We caught up with Vistas ahead of their set at King Tuts! Read below as we talk new music, first gigs and the Edinburgh music scene…
Hi Guys!
So you’re playing the FCK Yes live night at Tuts and you’re due to play Mash House for your single launch, what can people expect from your live shows?
Prentice: Our live show has definitely got a lot stronger since we first started out. I think that we’ve always had a fairly strong live show
Graham: But we’ve now started focusing on the production aspect of it, we know now that we are at a stage where we can start focusing on that. We can start experimenting with production like lights and backdrops because we now have the budget for that.
Prentice: Yeah so what to expect from a Vistas show is a fast paced, high energy night! What made you want to pursue a career in music? How did Vistas come to be?
Graham: The ashes of our old band, like I said me, Prentice and Jamie were in a band before. We managed by some fluke to get a festival slot and we just took shape from there really. We knew that we had to sit down and talk a lot more about the business side of it as well.
Prentice: We got to a stage where we knew we’d been gigging a lot and we now had the room to start looking at the other aspects of our careers. We’ve learnt a lot, who the right and wrong people to deal with our and where we want to be. Also what made us want to pursue a career in music is just the fact that, and I think everyone will say this, is that it’s really good fun! It’s also great to be creating something that means something to someone else. That’s the best part for us, being able to write a song that has a meaning to someone, that’s the best reward.
So you guys are from Edinburgh, what’s your opinion of the Edinburgh music scene as a whole?
Graham: It’s definitely growing, it’s always been a kind of two sided story. You’re either in an indie band or in a sort of post hardcore band, but there is definitely a surge happening just now. There’s some good fucking bands just now now, there’s one called Cheap Teeth and they are sort of a mix of Queens Of The Stone Age and Drenge and they are fucking amazing.
Prentice: I feel like Edinburgh has a particularly big club scene so I feel that people decide that instead of going to a gig and having a few drinks, they would rather go to a club or a few pubs and have a drink instead.
Graham: I think that’s a generation thing though, people would rather sit on their iPod and listen to songs instead of going out and maybe discovering their new favourite band for a fiver.
Prentice: Going back to Graham’s point though it is definitely growing at the moment and there are a lot of good bands emerging just now.
So on the topic of good Edinburgh bands is there any that you would recommend people listen to?
Graham: Yeah as I mentioned earlier Cheap Teeth, Retro Video Club, Ill Fitting Thoughts who are supporting us at our single launch.
What can people anticipate from your single ‘Feel Alive’?
Prentice: It’s honestly just two minutes of upbeat, high energy, punchy indie-pop. It’s our most straight to the point song and a single I feel that we put the most effort into recording! Not to say that we didn’t put any effort in with ‘Medicine’ but there are just finer details on this single. I wrote it around the same sort of time period as ‘Medicine’ so it’s in the same vein so if you like that then ‘Feel Alive’ is along the same lines.
Graham: It’s a great follow up to ‘Medicine’, I’m definitely happy with this direction.
What was a standout moment from 2016?
Dylan: I think our first big moment was our single launch for ‘Sign Language’ at the beggining of last year at The Mash House, it was just such an amazing experience for us like we had so many of our friends and family there. It was our first proper like big headline show as well which was good for us. It wasn’t just a single launch, it was kind of a launch for us as a band in a sense as well.
Graham: Although the single launch was class, for me it has to be Bannermans. That was amazing! That was the first time people had seen us as Vistas and seen us taking it seriously…
Prentice: Both of those are hightlights yeah but another one for me would have to be going down to Sheffield for a show quite early on in the band. It ended up being a sold out show and we are good mates with the band down there so yeah that was a standout moment for me. A brilliant show!
What can people anticipate in the next six months?
Graham: Big Things! That’s all I’m going to say. I’m not meaning that to sound cocky but things are definitely looking up for us, people are starting to notice us. We’re only on the up, our aim is to keep people interested, keep releasing music!
Prentice: So yeah for the next six months I think you can maybe expect two singles, maybe just the one. Big Things like Graham said though, we’re hoping for big things!
Quickfire!
The first gig you ever went to?
Graham: Mines was Bon Jovi
Jamie: I saw Kiss at the SECC when I was 11
Prentice: I saw Green Day at the SECC
Jamie: That doesn’t beat Kiss though
Dylan: I saw Neil Young at the SECC
Prentice: All of those are pretty good first gigs actually!
If you could have written any song ever which one would it be?
Graham: Either ‘Fast Car’ by Tracey Chapman or Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Jamie: Back in Black by AC/DC
Dylan: All Star By Smash Mouth
Graham: Edit that out!
*Laughter*
Prentice: Someday by The Strokes
Describe Vistas in three words?
Graham: Pure, Fucking, Brilliant
Dylan: Really, Really, Good!
Prentice: Really really good?
*Laughter*
Prentice: Bright, Punchy, Loud!
Dylan: Zingy, Zangy, Zzzz
Prentice: That’s two words and a sound Dylan!
Graham: Are you not picking one Jamie? How about ‘we’re a band’ that’s a good one, or Rock And Roll…
Jamie: Yeah I’ll go with that!
Your dream support slot?
Prentice: The Strokes it has to be, I think I’d just die
Graham: Biffy or Zeppelin if they came back!
Jamie: Twin Peaks definitely, that would be fucking class!
Dylan: I’d say Green Day…
If you have one, your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Prentice: I have one for me and Jamie, at the festival which Graham was speaking about before. I was jumping about on the stage and I jumped on Jamie’s jack lead and snapped it off but I didn’t realise so Jamie just had to kinda make do and keep playing so we had no bass for like half a song.
Graham: It made the loudest noise though, genuinely like a gunshot I’ve never been so scared in my life!
Jamie: This ones not so much embarrassing but pretty cool, it was when we were playing Sheffield, I had my pedal board and people were jumping up on the stage to stage dive and as someone got up they stood on my board and killed the bass.
Well Thanks Guys!
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