Vendetta Skies. Hot damn. Why did I choose these guys to be my Unsigned Band of the Month? Well, they are refreshing to say the least. They don't sound like everyone else. Plain and simple. The band was formed in Canada in January of 2010. A lot of the guys had been in bands previously, but Vendetta Skies began when the guys were forming a band for a battle of the bands competition. All of the band mates attended the same university, and under a previous name (From Time Immemorial) they played their first show together in the competition. They achieved 2nd place (just 2 points from 1st place). When it was all said and done, they decided to keep the project going. After discussing their band with various Indie labels, they decided to change their name to Vendetta Skies. In the 9 short months the band has been together they have produced an awesome album called Lack of Color, which is available online virtually everywhere. The band has also played quite a few shows, including doing a tour of Western Canada.
When I first heard these guys, I was very impressed to say the least. I really wanted to get a chance to talk to them, and help to give further exposure to Vendetta Skies. Luckily, the band was stoked about doing an interview with me, and I got a chance to talk to all the members of the band. Ryan and James Motyer, Zac Forrest, and Evann Neumann.
Me: Who influences your music the most?
Zac: Arif from Protest The Hero, Mike Portnoy, Joey Jordison, and Neal Peart.
Evann: Protest The Hero also. Matt Heffy from Trivium, Hetfield from the old Metallica and Rise Against.
Ryan: Everything from Motion City Soundtrack and Blink 182, to Underoath and As I Lay Dying.
James: Definitely Rancid and Anti-Flag. I get a lot of my creativity and playing style from those bass players.
Me: What are your short term goals for this band? (6 months - 1 year)
Vendetta Skies: We want to play as many shows as possible and promote the bands current album. We also are in the progress of writing for our next album, which potentially will be released through an indie label. We have 12-13 new songs right now. We want to write 20-25 songs and narrow the album down to the best 13-14. We believe in making every album better then the last, so the process is a little different when writing songs and contrasting them to previous songs.Me: What are your long term goals? (5+ years)
Ryan: We have played lots of shows around town and western Canada. Now our shows are getting bigger and we are headlining some dates. Eventually we want to do longer tours cross Canada and branch out to the US. Maybe Zac can get a girlfriend too (extremely doubtful).
Evann: I agree with Ryan, Zac is destined to be alone. We would like to go and play in Europe sometime, maybe in Australia too.
James: If a bigger label picks us up hopefully play around Germany or somewhere.
Me: How do you go about promoting your music?
Zac: MySpace, PureVolume, Facebook and posters.
Evann: I have figured out that I can get other people to do all my bidding, because of this; I have Ian and Sam (manager/band slave) totally to do my portion of promotion.
James: Playing shows and interacting with the crowd is awesome. Our manager really helps with booking shows and distributing our new album. Our friends and fans also help to bring new people to our shows, so every show is important to play the best we possibly can.
Me: What's the coolest thing Vendetta Skies has ever done?
Evann: Getting our song “All My Life” put on the Calgary’s radio station X92.9 was pretty awesome
Ryan: During our western Canada tour, after one of our shows, everyone got really drunk. That night we got a call to our hotel room at 6 or 7am telling us to come wipe our drunken manager’s face off the hotel lobby floor directly beside the front desk. Not really cool so much as funny, and a sign of a good night.James: Recording our first album. Just the coolest experience laying down the tracks to finally have our own music professionally recorded for people to listen to. I’m sure as the band progresses and grows cooler things will happen.
Me: Any shout outs?
Zac: I want to give a shout out to Taylor Swift. Just to say hello, and wow you have an amazing voice. I would like to meet you one day. Maybe play a show with you and get to know you better.
Evann: I totally disagree; she looks too much like my cousin… I give a shout out to all our fans and say “hey what’s up?” Come and have a drink with us and PARTY!!!
Ryan: A huge shout out to you for doing this for us!!! Thanks for taking time out of your day to do this for Vendetta Skies!
James: To friends, fans and family! Thanks for the support!
So there you have it. What have we learned? Zac is single (there ya go ladies), Evann has a hot cousin, and that Vendetta Skies is one of the best bands in Canada. However, competing with bands/artists like Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Neil Young, and Sum 41 among others, they have a lot to live up to. I'm pretty confident in their abilities though. Make sure to check out their Myspace, Facebook, and etc (links are listed below). Pick up Lack of Color too. My favorite song of the album is probably "All My Life". The bass line in that song is the definition of badass. But you will just have to see for yourselves. Feel free to comment, and visit the links below!
Myspace
PureVolume
iTunes
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