Fresh-faced boy-band The Vamps have burst onto the music scene as if out of nowhere after their presence on video sharing website YouTube went viral.
Following a successful stint supporting rock-pop sensation McFly on their ‘Memory lane’ tour, the band will now perform a series of headlining shows in major cities.
Hundreds of dedicated and screaming fans flooded Manchester’s Sound Control yesterday afternoon, with queues bursting beyond the barriers well before the gig was scheduled to start.
MM caught up with the boys before their first headlining show in Manchester.
What is immediatley striking is how little experience the band has had. Lead guitarist James Mcvey admitted: “Our first ever gig was only in March.”
The four-piece have since gained a huge online following through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Vamps birth was grown out of aspiring musician James McVey wanting to form a band and subsequently he discovered the unique voice of Bradley Simpson via YouTube.
Simpson later became lead singer and together James and Bradley began to form a friendship and writes songs together.
Soon after the boys met talented drummer Tristan Evans, the trio then held auditions for a bassist, which eventually resulted in the recruitment of young Connor Ball.
The band has gained positive feedback from pop-stars such as Pixie Lott and in addition receives huge amounts of love from their already staggering 182,000 Twitter followers.
Having just released their first video for the catchy up-coming debut single We Can Dance the boys were thrilled to have experienced making a music video.
James said: “It was a really early start around 5am, but for most of the day we really enjoyed it.
“However it did get a little boring because Brad [lead singer] had loads of scenes, so we ended up playing football.”
Being in a boy-band brings with it the obligatory obsessed and sometimes slightly crazed fanbase – and it seems the boys already have it in abundance.
“We once received pubic hair, which was scary,” said Connor. “But more normally we just get a lot of food!”
A thought does need to be spared for their PR woman who has to collect all fan mail – however strange.
“Going on tour was amazing it was a really different experience for us, as none of us have ever even lived away from home,” said James.
“Being on the bus with your mates was great – we had such a good time.”
Pop-rock megastars McFly occasionally joined the boys for surprise gym work-outs on tour. Image is everything, after all.
And of course the McFly boys provided a few key tips for the new four-piece.
“How to provide more energy to our performance and move around the stage was a massive one,” said Brad.
“Mcfly have been doing it for years and the little things we picked up have really improved our live performance.”
You may be surprised to hear just what The Vamps’ influences include. Of course there’s the obvious McFly and Busted, as well as punk-rock Arctic Monkeys and Blink 182 – but even Taylor Swift is cited as an influence on their sound.
James said: “We all like different types of music, but on The Vamps stuff we all come together.”
When probed about whether they would have entered X-factor or a similar show the boys were keen to distance themselves.
“X-factor is a great show and produces loads of great talent,” said Connor.
“But we are more interested in being musicians that write our own material.”
It is obvious The Vamps are taken a-back by their popularity and success; all four admit they still haven’t got used to dealing with crazy fans.
Although saying that, it would be hard for anyone to deal with opening a letter full of pubic hair…
MM caught up with some of the fans who had queued for hours to see their new pop idols.
Sarah Birchill, 18, from Wilmslow, admitted just seeing the band had brought her down in floods of tears.
“I have already met them once, so I hopefully won’t cry this time. I think I love them and would do anything for them,” she said.
Another said: “I am completely obsessed with them. I know every word from every song.
“I can’t wait to see them in person.”
Josie Fields, 17, from central Manchester, said: “I have been waiting for two hours already and I just can’t wait to see them.
“They are all so cute, I just love, love, love them.”
Four fanatical followers came all the way from Birmingham to see the boys. Their continual shouting in thick Brummie accents could just be heard even over the top of hundreds of screaming teenage girls.
“We plan to travel everywhere to see them! It’s not really pleasing for our parents, but nothing will stop us following The Vamps across the world. My dad will just have to get over it,” one of them said.
The new video Can We Dance has currently received over 148,000 views in less than 48 hours.
After uploading their first original song, Wildheart, onto YouTube, the video received over 46,000 views within the first two days.
With a debut album expect in the first half of next year, the boys are already working on hard on recording new material.
The future’s definitely bright for The Vamps. Just be careful opening that mail.
Image courtesy of Virgin EMI via YouTube, with thanks.
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