Davy Vain – Vain – Interview Exclusive
Written by Attila Timár
Thursday, 20 October 2011 04:55
Guitarist/Vocalist Davy Vain founded Vain way back in 1986 in San Francisco, CA, and later this month his band releases their sixth (or seventh if you include Davy’s ‘In From Out of Nowhere’ solo effort) studio album in the shape of ‘Enough Rope’.
It is however for the band’s classic 1989 debut ‘No Respect’ that the band’s name is probably most quickly associated. This was an album that was not only a pivotal release for the scene at the time, but to this very day still manges to sound like no other record released during that late eighties explosion of glam/hair metal.
Vain were unique, they wrote anthems that actually meant something, you could believe in them, and despite the glam rock image you also kind of guessed there was a punk rock heart beating within such classic tunes as ‘Beat The Bullet’ and ‘Who’s Watching You’.
When ‘No Respect’ recently came in at number six in Uber Rock’s top twenty glam albums of all time, all of us at URHQ suddenly realised we just had to interview the man behind this classic album, and what better time to do that than when he is about to release and all new one (one that many are stating is his best since that debut). So one midweek afternoon sometime last month, we finally managed to get hold of Davy Vain when he was over in Europe on a short promotional trip supporting the release of ‘Enough Rope’. The man holding the Uber Rock microphone this time around was Attila ‘Icy’ Timár.
Hi Davy, many thanks for taking the time to speak with Uber Rock. Just recently you did a European tour, but this time around some local musicians supported you. Were you and the audiences satisfied with the Cohorts’ performances?
Yes, it was great! Most of the people coming out to see us now are younger fans and I think they dig seeing a cool young band… I think it makes the live show fresh and exciting.
So are you going to repeat this set-up for future European tours?
Most likely, we will see… Nothing is written in stone, but for Europe I really feel like that’s my band now.
If I take a look at my ‘On the Line’ CD, I can see a 2005 release date on it so I am sure fans really can’t wait to hear ‘Enough Rope’. Two songs (‘Cindy’, ‘Worship You’) are taken from your Roadcrew sessions, right? Are there any more songs originally recorded with Steven (Adler) that have not been released yet?
There is only one more song we never used called Walk Away and it will be a bonus track on the Japanese release .
And did you write all of the rest of the new songs?
I wrote everything by myself except ‘Distance Of Love’. (This was taken from 2009’s Delany record made with Lana Lane and David Readman of Pink Cream 69).
Which previous Vain record do the new songs resemble or remind you most?
Some don’t remind me of any album at all, some tracks I hear and they kinda sound like something off ‘No Respect’… But to me it this album simply sounds like ‘Enough Rope’.
Which of the songs off ‘Enough Rope’ would you put on to seduce a member of the opposite sex?
Ha ha, so you think I would do that? If she was not a rock ‘n’ roll girl, it would have to be ‘Treasure Girl’… If she was a stripper, I would go for ‘Triple X’.
What do you do when you are not on tour, how do you switch off, do you have any hobbies?
I like hanging out in cool restaurants, coffee shops. Going out in nature by my house and checking out cool animals, Oh, and did I mention meeting girls? I think that’s a hobby (laughing).
You have played at Rocklahoma Festival in the past. For the European fans not being able to be there, could you tell us a bit about this: the vibe, how you felt playing there, how was it meeting other bands etc?
It was all very cool, just strange to play in the daytime I’m not used to that.
Which song(s) you would like to be remembered as a songwriter?
Wow that’s a hard question … I really could not do it without torturing myself. It would be like which children do you want to be remembered for as a father. I think people who listen will decide that.
I always had the feeling that the scene you were originally coming from tended to overshadow and somewhat take away from the appreciation you should receive as a songwriter. What are your thoughts on this?
Yes, that could be true, but I still feel the fans have shared with me over the years what my songs have meant to them and that something about the songs moved them… And as an artist that’s all you can really ask…
If you had a chance to form a supergroup of any musicians (living or dead), who would you invite to play with you?
That’s tough again, because I love so many great musicians, but one possible line-up could be Jimmy Page and Hendrix on guitars, Bonham on drums and James Jamerson on bass.
James Jamerson, the Motown bass player may sound a not so obvious choice.
The first record that got me hooked on rock ‘n’ roll was Aerosmith’ ‘Rocks’, but, actually, before that I actually listened to more 70’s black singers.
The story of Roadcrew and how it came to an abrupt end is quite well known. Do you keep in touch with Steven Adler?
I just saw him in L.A. and we hung out at the Whiskey.
Then do you have any ‘insider info’ on the status or probability of ‘the most anticipated reunion of our age”?
I have heard info from some reliable sources, so in my opinion it is definitely going to happen.
Your cousin, prog rock singer Lana Lane covered your fantastic ballad, ‘Without You’. It really worked for me, what was your take on it?
I loved it, she’s a great singer and I thought their version was really well done.
Some of your more psychedelic songs off ‘Fade’ always reminded me a bit certain tunes of another great band, Mother Love Bone. Don’t get me wrong, I do not mean they were any sort of inspiration, but did you know, or probably like their music?
No, I’ve heard their music, but I’ve been doing jams like that. When I was the main guitar player for years in Vain, we just recorded some stuff that we call Sixties jams. So Mother Love Bone was never an influence on me, but for sure they were good.
You worked with pop superstar Christina Aguilera on her record ‘Stripped’ as assistant engineer and pro-tools engineer. How was it for you working on that record? Did you actually get to meet Christina? If yes, please share with us your impressions of her as an artiste.
Yes, I did have contact with her. Actually, we all got blasted on wine before we recorded her vocals… I hung out with her several times, because we had the same manager for a while and we have partied a lot.
Would you ever consider using protools on a Vain record?
I record everything on analog tape but we actually use protools, too for more tracks.
I like the 2 inch 16 track machines that have more tape sound, but you don’t have a lot of tracks, so having pro tools too gives you more tracks, but I always go to tape first… so basically I use it as more of a recorder.
I think we can agree that there is no question that ‘Appetite for Destruction’ and ‘No Respect’ are unparalleled peaks of the late 80s sleaze/hard rock scene. In your opinion were there any other records that came close to these two, if any?
Well, thanks for including us… I like more the records of the late 70s and some of the great hard rock of the early 80s.
What music do you need to keep on your iPod all the time, or, alternatively, which 5 records would you rescue first if your house got on fire?
It would be too hard to save just 5, but fortunately now I can grab a computer and save thousands!
To name a few artists from my iPod: Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Al DiMeola, Sly And The Family Stone, Led Zeppelin, Isley Brothers, Jeff Beck and Black Sabbath.
And, finally, what is the meaning of life?
Love, great friends, great sex, nature, seeing the world, learning, art, being moved as much as possible and if you can move someone else, well, that’s certainly great work if you can get it.
And there we have to leave things folks. Vain release their all new album ‘Enough Rope’ on Halloween (October 31st) via Music By Mail here in Europe, so get out there and preorder your copy now.