When it came time for The Vanns to create their long-awaited debut album, guitarist, vocalist and band namesake Jimmy Vann was the man with the plan.
“We've always had that aspiration to put out an album at some point,” Jimmy says.
“We've put out three EPs, but it was about feeling when the time is right and when songs coincide with each other. It's always been at the back of our minds to write an album but we never wanted it to be forced, so it's rolled out quite naturally, which felt really good and I guess the time is right.”
For Jimmy and his bandmates, the timing couldn't be better; since coming together in 2012, The Vanns have dedicated their time to honing their songwriting and stagecraft.
The debut album, 'Through The Walls', and the songs therein, have largely been written about dealing with relationships: the highs, the lows and all the in-betweens. “We're always writing songs, trying to finish them and play them as a band, but for all the songs on this album it was somewhat spontaneous because it is a bit of a relationship album of sorts,” Jimmy explains.
“Experiencing that stuff first-hand, the songs came out quite naturally and immediate[ly]. . . they all just fell into place. Myself and Cam [Little, guitarist] did most of the writing on it, and he was dealing with similar situations as much myself and we brought a lot of ideas together. . . it made this big body of work that is the album.”
Gracing the album cover is a photograph of Jimmy's father, which serves as a visual representation for the themes The Vanns are working with on 'Through The Walls'. “It was funny because when we were writing the album – I was 23 – he was the same age but I can't grow a mo' like that,” Jimmy laughs.
“I was seeing a lot of similarities between what he was going through at that point of time and what we were writing about, and it was all gelling with each other. You could say that the times have changed but the circumstances haven't; it's very eye-catching and it fitted well with what we were going for.”
'Through The Walls' album artwork
The Vanns worked with producer-du-jour Oscar Dawson from Holy Holy on 'Through The Walls', who Jimmy says became the unofficial fifth member of the band during the recording process. “Cam and I did a writing session with a few different people down in Melbourne and Oscar was the last session,” Jimmy explains.
“It was only meant to be for an hour or two, but we ended up spending a whole day then having beers with him listening to the music we all love. We were both like: 'Dude, we need to work together on an album.' He was really keen and when we showed him the demos he had a big vision for them as well.
“It never felt like the band then the producer; it was just five guys in a room making music and all sharing the same feeling and emotion with what we were doing. He even laid some guitar parts, synth and backing vocals.”
With the album released in October, The Vanns will be on the road until December touring 'Through The Walls' around the country.
After such a long time in gestation, 'Through The Walls' offers listeners an authentic and highly-distilled version of all that The Vanns have worked to achieve. “It really is this honest body of work, a bullsh.t-free zone kind of thing; it's very raw and we're all super-proud of what we've made together as a band.
“It's weird to think we're just going to release it; it doesn't seem quite real just from writing and recording it, it's been such a long time. We're very grateful people even give the time to listen to records still, so it's just an honest body of work about four dudes playing in a band, dealing with life.”
'Through The Walls' is available now.
The Vanns 2019 Tour Dates
Sat 26 Oct - Vodafone Gold Coast 600Sat 26 Oct - Hidden Lanes Festival @ The Zoo (Brisbane)
Sat 2 Nov - Stay Gold (Melbourne) x2 shows all-ages & 18+
Sat 9 Nov - Djerriwarrh Festival (Melbourne)
Thu 14 Nov - Lion Arts Factory (Adelaide)
Fri 15 Nov - Mojo’s (Fremantle) all-ages
Sat 16 Nov - The Sewing Room (Perth)
Sat 7 Dec - The Metro Theatre (Sydney) all ages
Sat 28 Dec - Lost Paradise (Central Coast)
