Interview: Van Susans at Proud2 March 10th 2012

Mar 30, 2012 by Claire Rozario

Van Susans are originally Bromley lads who leaped into fame and went from playing gigs in front of family and friends to performing at IndigO2 all in the space of a year. Now we see them playing at Proud2 to celebrate the release of their new single “Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw”.

Van Susans: (From left to right)

Holly McLatchie – Violinist/backing vocals
Rob Dullaway – Drumer
Ed Dullaway – Lead guitar
Tim Dullaway – Bassist
Olly Andrews – Lead singer/rhythm guitarist
Olly Groome – Pianist/backing vocalist.

 

 

The Interview:

(Editor’s note: If you listen to the audio portion, Claire profusely apologies for calling the band “Van Susan” and not “Van Susans”.  She has since attended another one of their gigs and her housemate has become a die-hard fan, so I think atonement has been achieved.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:00 — 6.9MB)

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How the band got started:

“Me and Olly met and started writing songs from there” Rob.
(They then recruited Rob’s 2 brothers along with Ollys brothers best mate and started Van Susans. Holly was the latest member to join, and this was in fact her first live gig with the band.)

Described your music in 3 words:

“It’s pretty good.” Olly G.

“Average at best” Ed.

Who are your influences:

“We are all pretty varied.” Olly A.

“Rihanna” Rob.

“All have different taste, I like Hip hop.” Holly.

“That’s weird. We love American rock bands – which we probably shouldn’t say since we are a British band.” Olly A.

“I find it difficult to decide who I like more out of The Wanted and One Direction.” Olly G.

How do you write your own music/choose the style of it:

“We basically fight, and the last one standing gets to decide.” Rob.

“We start with a guitar riff and then go from there. Me Rob and Ed are the main song writers of band at the moment, but Olly [G] you’ve written a few songs. It’s a pretty good team we’ve got going on.” Olly A.

Dynamics back stage:

“We are pretty mellow, play music.” Rob.

Most looking forward to:

“Playing.” Olly A.
“Going home. No I’m joking, the crowd.” Olly G.

Pre show ritual:

“We like to have a meal before hand, have a little chat before we go on. Bond. Actually we once did a hand shake on stage, before anyone said anything, it was a bit weird.” Olly G.

Best thing that’s happened to the band in the last year:

“We recently toured with the Beautiful South, only half the band, the best half, me Rob and Ed (joking) Along with Holly joining the band.” Olly A.

What’s in the pipeline:

Album released at the end of May.
“We’ve already started writing the second album, very depressing songs coming” Olly A.
“Very upbeat but sad. It will make you cry whilst dancing.” Rob.

You can follow the band on every form of social networking /vansusans.

“We also accept carrier pigeons.” Olly G.