VAIN…Beating The Bullet !

Interview with Davy Vain

1) Hello Davy, what are you up to now ?

Hey, how are you doing? We just got done playing a couple of festivals here in the US, now I am moving some of my vintage equipment from my studio to the legendary studio of the Record Plant, in which we’ll be finishing up our new Vain record this winter. The last two were done entirely in my own studio but we wanted a change of pace for this album.

2) Do you think that your reunion satisfied your expectations?

Yes, I’ve been very satisfied, but actually it’s not a reunion, we’ve just had different lineups since “No Respect”.

3) Are you satisfied from your comeback album “On The Line” ?

I’m really happy the way it came out because it was one of the hardest records I’ve done, since I played on it, engineered, produced and ended up mixing it, which makes it hard to be objective.. But now when I listen to it I am very satisfied and very proud of it.

4) What about your experience from Rocklahoma ?

The girls there were very sexy..and the stage was one of the biggest I’ve ever played on. The crowd was very international and the partying backstage was amazing since the whole thing was put on by various American alcohol companies.

5) Do you have a label contract right now?

No, right now we are licensing out our albums to various labels around the world, which I prefer because that way I own the masters.

6) When are we going to have new material, any teasers, views about your new sound, what can we expect ?

Hopefully next year..and we hope to have teasers up on DavyVain.com soon. Some of the tracks we are working on right now are more in the spirit of “No Respect” which we’re really excited about.

7)Could you go back to the time and remember your tour supporting SKID ROW?

It will always be one of the most special tours we’ve ever done, because it was right after we got out first record deal..and the first taste we got of the rock n roll scene. That’s when we knew we really had it, when we hit the big stages and had the crowd going crazy..and the chicks too of course, haha.

8) What happened with your second album “All Those Strangers”, why never made it officially and how did it appear in various peer to peer download sites later?

 It was already completed and pre-released cassettes were sent to a lot of press, and there actually were ads for the records in Japanese magazines. Island Records, which was our label, had been sold right after we completed our first record “No Respect”..so things concerning us were always a bit shaky there.

9) Why Roadcrew band lasted only for a few concerts, is there any material available from this period?

It only lasted one year, but unfortunately there was too much drug abuse and partying going on for the band to maintain, but we did record some amazing tracks that I love til this day and we, Vain, will put three bonus tracks from the Roadcrew era on the upcoming album. One of the songs will be called “Worship Me” and will be dedicated to someone across the water..the only girl hot enough to have this song associated with her. The song is about pure sex.

10) What about the days after Roadcrew , the era between “Move On It” and “Fade”? Can you describe us these years and explain us why these albums were first released only in Japan ?

The record deal we had at the time was on a Japanese label, Polystar. Since we were so big in Japan they signed us to do those albums.

11) “In from out of nowhere” was a different album for David but too damn good in pop / rock style. Why David din’t insist on continuing the solo carreer?

As far as I’m concerned it’s still a VAIN record, I just decided to call it Davy Vain because I wanted to play more songs live from that record and less songs from the catalog. It was a decision that we made together so that our live performances could include more songs and less catalog material.

12) Few people know Davy’s experience as an engineer and producer, from Christina Aguliera to Death Angel. Please let us know about this side of Davy’s life…

I’ve always loved being in the studio. I was producing thrash metal records when Vain were playing the clubs with huge hair and lipstick. It was always funny because people would go “Hey, we need to get our guitar tone better and this Davy Vain guy can help.”..so I’d get a call and show up at this total thrash metal session where everybody hated glam music and guys that wore makeup.. I always made sure I wore a little extra eyeliner for those recording sessions..but after about half an hour it was always all good. But..I’d always run into them again at our shows, when their excuse for being there would be “cuz there are so many chicks at your shows”. Those were the days it was great to be king.

13) Danny had a solo album back in 1995, why never tokk its way in Europe and remained a Japan only release?

It was on the same Japanese label as the other Vain stuff was on, and they do a Japan-only release. It’s a really cool record, check it out!

14) Are you satisfied from the re-release of No Respect by Gott Discs in 2005?

The thing that’s a little disappointing about that is that they never contacted us in advance, we had no idea that they were re-releasing it. We heard that they were gonna re-release it..but we only actually found out when it was alread all arranged. It would have been nice to have some input on liner notes, pictures, etc. But it is great that more people got to finally get it. 

15) Is there any video material from the band any plans for a DVD?

Yeah, we are working on a DVD as we speak. Til then, check us out in Youtube..or on DavyVain.com

MYSPACE PROFILE FOR VAIN : http://www.myspace.com/davyvain