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January 2010
Other recent issues: | Thee VicarsPM’s Question TimePublished in PM July 2009  Printer-friendly versionPeople + Opinion : Artists / Engineers / Producers / Programmers This month, PM meets wild garage punk outfit Thee Vicars in their sleepy home town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Teenagers Chris, Marcus, Mike and Will tell us all about conquering Europe, how age can be a barrier, and why nothing quite beats a bit of fisticuffs on stage.  At the age most young teens have just discovered rock & roll and are starting to buy their first records, these four young Suffolk lads were already playing in various punk bands, writing songs and gigging any Suffolk dive that would take them. Thee Vicars formed just over two years ago, and since joining forces with local manager Lee Sullivan, they’ve started to really make waves as an international force. They won the Best Punk Act gong at 2008’s INDY Awards, headlined the ‘Introducing’ stage at this year’s Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and have recently been seen supporting the Horrors in London and Atlanta garage rockers the Black Lips across Scandinavia. While their debut long player, Back On The Streets (released through Dirty Water Records) and a smattering of other singles have helped build a loyal following all over the world, it’s their energetic, adrenaline-fuelled and often-riotous live performances that have helped garner Thee Vicars a reputation for being one of the best live rock & roll bands on the circuit. PM recently met with manager Lee Sullivan, lead singer and bassist Mike Whittaker, guitarists Marcus Volkert and Chris Langeland, and drummer Will Pattenden. Performing Musician: What was your first gig like as a band? Mike Whittaker: “We played at the Priors Inn, just down the road from here in Bury.” Chris Langeland: “That was put on by Jason, who used to be the main gig promoter in Bury. He used to put on the best gigs every week and he put on Thee Vicars, and that was at the same time that me and Will had our other band [Chris and Will joined Thee Vicars later on in 2008].” MW: “It was actually a really good fun gig!” CL: “I remember that I was very drunk...” MW: “I think everyone was very, very drunk, and the crowd mostly consisted of Marcus’ family!” Marcus Volkert: “It was my first proper gig. Most of the others had been in bands before, so my family just came along.” PM: What has been your best gig? Will Pattenden: “The Funtastic Dracula Carnival [garage punk festival in Valencia, October 2008], definitely!” MW: “I don’t think we played the best, but experience-wise, that was one of the best.” CL: “I reckon it could’ve been the Beat Club in Hamburg.” MW: “Yeah, that was really fun. It was a little underground club” CL: “And by the time we left the club, it was daylight again!” Lee Sullivan: “They couldn’t put them on until 2.30am because it was Easter, and when we came out the club, the sun was up and it was eight in the morning. It was a tiny little place in Hamburg, but it was a really busy night for them!” WP: “What’s that one we did in Bethnal Green?” CL: “Oh yeah. Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club — a proper ‘60s night! They had burlesque and go-go dancers, and they had a revolving podium as well, which we tried to get Will to spin around on with his drums, but it wouldn’t fit. It was called Grind A Go-Go!” MW: “It was really good because we had burlesque dancers dancing the whole way through, which made it fun. Something to look at, isn’t it?” PM: Have there been gigs that haven’t gone so well for whatever reason? MW: “When we played with the Horrors recently, we played awful. Chris’ guitar was completely out of tune the whole time, the sound was really bad, we couldn’t hear ourselves” MV: “Chris’ amp wasn’t working in soundcheck and he had to borrow an amp off the Horrors.” CL: “And in the end, I don’t even think it was the amp that was broken. I went through a few leads and all the leads were just f**ked, so I borrowed another one halfway through the gig, plugged it in, and then the amp was just blaring so loud. The sound was just all over the shop!” MW: “But I think we salvaged it at the end when Chris threw his guitar across the stage and it smacked me right on the chest because I was on the floor at the time! I came back across the stage and jumped on his chest and everyone thought we hated each other!” LS: “There’s a video of it on YouTube, which captured it perfectly!” CL: “Yeah, it’s hilarious! I was so p**sed off because all my equipment was just going to pot, I just lobbed my guitar up in the air and it landed on him. You can see me on the video lob the guitar in the air, and then I