring bands we've really enjoyed playing with in the past, like Violet Violet, OPS, Hate & War, Subpar Seth and the Piss-offs, Musclecah… I think in ultimate fantasy land, Vagiantpalooza would be Iggy and the Stooges headlining, supported by Swingin' Utters, Turbonegro, Motorhead, Dover, Perkele, Tom Jones, Wreckless Eric, and the Pointer Sisters.
14 What music do you enjoy listening to today? What was the last song you listened to in your car?
Heh, I'm going through a heavy Dio phase right now. Dio just sounds fucking fantastic to me lately.
I've been getting great new music suggestions and ideas from the kids at the Rock Band forums – there are some great music threads on that site with people who actually know what they're talking about.
My car, as always, is in the shop right now, but I believe the last song I listened to on it was Aretha Franklin's cover of "The Weight." That, or "Paradise City." I can never get enough "Paradise City."
Vagiant (often stylized as VAGIANT and are referred to as such) is an American all-female punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was initially formed in 2005 by four employees of the gaming company Harmonix after Helen McWilliams (stage name Hellion) sent around an email to the entire company.[1] Since forming the band has gone under several member changes leaving McWillliams and LoWreck as the only remaining original members. Most of their notoriety has come from the inclusion of "Fuck the Kells" (censored "FTK") in Guitar Hero II[2] and "Seven" in Rock Band.
Vagiant's music features a fast paced, high energy punk rock base. Stylistically and vocally they are akin to Joan Jett and The Distillers, while lyrically coming off as abrasive and blunt as their sound. Vagiant is a staple band for the Boston area and even features landmarks such as The Kells in their music.
souce wikipedia
1 What is on the musical horizon for Vagiant?
We're finishing up our new album this week and we're psyched about it. It's our first album with Smokey on guitar and Julie Two-Times on bass. We don't have a name for it yet – maybe some of your readers can help us out with that!
did you hear that freddyites help name VAGIANT(BOSTON)NEW ALBUM!!!!
2 I love your band's sound. What are your influences?
Thanks very much. We all have our own individual influences, but we're definitely influenced by classic punk stuff like Stiff Little Fingers, Cocksparrer, the Stooges, that kind of thing. And also the quintessial rock 'n' roll stuff that everybody is influenced by, like AC/DC and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. We're also majorly influenced by all the great local bands from Boston and Providence, like the Midnight Creeps, Buried in Leather, Tenafly Vipers, and our good friends Razors in the Night. And LoWreck is obsessed with Journey.
3 Since you work for HMX as well, does that make it easier or harder for your band?
A little of both, I think. We got a ton of recognition and exposure that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise – it's really amazing for us to get mail from people in other states and other countries. But yeah, I mean, I'm really busy – the videogame industry is a killer. That can make it hard to play in a band, for sure.
4 What goes into Vagiant's song writing process?
A lot of Jim Beam, incessant giggling, and LoWreck throwing her sticks at us.
5 I haven't had a chance to see you guys live, so can you describe a typical Vagiant show? Any cool covers you guys like to do?
We love playing shows. I always have a lot of fun with the audience. We try really hard to keep the energy up throughout the set – we're not a band that will do those sort of "we know the audience hates this but it's fun for us" kind of songs. There will be no 10-minute improvised wankathons at our shows. We make bad jokes and play loud and drink a lot and try to make everybody have fun.
6 What is the coolest venue you have played?
We loved playing the Middle East downstairs when we were playing the Bosstones' Hometown Throwdown. Oh, probably the best was this place Blondeshells in Maryland. It's run by a mother and daughter and the venue is their basement. All these local kids come out, they feed the bands dinner and breakfast and let you crash on their couches, and the sound setup is EXCELLENT. We kinda thought it was gonna suck, but it ended up being one of our favorite shows ever. It's great to be able to play a foot away from the crowd – I hate being all high up on a stage. It's not our style.
7 What is your favorite story from the road?
Man, tour was so much fun, it's hard to pick a favorite. At one point we went on a detour and ended up riding a carousel in the Monroeville Mall – where they filmed Dawn of the Dead. And I had a lot of "food tour" places that I was super excited to hit, like Melt in Cleveland and Primanti Bros. Fuck, everything was fun. All that travel and no sleep makes you giddy so everything seems incredibly hilarious. Even the van getting broken into seemed sort of funny, given that it was the middle of the day and we were on our way to get tattoos… and instead sat in the busted-up van in the pouring rain waiting for the cops and brushing broken glass off of pizza that we'd left in the van overnight.
Basically every day that we were able to get out of bed, pull it together, and do it again was a great day.
8 HMXHellion's All-Star band, who would be in it?
Well, I love my bandmates. But All-Star? Fuck, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Tina Turner. And me on back-up vocals – really, really quiet back-up vocals.
8 Can Vagiant gold star their song in Rock Band?
Ha, no. No we cannot. I'm fucking good though… just sayin'.
10 Your thoughts on the upcoming RBN ?(Rock Band Network)
I'm really excited about it. It's such a well-designed program – it kind of weeds out the super amateurs and the kids who would be creating "songs" as a joke. You have to be a serious musician, or at least an aspiring musician who is serious about music, to get a song up on RBN. I think tons of small, unsigned bands are gonna get great exposure from this, and Rock Band players are going to be on the frontlines of discovering new music.
11 Any advice for anybody wanting to get in the music industry?
Yeah, don't. Heh, no it's fun. Just don't ever expect to make money, and don't try to be something other than what you are. You can be the most extreme version of yourself, but don't try to be somebody else. It'll never be fun otherwise.
12 Whats on Vagiant's tour rider?
Well we're an unsigned band, so no fancy tour rider for us. I can tell you that the things that were most important to us to have in the van on tour were bottled water, Yogi Tea, briefcases full of White Castle hamburgers, and baby wipes. If we were swank enough to get a rider, my guess is it would include chicken wings, Chelada, Narragansett, cupcakes, and cute puppies for us to hug when we're bored.
13 Vagiantpalooza, who would be on that bill?
Ooh, good question. Definitely the Razors boys 'cause they're our touring buddies and we love them. I'd actually love to just have a giant festival show featuring bands we've really enjoyed playing with in the past, like Violet Violet, OPS, Hate & War, Subpar Seth and the Piss-offs, Musclecah… I think in ultimate fantasy land, Vagiantpalooza would be Iggy and the Stooges headlining, supported by Swingin' Utters, Turbonegro, Motorhead, Dover, Perkele, Tom Jones, Wreckless Eric, and the Pointer Sisters.
14 What music do you enjoy listening to today? What was the last song you listened to in your car?
Heh, I'm going through a heavy Dio phase right now. Dio just sounds fucking fantastic to me lately.
I've been getting great new music suggestions and ideas from the kids at the Rock Band forums – there are some great music threads on that site with people who actually know what they're talking about.
My car, as always, is in the shop right now, but I believe the last song I listened to on it was Aretha Franklin's cover of "The Weight." That, or "Paradise City." I can never get enough "Paradise City."
