The post-hardcore group Vanna has its roots steeped in attitude. Their music is beautifully brutal and their fans eat up every circle mosh, every wall of death, every bang of the head. They are also one of the most grateful bands I have ever interviewed, having much appreciation for all of their Boston-area brethren, singer/screamer Davey Muise explains in an interview at Pomona Warped Tour.
Davey, how is Vanna finding Warped Tour?
Great! Last year we did about twenty days on the tour. Before that we only did like 3, so we are working our way up little by little.
How do you see it evolving in the time you’ve been with Warped?
I think Kevin [Kevin Lyman, Warped founder] and the people who run Warped really take musician’s point of views. I sat down in a meeting awhile back with Kevin and a couple of the headlining musicians and we were discussing ways of improving the tour. I think they do a really good job of catering towards the bands, the fans, and the non-profits.
What goes on at those meetings of minds?
Kind of just brain storming. Things that can help Warped Tour improve year-after-year. Kevin wants to keep this thing going. I’ve been coming to Warped since I was a kid. It’s been going on for a long time and we wants to keep it going for a long time, but to do that you need to change some stuff.
What projects are you guys working on?
We recorded a record called And They Came Baring Bones and put it out last summer. Since then we’ve been touring non-stop. We’ll be putting it out on vinyl in a couple of months. We just recorded a DVD in Massachusetts awhile ago so that and the vinyl should be out at the end of summer. We did two video cover sessions in Boston so we filmed live performances of Nirvana’s “Breed” and Nine Inch Nail’s “The Perfect Drug.” Those videos will be on iTunes. After that we will be touring until Christmas time, and after that we will be back in the studio.
Are those covers on your Warped set list?
I want to play Nirvana today. I want to play Nirvana every day. It’s just a matter of getting everyone on board to do it. We’re talking about doing it as the tour goes on.
So your set list is constantly evolving?
Yeah, we play with it here and there and switch things in and out depending on the location or whatever. I would just like to play Nirvana every day.
We would like to hear Nirvana and NIN everyday!
For real, man! I’ve wanted to cover a Nirvana song in every band I’ve been in since I was 11 years old and for some I reason haven’t done it until now.
Why “Breed” of all songs?
It’s punk rock and it’s fast. It’s also very up our alley for the type of music that we play.
Where was this DVD recorded?
The Palladium in Massachusetts. It’s our home venue back home. We did it, I think in March.
[Davey’s Bandmate] It was November.
November?! God! I am so lost on time! November. It was a huge festival. All day. We had all of our friends’ touring band’s in the area on it. All of our favorite local bands from the New England area, too. I say “local,” but they tour a lot as well. We had over 20 bands and it was $10. [for admission]
Wow. It wasn’t just you on this DVD, then?
No, we owe everything that we’ve done to our scene and our home and we’ll never forget that. There are bands on this DVD that have never played outside of Massachusetts. It was sold out with close to 3,000 people there. I got to see some of my best friend’s bands kill it in front of the amount of kids that they should always be playing in front of. We just try to make it about the community because we’ve got so much support from bands in the area that we want to give back what we can. It’s going to be great. It’s called Bring me Your Bones and it’ll be out around back-to-school time. I’ve already seen it a couple of times and I’m excited.
Who are some of your favorite bands in Massachusetts?
There is a bunch. There is a band called Mountain Man, they do DIY touring. Manners from Connecticut, they are great. A band from Boston that just got signed called Great American Ghost. My best friend is in that band. Our area has so much really good stuff coming out of it. A Loss for Words, who are on Warped Tour this year, they are from Boston as well. We have a really cool scene with a lot of cool bands, whether you’ve heard of them or not.
Thanks for dropping a few good names on us. What is one of the craziest things a fan has said to you?
A friend once said to our guitarist that he wishes he could peel off his skin and wear it on him and have sex with his wife wearing his skin.
That’s… creepy.
Very creepy. He preceded that with, “Will you have sex with my wife?”
And?
Our guitarist was like, “No, I’m all set man. Thanks” Sorry, weird, creepy fan. Whomever that was.
How do you guys kill time on tour?
With Warped, we have video games and shit on the bus, but mostly we try to get all of our friends in every city we hit. We have friends in every city, so it’s like, “Dude, we have water and beer, come hang out!” and right now our bus is full of friends and family. Yesterday we got two motorized beach cruisers. That could be a way to kill some time.
You have two of them right here on your bus?
Yeah, they are right there.
I don’t know why you aren’t drag racing them right now.
I think we might do a little dragging later.
Please do. Anything you want to say to your fans out there?
Come hang out with us at a show! I feel like kids can just sit at a computer and download music all day, which I’m okay with, but you need to get out of that chair and come to a show.
Exactly. Please support your local, national, and internationally touring musicians.
And don’t think that we see any of that money when you’re downloading that record. Come to a show, buy a t-shirt, and help us get to the next city.
You convinced me. Davey, thanks for taking the time to speak with me and good luck on the road.
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