For the past 12 months, Phil Costello’s girlfriend has been giving him plenty of stick. “‘The Bromance’, she calls it!” he laughs. Maybe she’s just jealous. It’s a truism that boys often end up in bands for reasons other than music. For comradery, for a way of expressing all that pent-up emotion and sensitivity. And when musicians click, it can all get very passionate. In lead vocalist Aaron Smyth, it seems Costello has found his creative soul mate. The result in a “rollercoaster” start for their fledgling electro outfit VANN MUSIC.

Both seasoned musicians, Smyth was in the process of finding a band when Costello saw his ad.
“I was involved in another group at the time and I kinda... left,” he explains. “It wasn’t a bad falling out, it’s just the music had to change for me. I was looking for something more satisfying, for my own personal sense of achievement. When I found Aaron’s ad, and saw that his inspirations were David Bowie, LCD Soundsystem, Talking fecking Heads?! I was like, ‘Wow, I’m all over this! I’d been wanting to get involved in an electronic-sounding outfit... By that I mean synthesizers, and lots of them! So I was blown away when I went to Aaron’s gaff, because he had so many. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be.’”
Within an hour of meeting, they’d written their first song. Other musicians were tried out before they settled on the current quartet, completed by drummer Robert Von Bergen and bassist Benny Smiles. The plan is to release a four-track EP this June (“We’re taking our time to nail it and go out there with a bang”), before hitting the festival circuit.
If VANN MUSIC could enlist anyone as their own personal guru, who would it be?
“I’d probably pick James Murphy. We’re big LCD fans. Some people say they hear it in our tunes – that’s what we’re rolling with anyway! If this issue of Hot Press reaches him – ya never know – please contact us through vannmusic.com!”
Your move, Mr. Murphy...

For more, see vannmusic.com