After recently returning with his stunning comeback single 'Miss U' at the start of the year, renowned producer and artist Lord Vanger (Anthony Vanger) is back once again with his vibrant new offering 'Sky'.
Capturing more of that rich and shimmering aesthetic he is known for, 'Sky' makes for a wonderfully warm and inviting listen. With his soaring vocals layered across a smooth and passionate pop-rock production throughout, he continues to shine as one of the more exciting names on the rise right now.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
The drums. I started playing in the school band with famous music teacher Tony Pape. He was a real task-master and I would get butterflies before school assembly every morning as the whole band played a different hymn each day. “If I had a Hammer” was the toughest – 180 BPM - super fast!
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
My mother was an actress and a singer, and she loved dancing and going out to clubs in the 70s in France where we lived. She befriended a local DJ called Bruno and I think he quite fancied her because a substantial portion of her record collection had the word “Bruno” scribbled on the sleeve. Fortunately, Bruno had a fantastic and eclectic taste in music. Albums that really impacted me were J. Geils classic live album, Full House, Santana’s seminal album Abraxas, Camel’s Snow Goose, Genesis’, Selling England by The Pound, Boston’s debut album Boston with the crazy spaceship spewing flames out the bottom, Pink Floyd’s Animals, and of course a whole bunch of classic disco singles like EW&F’s September and The Jackson 5’s Blame it on the Boogie.
What was the first album you remember owning?
The first album I bought was The Police’s Outlandos D’Amour. Like most drummers my age, we all wanted to be Stewart Copeland. I got into a lot of trouble at school for breaking the toms on the school drum set by trying to tune them up super high to match the sound of the Tama Octoban toms on the album’s last track, Masoko Tanga.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
I would have to discard those songs that I wished I could have written, but actually could never have written because I lack the talent. So, I would focus on songs that I could have written, with the talent at my disposal. I would say it’s a tie between Sing by Fran Healey of Travis or You Get What You Give by Gregg Alexander of The New Radicals.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
The core of the song comes fast, like a flash, with the main top line melody and lyric, usually the title of the song, welded together. I never know when it comes, but when it does, whatever I am doing, I stop and sing it into my phone. Then when I get home, I sit down at the piano, map out the chords and write everything down. That is the beginning of a long journey and the ritual never changes.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I go with the new and the old. For the new, I write a blog called This Week In Music (@this_week_in_music) and pick out great songs from breakout artists and sometimes great songs from established ones. New acts I have discovered in the last 5 years include, Sam Fender, Fred Again, CMAT, Romy, The Lathums, Fountains D.C., Olivia Dean, Arooj Aftab, C. Tangana, Noah Kahan and Blanco White. Old acts that have rediscovered the level of songwriting chops that got them famous include, Beth Orton, Slowdive, and most recently, David Gray with his fantastic new single, Plus & Minus.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Stadium – Roxy Music, Sting, Coldplay.
Intimate – David Gray, Travis, The Lumineers.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Getting a song to the point where you heard it first in your head. It's a long journey, and most of the time you never get there. So, when you do, it is a special feeling and the one thing that keeps me coming back to hacking away at the coal face.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Like for most songwriters, getting the lyrics is always tricky. The frustration comes from the tyranny of the rhyme. You want to say something, but you have to fit it into a specific space that doesn’t always allow for that many words and it has to rhyme with the last word of the previous stanza. Billy Joel is a master of that. It almost feels like the words he needs to convey the meaning automatically match the rhyme. I don’t know how he does it.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Start your own publishing company and never give up your publishing!
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Lord Vanger's new single 'Sky' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.