Of the Vine

Of the Vine are a post-rock band I hold in high regard. Now I had the opportunity to interview guitarist Samuel Laubscher.

The band would have performed at this years DUNK! Festival, which unfortunately couldn't take place due to the corona crisis. You know the song "Even If I Never See You In This Life..." from my DUNK! 2020 playlist . It's from the 2015 album "East The Water"

Meanwhile the new album "Left Alone" has been released. The six tracks on it are currently on rotation here and the vinyl is on its way to me. Sam and I talked about the new record, the bands history and their future plans.

A small sensation on the side: One of my questions inspired the band from Atlanta, GA to create a playlist after the interview, which I will share with you in a few days here on my blog. So you should definitely stay tuned!

Anne: Hi! Thank you very much for this interview! I'm so excited about getting to know you! How are you today?

Sam: I'm doing fairly well. Don't have very much going on at the moment like most. Been staying inside as much as I can and have been tidying around the house to keep busy.

"We've enjoyed recording the album"

Anne: You just released your new album "Left Alone" - congrats on that! I think, it's pretty amazing! Did you enjoy recording it?

Sam: Thank you! We really did. Or, as much as we could. I find recording very arduous and paying attention to tiny details for so long can be stressful for me. I much prefer playing live as you can put all your effort into the set, whereas recording feels more like a marathon for me. But I think we try our best to keep things emotive while recording. We play most of the parts in one straight take and don't like to copy and paste.

Anne: Your last album "East The Water" was released in 2015. I read on your bandcamp page that you've taken some time to be creative since then. The outcome is more than great. How did you spend the five years in preparation for "Left Alone"?

Sam: Well, it seems a lot of that time was spent with line-up changes. People moving away and such. It seems to take awhile to be able to write comfortably with new bandmates as everyone is nervous about playing the wrong thing. But once we got past that it went pretty quickly. Together I think we wrote and recorded the album in a little over a year's time. Some of the parts however I had been working on and saving in my pocket for a few years waiting for the right time.

"We left some naivety behind"

Anne: What has changed since "East The Water"?

Sam: Other than line-up I would say us as people. We left some naivety behind, maybe, spent some time discovering ourselves. I myself am a completely different person it seems from East-the-Water. I was actually in quite a dark and heavy place during that time, which is funny because Left Alone seems more dark, but I think I know myself better this time around if that makes any sense?

Anne: What's the story behind "Left Alone"? I'm sure, it does tell one? I've found a few hints on England?

Sam: I'll leave some of it up to interpretation but the album as a whole is about loss...of identity, of your former self, of a loved one, dealing with grief and sorrow.

"It felt like vocals where the only way to do it the way we wanted to"

Anne: You didn't always sing on your records. When did you find out there have to be lyrics on the new one?

Sam: I think there are multiple layers to this. One of them being I've been writing instrumental music ever since I became a musician, so there was a pull to try something new and experiment with that sonically, just as we did with the other instruments on this album. Another being that this time around there were certain things I wanted to convey that felt like vocals would be the only way to do that the way we wanted to. It's new for us and we're still exploring, so not sure what place they'll take, if they even do, on future music we write. Or, who knows, our next album may sound just like Coldplay! Kidding...

Anne: I love the song "Ilfracombe". I've been there a few times now and I like this spot in the world a lot. What is your connection with this place?

Sam: Ah! You have? It's so lovely there. As you mentioned, a lot of the titles are from seaside towns in South West England. That's where some of my family lives and it's where I feel most at peace as well as introspective. So a lot of the titles have come from interpretations of what I might have discovered in myself while I was there. I always bike quite a bit when I'm over there. So lot's of time to get in my head and think.

"Silence inspires me"

Anne: What inspires you most, when working on new music?

Sam: Silence. Quietness. Sort of what I was getting at a moment ago, but landscapes, especially cold ones, really speak to me. So I usually translate those emotions into pieces as best I can.

Anne: You're originally from Atlanta, GA. The music scene in your city is quite versatile. You got Mastodon, Deerhunter, Arrested Development, John Mayer, Outkast, and the Black Crows. Just to name a few. That is a lot of different styles. Your music is also very complex. Would you say that the scene in Atlanta has shaped you as musicians and formed your passion for music?

Sam: Yes! Lots of incredible musical artists to come out of this city! To be honest though, most of the people who listen to us are overseas. I think they were ahead of the curve on accepting instrumental music as "real music". I remember when we were first starting out (well, really up until the release of East-the-Water) there would be confusion..."Where's your vocalist?" I think like ten separate people asked to be our vocalist and we'd just politely turn them down.

The DIY music scene is really what helped shape us, though, and all the friends we have in those bands. It's really friendly here for the most part, bands help other bands out.

"We listen to a lot of music"

Anne: What are your favorite bands? What music do you enjoy the most? Where are your roots?

Sam: Tough question, hmm...well, our roots came from listening to mostly American post-rock, especially Explosions In The Sky's "Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die..." That's where I found out about the emotive power of lyric-less rock music. We listen to so much music though it's so hard to name just one influence.

Anne: I would have seen you live on stage at this year's DUNK! Festival. Unfortunately due to Corona, it couldn't take place. Will we meet you there in 2021?

Sam: That's the plan!

"We will soon release some videos"

Anne: Corona is everywhere right now. We're all supposed to spend our time at home these days. How does this affect your work as a band? Besides the fact that you can't be on tour right now?

Sam: It definitely is difficult. We've been working on a few socially distant videos that we will hopefully have finished to share soon. Other than that, there is not much you can do other than play your instruments at home to stay competent at them.

Anne: You're called "the prettiest doom band of all times". What does that mean?

Sam: I believe we were called that because of the slow, sometimes heavy song structure, coupled with delicate guitars on top. Not sure we'd ever show up on playlists of proper doom bands, though haha.

"As soon as it can be done safely we'll be touring"

Anne: What's up next? Are you already planning on going on tour after the lockdown is over?

Sam: Absolutely. As soon as it's figured out and can be done safely we'll absolutely be touring. We are honestly much more of a live band at heart and every time we perform we are living our childhood dreams out. So we truly miss it and the moment we can play again we will.

Anne: Thank you very much for your time and your answers! I appreciate it a lot! All the best to you.

Sam: Thank you!

Tune in again, soon! I will publish Of the Vine's playlist within the next few days!