Goin' Underground

It’s a pleasantly autumnal Saturday afternoon in Sheffield and, as our coach pulls out of the Holiday Inn car park, your Hot Press correspondent tweets the day’s plan to his followers: “Heading to the Devil’s Arse cave in the Peak District to meet The Vaccines #JackDaniels.” Within minutes, Irish author Declan Burke has tweeted back, “Sounds like dystopian sci-fi!”

While it does sound like something out of a JG Ballard novel, what’s actually happening is we’re going to a most unusual birthday party in a most unusual place. The party is for the late American distiller Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel, who passed away in Tennessee in 1911 from a blood infection caused by kicking his office safe. The PR legend has it that, thanks to a courthouse fire that destroyed his birth certificate, no-one is exactly sure of his exact birthday. All that’s known is that it was sometime in the middle of September 1850. Not wanting to miss the big day, the good folk at Jack Daniel’s spend a full month celebrating, culminating in the Birthday JD Set, billed as “the ultimate birthday celebration.”
Usually the JD Set happens at the distillery in Lynchburg (previous years have seen the likes of Flaming Lips, Patti Smith and Hugh Cornwell play). But this year they decided on something a little different. Actually, something quite a lot different. Our coach is full of competition winners and media types, and we’re en route to the small Yorkshire village of Castleton in the heart of the Peak District.
Castleton is home to the Devil’s Arse cave. It’s one of the largest naturally formed caves in Europe (going back more than 20km), with the biggest entrance in the UK, and is so colourfully named because of the flatulent noises that occasionally emit from its depths. Any such noises will be drowned out this evening by the amplified guitars and drums of the three bands chosen to, em, rock the cave out – Tribes, Mystery Jets and The Vaccines.
Our arrival at this rather unique venue is perfectly timed. The Vaccines have just finished sound-checking and, sitting comfortably at a table by a picturesque babbling brook, frontman Justin Young and bassist Arni Hjovar are free for a chat.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” laughs Justin, looking up at the wildly impressive cave entrance (which looks like a Bond villain’s lair). “It’s amazing that we’re gonna play in a cave. It really breaks up the monotony of touring, playing in a place like this. One of the best things about being in a band is going to new places and meeting new people, but this is something special.”
Arni looks equally enthused. “I was worried about the acoustics, but it sounds great in there, too,” he says. “It’s very... cavernous.”
To the uninitiated, The Vaccines are probably the biggest indie guitar band in the UK right now. The first band ever to appear on Later... With Jools Holland before releasing a single, the London four-piece have stormed the UK charts with their debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? and this year’s Come Of Age, and been named Best New Band at the 2012 NME Awards. While they have their detractors, it’s not bad going for an outfit that only formed in 2010.
A tall, angular and polite type, Justin says he’s unfazed by their rapid rise: “It doesn’t worry me – though if I was watching it happen to someone else I’d probably be worried for them. It’s difficult because you never wanna build your house on sand, but effectively we haven’t yet done anything that turned out to be a mistake. I said to somebody the other day: we started off playing in 50 capacity venues, and they were full. So do we play them again and turn 50 people away or do we go up to 100? Or 200? So we’ve built at the speed that our popularity has grown.
“For example, we played the main stage at Reading a month ago and had we walked out and the field had been half-empty, I would have been worried that we’d made a mistake and that perhaps we did belong in a tent. But it was full... and ultimately I guess you wanna have fun while you’ve got the chance. We’re still hungry and we still wanna make good music and I think all the time you try to make the best music you could possibly make without getting caught up in other bullshit. It doesn’t worry us as much as people think it might
worry us.”
“Even though it’s been quick from an outside perspective, for us it’s been gradual,” adds Arni. “It isn’t like we just suddenly appeared out of nowhere one day. We did the work.”
Needless to say, they’re still very much on the up – and still doing the work. Next week they’re off to Mexico to play a show. They’ll fly straight from there to Amsterdam to kick off a European tour that will last until Christmas.
“Every show that you play strengthens you, whether it’s a good show or bad show,” Justin observes. “It deepens the connection you have with the music. I genuinely believe that we become a better a band after every show. Like, a lot of the lessons people learn together, they can learn separately as well. I toured for seven years before I started The Vaccines. I was a folk singer and I was in other bands. Ironically, our ambitions really weren’t that big when we started.”
He tells me that he much prefers performing to making records. “Starting a band isn’t completely selfless, but the only thing you’re really looking for, is for people to come to your shows. I don’t really care if we’re selling 10,000 or ten million records, or if we’re playing to 100 people or 100,000 people. As long as the room is full and those people are passionate then it’s all good.”
From the sounds of it, he genuinely isn’t concerned about album sales. “I fully support illegal downloads,” he states. “It annoys me when musicians talk about it being money out of their back pockets because I know that between touring and merchandising and branding and all those things... these people that are complaining can afford it. I’d rather if people couldn’t afford it that they still got our album and added it to their collection and fell in love with it, rather than being priced out of listening to it.”
Speaking of branding, they’re more than happy to be playing a sponsored event. “I think sponsorship in general is becoming a bigger part of the music business,” Justin says. “While some industries suffer, others don’t, and so branding is becoming so important. Brands like this just wanna be associated with music. While festivals, especially small festivals, are suffering, people are always gonna want to drink Jack Daniel’s. So things like this are gonna go on.”
Ari nods his agreement. “Also because they’re more bizarre locations, it makes for a more memorable night for everyone involved. If I wasn’t playing it myself, I’d like to go and see a gig in a cave.”
Before the guys head into the village for a Jack Daniel’s barbeque at the Bull’s Head pub, Justin casually drops a heavy hitting name. “Flea told us that the reason why the Red Hot Chili Peppers are still a big band is because when they made money, they didn’t go off and hang out on the beach for six months, they went back into a room and argued. They were still hungry to be a better band. Another friend of ours said, ‘make sure you enjoy it because you won’t be on the way up forever’. I try to bear that in mind.”
A few hours later, Tribes and Mystery Jets play solid sets to launch the birthday gig. But The Vaccines are clearly the night’s biggest deal. They step out onto the stage and kick off with a stomping ‘Tiger Blood’ – the opening salvo in a seriously impressive set. It may be a bit chilly, and dripping wet inside, but the Devil’s Arse makes for an amazing venue in many ways – it looks spectacular, the acoustics are great, and you never get tired of saying the name. Alright, seeing The Vaccines there may not rank as the best live gig I’ve ever witnessed, but it was definitely one of the most memorable. So happy birthday, Mr. Jack Daniel! Damn right, the devil’s got the best tunes...