Few bands have the emotional and musical mettle to carry on as a group in the wake of losing a beloved member, let alone to take on the nigh-impossible task of completing an album sans the lead singer.
Yet Byron Bay band, Valhalla Lights have done just that; they had just finished laying down the vocal tracks for their debut album in 2013 when they were rocked by the tragic loss of their lead singer, Phoebe Black. “It's kind of like asking a pilot to land a jumbo jet in reverse,” says guitarist, George Christie.
“We did the album in reverse: we started with the vocals because that's what we had and pieced together an album from that; I actually don't know if it's been done before. It was a pain in the arse, it actually took us over a year to put that out all together and get to the stage to realise that we could actually do it, to start with the vocals.”
Released in April, 'Krypton' is a brilliant debut and a heartwarming tribute to an extremely talented young woman who had won the hearts and ears of her fellow band members from the moment she launched herself into their lives. “I was working in a music shop at the time in Lismore,” George recalls fondly, “she said, 'can I come have a sing for your band?' and at the time I was like, 'I think we're looking for a guy' and her response was: 'no, you're looking for me, I'm a kick-arse singer'.”
Having formed the band some months prior and searching for a male singer, George admits he was initially hesitant about auditioning Phoebe. But once she started singing, he and his bandmates were sold. “We just looked at each other and went: 'Jesus Christ, all these years we've been looking for a female singer, not a male!” George says with a laugh.
“Brent, Deon and I create a wall of sound that's in your face; it's loud and heavy, and it just needed that female angle to really cut through over the top and set another dynamic for the band.”
While George says Phoebe can never be replaced, Byron Bay singer and musician Ange Saul has been recruited to carry on the legacy as frontwoman for Valhalla Lights as they tour 'Krypton' around the country. “We didn't even contemplate putting out an album and then to find another singer, Ange; [she] was truly sent by the rock gods, that girl. So it has been an emotional rollercoaster, but at the end of the day I think we've done everything right, I think we've tributed Phoebe's last work.”
As a fan of Aussie rockers Baby Animals, George will see a dream come true when Valhalla Lights play support for them and The Superjesus at the She Who Rocks festival in June, an event honouring and celebrating women in music, something very close to George's heart. “Baby Animals is one of my favourite bands of all time. When I was 16 living in Canberra, someone got me into the Queanbeyan Leagues Club through the back door to see The Angels and I saw the support band... a band called Baby Animals and they just blew me away. I remember standing in front of Dave Leslie, even to this day he's in my top five guitar players.
“So we went for the She Who Rocks gig, not expecting to win to tell you the truth, just to be part of it because that's what you do when you're in a band. So when we won it, it was a bit of a milestone for me to come from being a fan for the past 20 or so years to now playing with them and at such an awesome venue like The Tivoli.”
With their own headline shows lined up for Brisbane and the rest of Australia in the middle of the year, George and the merry men and woman of Valhalla Lights are looking forward to thrilling local audiences with their heady brew of driving stoner rock and fuzz-laden riffs. “You're guaranteed to see three dudes up there going as hard as they can and one sexy-looking chick up the front going as hard as she can … there's nothing contrived about our shows, we just go out there and create a wall of sound with beautiful, female, melodic vocals over the top.”Valhalla Lights play the New Globe Theatre 7 June and She Who Rocks festival at The Tivoli 13 June.
