Interview

Self Realization-an Interview with The Vryll Society

Mar 06, 2016 1382 views No Comments

Vryll Society Interview : Sugarmill, Stoke. 5^th March 2016

Last night I caught up with Mike Ellis (singer) and Lewis McGuinness (guitar) from the Vryll Society in their plush, state-of-the-art office (aka “the freezing cold van”) and asked them a few questions about the story so far and where they see the future taking them.

So is there a question you’re fed up of being asked?

Mike-How would you describe your sound

Lewis-Influences

Mike- Where does the name come from?

Why have you changed it to Vryll from Vril?

Mike-to put a different spin on it. To make it a bit more…And plus when you search for it and Google it, you probably get a different result than the actual meaning. It’s for promotional purposes, more than aesthetic purposes.

So are you interested in that whole history side of it, where it’s come from?

Lewis- even the book side of it, the later relevances, what people took on it. So kind of the original meaning is cool but the kind of people that took it on, we’re not really interested in that. We actually got some Nazi messaging us and we’re like: “Don’t message us ever again.”

When I spoke to you at Leaf (a previous gig in Liverpool) you said about “light and dark.” What do you mean by that?

Mike- If you’ve got a lyric that’s dark it’s good to have the music lighter, or if the music’s darker then it’s good to have a lighter lyric. It’s just about creating a balance.

What’s your highlight so far as a band?

Lewis-Albert Hall. Yeah it’s a very recent one.

Mike- Yes, supporting Blossoms at the Albert Hall it was an amazing experience. (Feb 27^th 2016 in Manchester)

It was an amazing gig. It felt like you were on another level. Did you sense that?

Mike-We kind of feel that this band should be playing venues as big as that and the sound that we’ve got can’t be confined to a small space. It’s a big panoramic sound so it needs a big venue to harness it.

Lewis- But obviously we’re gonna make the most of what we’re doing now and we ain’t afraid to do the work to get to those places.

Mike- Everyone would like to play to 2000 people every night but you’ve got to play to 200 first.

Lewis-Another highlight was the Kaz show (Vryll Society played at the Kazimier in Liverpool last year just before the venue was closed-photo below)That was the first time I think we realised it could be really good.

Would you see yourself going more towards albums than singles?

Mike-I think we can do a bit of both. I think if you put all your eggs in either basket then you’re kind of selling yourself a bit short really, so I think it’s good to vary it.

I think I once tweeted that you could kind of hold your own with Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, in terms of sound. They were more albums than singles.

Mike-You can come and interview us any time. Led Zeppelin still had tunes that you’d consider to be (singles).

It felt like watching you in the Kaz it was like it must have been seeing Zeppelin and Floyd before they really took off.

Mike-I suppose you could mix in the ferocity of Zeppelin but the artistry of Floyd. I’ve never had anyone say that. Do you think we sound like Zeppelin?

Not necessarily

Mike-It’s the vibe?

You get drawn into the overall sound

Mike-The experience of it. No, well that’s great.

Lewis-if you’re a band like that I suppose, as you say, then releasing singles and stuff isn’t really a problem then because you know it’s gonna be that vibe either way, if it’s an album or a single, it’s still gonna be that band isn’t it. It’s kind of cool that you said that.

It feels like the band needs every member to function.

Mike-I was saying this to another interviewer. If you took one person out it wouldn’t be the same band. We’re all reliant on each other.

Is it still too soon to talk about Viola Beach? What’s your memories of them?

Mike- No, it’s ok. Just a load of lads who liked having a good time and liked robbing our beers. Like they’d do stuff for a laugh all the time. When they’d come in to pinch your beer they wouldn’t just take one they’d take like four each. It was like-they’re just up for a laugh, you know what I mean. And like after the gigs just hanging round with loads of girls and us going how come they’ve got loads of girls and we haven’t!

So what about the future?

Mike-we’re going to Amsterdam next Thursday and then we’re doing O2 Academy with Blossoms

Lewis-And Guildford.

Mike-Guildford is the date that Viola Beach should have done. So that’s been rearranged. And then we’re doing our own tour in April.

Lewis-Little one

Mike-Yeah. Little one. Like a ten date tour but we’re the headline band and then we’ve got loads of festivals coming up.

Are you releasing an album soon?

Mike-we’ve got all the tunes. We just need resources. If you know anyone with twenty grand! There’s a lot of people having a look at us at the moment. I think this year you’ll see an album. I don’t know when but you will definitely get one.

Vryll Society are: Mike Ellis (vocals), Ryan Ellis (lead guitar) Lewis McGuinness (lead guitar) Lloyd Shearer (bass) and Ben Robinson (drums)

Follow them on Twitter @TheVryllSociety and on Facebook

Their ten date headline tour in April takes them from Sheffield to Preston , with eight other places as far afield as Glasgow and Brighton in between.