Playing main stage at festivals, touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, playing the Stade de France and living out your 12-year-old selves dreams – Welcome to The Vaccines summer!
Earlier on this month we caught up with Arni Hjovar, who as well as being a top lad just so happens to play bass for the jaw droppingly amazing punk-rock band The Vaccines.
We managed to cover everything from their much-anticipated second album (released next month) to Nicki Minaj. If you were asked if you had heard of The Vaccines in 2010 you’d mainly have been greeted by a polite silence, and then the inevitable question of ‘Who?!’
The Vaccines - 'Norgaad':
Fast forward to 2012 and they’re quickly becoming one of the biggest bands in the UK, whilst also preparing to release their highly anticipated second album Come Of Age in September, and apparently it’s going to be anything but a ‘run of the mill’ effort.
Speaking about the album, Arni told Entertainmentwise: “It’s a lot more emotional, a lot more of a journey.
“I think what people have heard so far is stuff that is the most similar to the first record, I think the record is just a bit more of everything. More movement, more space, more dynamic, there’s just more. It’s the Vaccines, and it still sounds like the Vaccines, it’s just the Vaccines just doing more stuff.”
The band really seem to have not been resting on their laurels as Arni told us that recording the new album was ‘a lot more intense’. In fact it sounds like the band have been pushed to their very limits during the sessions.
“Ethan, the guy that produced it, he’s just got this really interesting quality where he’ll really push you, so that at any given moment the session feels like it could be going horribly wrong, but Ethan just knows exactly where that moment is; where you’re getting the ultimate experience out of the recording without it going wrong. “ Arni enthused.
He was quick to stress: “It was just in general a lot more intense and an amazing experience actually, it was really really fun.”
When we last caught up with Arni and Freddie at the Isle of Wight Festival (June, during which Bruce Springsteen gave the boys a shout-out during his final night headline set) they told us they wouldn’t be having a day off until September!
In between touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers the boys are making appearances at festivals across the UK and Europe.
The conversation then drifted towards their UK festival appearances this summer, and the fact they’ve now been promoted to main stage duties.
The Vaccines - 'No Hope':
Arni summed up the bands feelings on this by stating: “It’s f**king surreal, it’s surreal. “This year Isle of Wight was like a bit of a kick in the teeth really, because we just showed up and then went ‘Oh my f**king God we’re on main stage!’. Now that is a scary thought! All of a sudden you’ve become an attraction, rather than being just a band.”
But the lads seem to be taking all this action in their stride, and you definitely won’t hear any of them complaining about their schedule, as Arni shared his thoughts on the bands situation: “The reality is that we’re living the dreams of our twelve year-old selves, or anybody that was twelve and picked up a guitar.''
With the second album hitting shelves in September it appears the band are going to be working hard well into 2013.
When we asked for a few details Arni let slip just how much the band love their job. “We’re not stopping.” Arni told us emphatically. “When I said we had a couple of weeks off in September, were not doing any gigs for 2 weeks, but were doing lots of stuff in-between. Probably some sessions here and there, and then October were off to South America, and then a European tour and then were back touring the UK.
“Over Christmas were in Australia, and we’ll be in Australia till January. We’ll probably be on the road for a couple of more years.”
We then joked about the interesting possibilities of next year, and posed the question could expect to see the Vaccines supporting a pop star like Nicki Minaj (similar to The Darkness touring with Lady GaGa).
To which Arni laughed and told us: “I’ve got a soft spot for her, I think she’s brilliant” He then shattered this rather strange Vaccines/Minaj collab. vision forming in our minds by saying: “When you go on a tour with a popstar you get blown out of the water by pyrotechnics in every single song, and 58 costume changes and stuff like that. So no I don’t think we’d ever go on tour with a pop star.
“I’ve just about managed to branch out into an instrument change halfway through.” He admitted.
You can catch The Vaccines this weekend (minus Nicki Minaj) at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, where they will be playing the main stage. The bands second album Come of Age will be hitting shelves in September, and is already shaping up to be a must have.
Entertainment News