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Wisconsin indie/electronic band Vinyl Theatre are gearing up to release their debut album Electrogram next week on Fueled By Ramen. They’re also currently out on a big Fall tour with Twenty One Pilots. GroundSounds caught up with the band to find out how they formed, what went into their debut album, and what they enjoy most about the tour. Check it out below and pre-order Electrogram HERE.
Tell us about how you met and formed the band
Chris and Keegan met during a cross-country race in high school, and then started sending ideas back and forth over Skype. Keegan was in college in Colorado at Adams State University and Chris was in the Milwaukee area. Soon after, they brought Nick on board and the three of them wrote across the internet until Keegan came back home to Wisconsin. Chris and I (Josh) are childhood friends, and when they needed a bassist, I jumped at the opportunity!
You guys have all been playing music individually since you were young, correct? If you can remember, what was the first song you wrote about?
The first song that Keegan and Chris wrote together was called “Endless Lane”, and was centered around believing in yourself and the struggles of trying to find what it is you really care about and want to pursue in life.
Electrogram is coming out in a couple short weeks. How long have you been working on it and what was your goal or statement you wanted to make with your debut?
Electrogram is so near and dear to our hearts because it feels almost like a compilation album to the band. Some of these songs we wrote years ago, and some are more recent. We feel like the album captures exactly who we are and the music we love to write and perform. For us, Electrogram is a declaration of ourselves both individually and collectively.
“Breaking Up My Bones” is such a fun and addicting song. What inspired the track?
Thank you! “Breaking Up My Bones” was inspired by our own struggles as a band. The music industry is chalked full of people who think they know better than you do and have no problem telling you so, and for us, the song is about the struggle of staying true to who you are while everyone around you is trying to tell you to do something else or be something else.
“If You Say So” is another track that makes me excited to hear the album. It reminds me a little bit of another band I love, Two Door Cinema Club. Who are the bands you guys listen to and look up to?
We absolutely love Two Door Cinema Club, so thank you for the compliment! Each of us have slightly different tastes in music, but some of the bands we all love jamming out to are Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers, The Shins, Young the Giant, and of course twenty one pilots.
What is your favorite song to play live?
I think we all agree that “The Rhythm of Night” is one of our favorite songs to play live. It has such a high-energy, dance-y feel to it that we can’t help but groove along as we play. We’ve also put in some pretty fun moments in our live show for that song as well, but I won’t spoil it for you here!
Congratulations on signing with Fueled By Ramen! From the outside, that seems like a really cool label to be on. How did the signing come about and how has your experience been so far?
Thank you so much. Fueled By Ramen is not only a cool label to be under, but the team we have behind us is incredibly hard-working and supporting of our vision for this band. From what we understand, they first noticed us via Soundcloud like many other people, and from there reached out to us and actually came and saw us play live for the first time in our drummer’s basement! That was definitely a surreal experience.
You guys are out on tour with Twenty One Pilots, a band who we’ve seen explode in popularity after the release of their debut album. What are you most looking forward to in touring with them?
Having been on the road with twenty one pilots for about a week and a half now, one of the biggest highlights is simply getting to see their show every night. Those guys put on such an unbelievably tight yet fun and high-energy show that it keeps us motivated and striving as hard as we can to match their intensity and focus.
What’s the music scene like in Milwaukee? What is your favorite venue up there?
The music scene in Milwaukee is comparatively small, but in turn, it’s a very tight-knit community. Everyone knows each other, and people are very supportive. Our favorite venue is easily The Rave. We held our pre-tour rehearsals there, and everyone was so nice that we felt right at home.
As a Packers fan, the time will come for me to visit Wisconsin and get over to Milwaukee and Green Bay. What is one thing I should do and one place I should eat when visiting Wisconsin?
That’s what’s up! Go Pack!! If you’re in Green Bay and haven’t been yet, definitely make sure you get over to Lambeau Field. In Milwaukee, I definitely recommend checking out the art museum. Great museum, and the building has some of the coolest architecture in Milwaukee. For food, man that’s a tough one, but A.J. Bombers has some great burgers and especially amazing onion strings!
Where is the best place to stay updated with you online?
We post every day on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, so those three are definitely all great places to follow us!
Vinyl Theatre – “Breaking Up My Bones”
