The Vamps: ‘Pinoys are the loudest fans’

CEBU, Philippines - They were minus one lad, but the show went on for British pop band The Vamps who set foot in Cebu for the first time for a show at Robinsons Galleria Cebu last January 31.

A tight schedule didn’t allow them to explore our island after their gig, but one guy did use his one free hour to take a look at one of Cebu’s iconic churches.

Coming off the night before from a successful concert at the Mall of Asia Arena, Brad Simpson (lead vocals and guitar), James McVey (lead guitar and vocals) and Tristan Evans (drums and vocals) kept the energy going despite the absence of their youngest, bass guitarist and vocalist Connor Ball, who suffered a knee injury during a show in Hong Kong. While Connor still managed to appear at the Manila show, albeit in crutches and seated for the duration of their 13-song set, the Scotland native had to skip the Cebu leg and flew to the UK earlier than planned.

Nevertheless, James, Brad and Tristan still brought so much joy to their ardent Cebuano fans, and promised to be back with the complete lineup.

Formed in 2012 with the help of Facebook and YouTube, one of UK’s recent biggest music exports has since amassed a solid worldwide fan base, thanks to their early cover songs including “Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)” and catchy hits like “Can We Dance,” “Wild Heart” and “Last Night,” “Risk It All” and “Rest Your Love.”

Now, The Vamps are back with the second album “Wake Up,” composed of 18 songs and a special free concert DVD from their sold out, headline shows at London’s O2 Arena.

Here, the trio not only discuss their new studio album, but they also talk about why the Philippines is close to their hearts, their wild fan encounters and why they’re certain not one of them is going to do a Zayn Malik.

Where’s Connor?

Brad: He’s hurt his knee unfortunately. He had a bit of a problem returning on stage two gigs ago because he’s had a bit of trouble with his knee, so he’s gone back to the UK so he can consult with a doctor. We’ve recorded all his bass parts, so we can still perform without him.

 Will you have time to explore our sights or are you flying out right after your show?

James: I just went to the church [Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral] down the road where apparently lots and lots of people came the other week. It was very nice, big white building.

This is your second time in the Philippines. What moments stand out during your visits here?

Tristan: The fans here are the loudest in the world. It’s official.

Brad: We have loads of supporters here. It’s nice, honestly. Last year, and also this year so far, our gigs here have been among of our favorites we’ve ever done.

 When did you realize you were such a big hit in the Philippines?

James: The first time we came here, we were looking at the statistics on our Facebook page, where you can see where your fans come from, and Philippines was number two. We didn’t know much about the Philippines before The Vamps, and then we learned so much because of the fans. The last time we played here, it was our favorite gig to date. It was amazing to have all the fans there. The Philippines is just a place we enjoy going to. The fans are great, so we’re surely coming back.

 Craziest fan encounters?

Brad: I’ve had some crazy ones on this trip so far. I got hit on the face. Not on purpose. He was gunning for James, but he slipped and hit me instead. It might have been deliberate, on second thought. (laughs)

James: You know just at the airport, coming from the other side of the world, and having lots of girls there is something that we’ll never get used to. It’s amazing! So yeah, maybe arriving in the Philippines would be one of the craziest things. 

Tristan: The mob mentality is crazy. Just getting swarmed and not being able to move. We have to boost security to keep everyone, including the fans, safe.

 How was the experience having your music included in the ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ movie?

James: It’s cool! We’ve been in two movies as of yet. The first one was a Disney movie with a very long title…

Brad: ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’

James: That one. ‘Kung Fu Panda’ was awesome. It was kind of our first Hollywood red carpet event that we went to. Making the song was great. We produced it ourselves. It was a fun thing to be part of since we also like ‘Kung Fu Panda.’

Tristan: Shooting the music video was very different, since we’ve never done green screen before. The end product was really impressive; the way they did the green screen for the floating mountains was very cool.

Brad: We were also put on wires and harnesses for the karate scenes.

What can fans expect from you this 2016?

James: We just released our second album towards the end of last year. This year, the emphasis will be on touring the album and travelling to places like the Philippines, and kind of sharing our music to the world. But we’re also starting on new music all the time, so I guess 2016 is kind of touring and then starting with the next album. Hopefully we get to travel this year as much as we were able to last year.

Tristan: And we have our own record label as well, so we will also focus on signing up upcoming artists.

James: We just signed up a new band called New Hope Club. It’s kind of similar to The Vamps in the sense that they’re the same age when we started. Hopefully, there’ll be another one soon.

 How does constantly being compared to One Direction make you feel?

Brad: They’re a pretty big band, so it’s nice to be compared to a group that’s so successful. But I think we’re very different in terms of the layout of the band.  We just try to do our thing and hope people enjoy our music.

 Speaking of One Direction, Zayn Malik has recently been candid about feeling unhappy with his former band for a long time, and not liking the direction their music was going. For the record, are you guys all on the same page? We won’t have one of you doing a Zayn Malik in the future?

Brad: That’s why Connor’s not here. He’s gone. (laughs)

James: The difference with One Direction and us is, we started the band ourselves. We write the music that we play. We found each other, so there’s no opportunity for us to necessarily feel particularly unhappy about the direction, because we choose our own direction. We all like what we do. So I don’t see that happening to us. We’re happy.

 Being that you’re together all the time, do you sometimes get on each other’s nerves?

Brad: I don’t think so. Considering we do spend every day of our lives together, we don’t argue that much, or at all, really. Petty debates, that’s about it. We’re all easy-going characters.

 What do you guys do during downtime?

James: The world tour has us with a full-on schedule, but we had three days off recently in Australia, so a few of us went to a national park. We like seeing different things…like here, I had an hour off, so I went down to a church. We like walking, relaxing by the pool, playing football, going to the gym.

 Where do you usually get inspiration in writing your songs?

Brad: It’s different every time. We’ve been very lucky to have the opportunity to travel the world. By doing that, you get to meet a lot of people, see a lot of new things, and gain a lot of experience. That, in itself, provides us with a lot of inspiration.

 Major music influences?

Brad: Bands like AC/DC and Foo Fighters…

James: Taylor Swift, David Bowie and Oasis when I was younger.

Tristan: Avril Lavigne, Eminem, Green Day… 

 How was it then meeting Taylor Swift?

James: We played five nights with her at London and that was just crazy for us. It influenced and inspired The Vamps from that point on because it was really nice to meet someone that famous but still so friendly.

 Which artists would you love to collaborate with next?

James: Among them would be someone like DJ Calvin Harris. We’re writing loads of different songs at the moment, but we’re open to ideas. Like in our second album, if you’ve probably said to us two years ago that this is what our second album would sound, we’d be like, ‘That’s really strange.’ Our music kind of evolves and develops, and hopefully, we’ll have opportunities to work with loads of different people. We’d like to do more stuff with people like Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran, but we’re open to other ideas.

What does your second album title ‘Wake Up’ signify?

Brad: ‘Wake Up’ was one of the first songs we got early on in the process, and it kind of shaped the whole direction and sound of the album. We wanted the songwriting to be more mature, but not lose the energy. We wanted it to capture what we’ve been through the past two years since releasing the first album. So it then kind of felt right to call the album that, since it’s been a while since we released new music. It’s also a double meaning that we’re kind of waking up the fans with our new music.

 How does it feel knowing you have that impact of changing other people’s lives through your music?

James: Surreal.

Brad: It’s very cool. We grew up listening to bands who also had a massive impact on our lives and influenced us to be musicians. You naturally hope to have the same effect on people, to inspire a new generation of musicians. The fact that we can make people happy with our songs, it’s a very good feeling. (FREEMAN)