turn around because I realised where it was going — because I was facing the opposite way — and it was like, ‘Oh, s**t!’” WP: “Mike went straight for Chris and double-footed him!” LS: “And I got an email the next day from Faris [the Horrors] asking if he could book them again to play, saying he loved their presence on stage!” MW: “I reckon that’s the worst we’ve ever played. But we still got a fairly good response from it, that’s the weird thing!” PM: Have you always been so hyperactive and energetic on stage? CL: “We’ve always done that, even with our first bands. It’s just what comes naturally! Me and Mike used to be in this punk band where I used to twat the microphone against my head and all sorts! I don’t think there was a gig where we didn’t end up bloodied or whatnot. It’s not a conscious decision to go mental; it’s just something that happens!” MV: “I hate to see a band and they just stand there and play and just aren’t into it, especially bands of our kind of genre.” PM: How did you come to win Best Punk Act at 2008’s INDY Awards? LS: “I’d been managing them for three months and I entered them, put the badge on the web page and did nothing else about it. Then I got an email saying, ‘Can you come and play at the INDY Awards?’ When we turned up, they said, ‘Just because you’re playing, doesn’t mean you’ve won.’ But the first two bands that won were also playing, so I was like, ‘I think we’ve won here!’ When Pete Shelley [of the Buzzcocks, who was presenting the award] shouted out ‘Thee Vicars!’, I just went apes**t!” MW: “And I spilt my beer all down Pete Shelley’s back!” MV: “It was great to receive it from Pete Shelley!” CL: “Especially because I can remember going to see the Buzzcocks when we were 14!” PM: Was it hard to get gigs early on, being so young? CL: “I don’t think people take you too seriously if you’re that age and you don’t have a manager or whatnot.” MV: “Sometimes gigs were 18+ and I was just 15 when we started, so we had to cancel some gigs.” LS: “We had to turn down a gig for £150 last year because he wasn’t old enough to play in the venue. I think Will was 17 at the time too.” WP: “Yeah, I was 17. It’s weird with the age thing, because to start out it’s obviously hard to get gigs and play gigs, because you’ve got to be old enough to play the venue. Now people are just so amazed that we’re so young, so it’s kind of the opposite and really positive!” CL: “When Lee came in, it made it a lot easier, because he’s somebody that people are gonna take more seriously, and he makes a good driver as well!” MV: “And he’s had to be a bodyguard sometimes!” CL: “It’s always been more violent when we play in Bury!” MW: “There’s always a fight it’s great!” PM: How do you find the crowds and the promoters when you play in mainland Europe? LS: “We’re treated like royalty. You get, like, two crates of beer, lots of food” MW: “Because you’ve come a long way, you get treated really well.” CL: “I dunno that obviously does play a part, but I swear they just seem to love it!” WP: “Everyone seems to know us in Europe.” MW: “The crowds seem really fired up and mental, which is great.” LS: “If they haven’t got beds in the actual venue, they sort out a hotel or you stay round someone’s. There was only one night when the van broke down when we didn’t have a bed. You get treated like royalty and the band go down really, really well, because I stand in the crowd and I see it!” CL: “It does go down better in Europe, I would say” LS: “I think they like the Beatles thing. Everyone says, ‘Oh, you look like the Beatles!’” CL: “People say that anyway — everyone does!” MV: “In Europe, people come up and say, ‘There’s a lot of hype about you!’ but I don’t know nothing about it!” MW: “Yeah, this guy was going, ‘You’ve gone from here to like way up here within no time at all!’ and it’s like, ‘Oh, I wish someone had told us!’” LS: “We’re going back for six weeks in October and I don’t think we’ll even come home, because last time we went for three weeks and just wanted to play more and more!” CL: “I just get depressed when I come home now.” PM: What are your aims for the next few years? CL: “The main aim is to be able to live off it, to put all our efforts into this band, rather than having to work.” MW: “Just to keep going, and hopefully we can maybe get a label who can give us a bit of money” CL: “We don’t want to be famous or anything” MW: “We just want to be able to live off the money, basically!” Check out Thee Vicars at www.myspace.com/theevicarsuk. The band released two new 7-inch singles in June: ‘Feel So Good’ on Holy Twist Records, the label run by Lee and Mike, and ‘You Lie’ on Dirty Water Records. 0  Published in PM July 2009  | In this article:
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