Interview and music review with Brain in a Vat – The Wrong Side

The Wrong Side has a sound of the nineties to it, that feeling of summer time, anthems that make the night go on forever. Those optimistic and bright sounding synths, the light hearted and free nature of the melody. The intro is longer than your usual summer trance track though, and the beat that hits – everything is not quite how you might try to predict, which is a good thing. The track expands and opens up into more of a sound scape, telling a little bit of a story actually, rather than just filling out with more sounds and more effects. Thought has gone into the structure of it, the whole thing stops, breaks away, builds up again. There’s a nice scene created by it all.

I think after that initial fall out the track could really revel in something new being added to the set up – an extra dynamic, a new riff, a few new instruments or sounds to add to the thickness, but for the most part it’s a really peaceful and enjoyable piece of music. What does evidently take place is that a more reflective and dreamlike section kicks in, which is possibly one of the best moments, and it’s shortly after this that the whole thing comes to a close.

It’s a refreshing track to listen to, a lot of nostalgia comes with it; those who like their summer psy-trance and softer rave scenes will enjoy it. I was reminded of Way Out West a little, though a bit more of an experimental edge would’ve been nice to hear – a little more creative freedom and running with whatever sound or idea came next. I think it could have been a six or seven minute track if there was a little more of that expressive play in there. It sounds beautiful though, a really nicely sketched and presented piece of music.

By Rebecca Cullen

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Brain in a Vat: I was born and raised in Scotland, spending 4 years of my life in Australia as a child. I got into the music ‘scene’ as a teenager having spent time learning classical and then rock guitar and like all good teenagers thought ‘I can do it by myself, I don’t need no lessons!’. So learning by ear I spent my time playing along to Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, Chilli peppers, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Simple Minds, Iron Butterfly, The Orb, Orbital, The Prodigy, Ultrasonic, Pearl Jam, Blur……er ok, some of these artists are not all guitar based, my taste in music is fairly eclectic/ retro. I joined a local band called Hairshirt as a Bass guitarist more out of necessity than want, they needed a bassist, I played rhythm guitar, and I sold the guitar and bought as bass. The Drummer/ singer and songwriter of Hairshirt was Roddy Woomble (gratuitous name drop) who went off to form ‘Idlewild’. I left them when we all went our separate ways to start college and joined another Rock/Pop band called ‘Cerulean Blue’, spent a number of years building a following in the Dundee music scene, eventually disbanding. Following this was ‘Boomhauer’, a skater/punk/ nuwave band which like most bands went its separate ways. I was left in limbo, wanting to continue to produce music I eventually returned to what was a guilty pleasure…..Techno/ EDM/ Ambient/ Instrumentals.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Brain in a Vat: Are we not just Brains in a Vat…you’ve seen the Matrix right? I always liked the idea that we are Brains In a Vat and that our reality is basically subjective, meaning we can all have our own idea of reality based on what we want. I’ve no idea what that means, I liked the name and it seems to fit with my musical style.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Brain in a Vat: Online sharing basically means your music is accessible to everyone, although, searching for music you like ends up being like a needle in a haystack. I believe that you have to give something for nothing across as many platforms in order to entice potential fans to your music. It can become unwieldy as there are as many online music platforms as there are musicians, probably.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Brain in a Vat: It’s really hard for bands starting out today, the industry has been saturated and potentially destroyed by talent shows ‘making everyone’s dreams come true’ and the distinct “McDonaldisation” of music, like a toy in a happy meal- everyone wants instant gratification and then throws it away for the next big thing. I am starting out in a genre that has its own specifics and I don’t want to be specific within that genre. There are plenty of resources on the internet telling you how to make big in the industry. It comes down to one thing, you have to have something that someone else wants; a gimmick, a style, a quirk, a stage presence, something that makes you stand out amongst the bands that are emulating their favourite artists…..Oh and money, advertising…lots of advertising and be good at what you do….young maybe…..good looking perhaps? I once played in a band that did 70% covers and 30% originals, eventually you will find people will sing along to your originals as if they were covers.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Brain in a Vat: Yes, although my current productions are all studio based. However playing live, the mistake has to be part of the performance. One thing that will end you on stage is stopping part way through a song. Even if the drummer keeps time and everything else is falling apart, a subtle mouthing of “Chorus” to the rest of the members and it’s all good again. Never let the audience know you’ve made the mistake in the first place.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Brain in a Vat: Unfortunately I don’t tour, at the moment.

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Brain in a Vat: I put myself in ‘time out’ stick on a pair of headphones, go for a walk and listen to my mp3 player on random, later I will get the keyboard/ Guitar out and hammer out a few ideas. They may be just snippets of rhythms, melodies or basslines, eventually after revisiting them a track will emerge. Occasionally I will write a track from start to finish in one sitting, other tracks can take months and stuff that has been consigned to the waste bin maybe resurrected as I’ve discovered a way to make it work.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Brain in a Vat: I don’t have a website currently (being worked on). I use Soundcloud, Reverbnation, and Facebook (which I don’t rate as it costs to advertise). All my releases have been through CDBaby.

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Brain in a Vat: Crazy frog…ahem.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Brain in a Vat: I’d invest it until it was more than a million dollars and take 2 years off. I’d also look to collaborate and promote.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Brain in a Vat: All genres of music can lend itself to excess in the ‘Gear’ market. I tend to produce on the run and need to keep things compact. My first album was written and produced with free software, a guitar and bass left over from my band days, and a £25 Usb keyboard. I’ve currently upgraded my DAW (Reaper) and some of my Synths and now use Kontact5 for several of my compositions but still use the free VTS I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve also picked up a copy of Native instruments T-Racks and Waves Nx (ideal if you use headphone to produce).

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Brain in a Vat: The internet is awash with promotional websites for Music. It’s a frustrating trawl to find the right platform to host your music. I’ve used Fiverr in the past but I’m skeptical that that that works. I have found that physically handing your music to people works. Get yourself into the ‘Art’ scene in the local area, attend functions, exhibitions and physically hand your product to someone, you become instantly memorable and even if they dump your CD someone else will pick it up. If I get 1 person to like my music it’s a success, but all artists are essentially narcissistic

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Brain in a Vat: I like big bombastic performances, a mixture of technical and live instruments and a bit of drama and would have to be onstage with Muse!

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Brain in a Vat: My third studio album ‘1 in 3’ is due for release on the 1st May 2016. After that, being a one man band, promotion, promotion, promotion. I am on the hunt for a vocalist/ songwriter who could take my music to the next level. I sound like an exhausted walrus when I sing.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Brain in a Vat: Promoting it, listening to it and living.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Brain in a Vat: I remember buying ‘Substance’ by New Order, one of my mates had produced a cover of ‘Fine Time’, we were a group of mates who shied away from mainstream music because it wasn’t cool enough and at the time this was the go to band, along with others.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Brain in a Vat: Sometimes music takes over your life, as I said before it’s kind of narcissistic, you want people to like your stuff. You can become depressed easily if people aren’t interested, or don’t listen so you have to channel that in a different way. I try not to let interfere with my personal life and responsibilities but sometimes when you’re in the ‘ZONE’ you can forget what’s going on around you, that is until you basically go blind because you’ve forgotten to blink for the last hour when looking at a computer screen, or you’re sick of pressing the same key on a keyboard for an hour trying to get ‘that’ sound.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

Brain in a Vat: The new album of course. Brain in a Vat’s ‘1 in 3’ coming the 1st of May, available on Itunes, Amazon MP3, Spotify, Deezer, Iheartradio, Google play and more.