Posted by the cambridge vitrioler on May 11, 2001, 6:27 pm anyway i found this interview of som and it seems like you are the interviewer..... The first song I heard by the youthful My Vitriol was one of those songs that keep you up late into the morning and make you know nothings gonna be the same again. It had a feeling that I hadnt got for a long time, actually since Id last heard Nirvanas Something In The Way. Grounded was just such a powerfully beautiful but annoyingly simplistic and short song. It just captures you and thats what happened to me. My Vitriol have a come a long way since they made me an insomniac and since this interview took place. They are on the eve of releasing their debut single Always Your Way on Org Records, they are one the eve of making a million b(l)ands insane ith envy and making a million fans. Or maybe not cuz the single is limited to just 1000 copies. gulp. MEGA ####ING STARDOM....Because quite frankly, they deserve it. My Vitriol are frontman singer and guitarist Som (who used to be in a band called Shock Syndrome that Andy Cairns discovered), Ravi on drums, Carolyn (she was the one in suit and tie who made you drool all over your fave shirt when you were half enjoying Torture Orchestra and perhaps loving Product) doing that sexy bass stuff and Seth on bass. You know you get that feeling that theyre gonna explode. Like dynamite stuffed into the throat of a small rodent. Of course we could all be wrong but you just get that feeling that this could be the start of it all. Something immensely huge and something immensely wonderful. Thankfully im here. Are you? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduce yourself and your role in the band... How would you describe your sound to someone whos never heard you? Is there a main theme to your songs? Are you aiming your music at anyone specific? Who writes the songs?....where do you find inspiration? Is there a main theme to your songs? According to your website there has been a huge amount of record It really annoys me how people in the industry run hot and cold so quick. They just wind each other up, and they can't seem to see anything other than black or white. We haven't Who are your heroes? What are you scared of? If you were in control of the world what would you change first? Where's your favourite place in the world? Are you very tough and kick ass? Have you ever fallen in love...was it good? You know how bands always get marketed as some style or another by their pr people?... well what is your image? Have you been aware of any sort of stereotyping so far because of your race ? i mean i'm half jamaican and people have assumed i'm doing a rap/hip hop zine without me I have insisted that 'the asian thing' will not be made an issue. We are not the Asian Rock Foundation. The thing is, -I think you'd agree-, it is a lot more powerful if people don't I'm not usually musically stereotyped, cos people find it hard to place what i'm into, -or know i'm in a band.The thing is, I guess, is to remember that people who DO say that kinda stuff usually don't mean offense. And they're obviously not necessarily racist. I'm sure both of us are biased too, in some other way at least. ADF and Huge Baby, have different feelings to me. I'm not paranoid about my race. I think it's really wierd that some people are very conscious of their colour, and feel different. I don't. And I've only lived half my life in this country. You must find it really funny with all that hip/hop fanzine stuff. You've probably made those people feel like fools and perhaps even made them realise something. That's what it's about. Yes, yes and yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Youre gonna be hearing alot about My Vitriol , you wont be able to miss them and you ll be killing yourself if you do so check them out now.
You do that raz.........
I've just releaslised no one can make a new post on here....
heres all of it. IS IT YOU?
Som, I sorta play guitar/ write/ sing/ shout/ whine, etc
Basically non-cheesy ####ed up songs. Theres alot I wished I sounded like...
Oh shite. Put it this way. I like ####ed up, non-cheesy pop tunes. There's a lot i WISH i sounded like, but we're not quite there yet.....
Anybody who 'gets it'.
Moi. From everywhere. I love all sorts of stuff. I try not to limit myself by genre. On one of the songs I got this idea of using this slowed down drum & bass style rhythm. I thought it
turned out quite cool, with the alternate guitar tunings and all. .......but mainly my inspiration comes from Steps. Oh, sorry, I meant Billie.
yes. my huge ego. all i care about is myself, and i wanna annoy everybody with it. But seriously, there really isn't an ongoing theme like an episode of 'neighbours' or something. it's
just what i feel at that time.
company excitement over you....is this quite daunting since you've
played hardly any gigs and are still unknown to some extent?
Yeah. You could say that. I'm kinda heading towards a nervous breakdown
as we speak. It's all very cool that companies are listening to us, but do realise that it doesn't mean anything at the end of the day. There are people talking about us and it's an A&R guy's job to get in touch, -they're just covering their asses. It doesn't mean that they like us or anything, -or that we're gonna get signed.
had time to grow organically and develop, like most bands. They're probably expecting us to be the next big thing and'll disappear after the first gig we do. I'm just trying to find the right people to work with, and NOT fail my exams.
some of these are quite predictable, but i'm going to be honest:
thurston moore, rene magritte, dave grohl, john lennon,
kurt, cay, tintin, snowy.
myself. and i'm too cynical to be scared of anything or anyone else.
okay here comes the diatribe......there are 386 people who have half the world's wealth. that can't really be too much of a good thing. i'm not a communist. i don't give a flying #### about all that shit. i don't know enough about politics to give fair comment. i guess i'd try and make people less self-centered, and more empathetic.
My bed. city? Don't have one. i hate it everywhere. but seeing as i'm in london: Respect. you know you're not missing out on too much being in london. i'm feeling quite urban these
days.
without doubt(!) I used to be a little hot headed a few years ago, but i got sick of getting beat up. i really hate guys who go around starting fights 'cos their dicks are too small, and
their testosterone is too high.
Yes. no.
if anyone says anymore about the "asian hanson" or babylon zoo i will cry. i don't wanna be like david bowie (a la jas mann) but i would shag taylor hanson. isn't he the prettiest
thing you've seen?? we'd have nice kids.
even saying anything which i think is always really funny...in a funny weird way y'know.....it's just rock is so often percieved as a white thing. I'm not l accusing anyone of
racism etc but in music you get so many boring boring boring categories...like 'black' in music can only mean hip hop, rap and r&b only, white kids are the rock, indie, boy
band lot and i just find that so pathetic and tiresome...
Yeah, it is kinda funny that people are SO biased, and they don't even realise it! You're right, the rock thing is normally considered a "white boy" thing. But I don't really see it as that at all. I mean those kinds of stereotypes are going to be broken sooner or later. It has to be done.I don't think my racial origins have been much of a problem at all, when it comes to the band. I think it's seen as quite a good thing by calculating market-obsessed label bosses.
realise i'm asian from the music. No 'Cornershop'/'Outcaste'-esque obvious names. I'm a person, not a gimmick. If the press do focus on the fact that I am asian, that would just
re-enforce the idea that certain races are 'meant to' be into certain kinds of music. #### that.
What are your future plans for My Vitriol?
well....we'll just have to wait and see. i have a lot of plans. I always have a lot of things that i'm GOING to do. let's just hope i do.
Grounded is on the superb Organ Radio5 and they have a bonus track Cemented Shoes on the Muy feo single (which is great anyway), also on Org records.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread