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Path of easygoing alternative band ‘VAST’ly different

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by Michael Merline

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sitting casually in the dusty basement of Madison music venue The Annex, national label-independent act VAST looked lovably ordinary — except for bassist Michael Austinmoore, who was garbed in a flowing velour trench, stubbed dreads and eyeliner. But when they spoke with The Badger Herald that afternoon and hit the stage later Thursday night, VAST made it very clear they are both dynamic and anything but ordinary.

Starting off with a brief chat about the virtues of college towns, the interview with frontman Jon Crosby and guitarist Ben Fenton quickly moved to headier fare, as they discussed the multifaceted effects of the Internet, operating as a band independent of a record label and the source of their early sample-laden sound.

Explaining the impact MySpace and other Internet distribution routes have had on VAST — who left Elektra after their second album — Crosby said, “Now it’s just the music industry has completely changed. It’s not the same industry whatsoever, and [the Internet] is going to change the nature of everything. Writing is different; journalism is different. People get their news online. It’s changing the face of the press. It’s going to change the face of everything a lot more than people realize.”

And Crosby also explained why he now reluctantly runs his own record label to produce VAST’s records.

“Well, I never wanted to run a label; it was just something that made sense. There are a lot of pros and cons to working with another label. The pitfalls are that you lose control over not just your artistic integrity, but your life, because they kind of tell you what to do. And it’s not a great financial [situation]; the Mob gets you better rates then the record companies do — literally.”

But running 2blossoms Records has provided VAST the creative freedom they need, Crosby said.

“We can release things when we want, how we want, whenever we want. It’s difficult to compete with corporate stuff, but in the end, it’s satisfying and rewarding to be able to do what you want to do.”

And what VAST has done with that freedom is both innovative and successful. Hailing from various locations in California’s Bay Area, Crosby explained that the burgeoning digital revolution and alternative philosophies of his early stomping ground influenced VAST’s digital sensibilities and mystical lyrics.

“When I first started VAST it was … from the loins of the whole ’90s-coffee, Internet-aware alternative explosion that kind of happened. It was the beginning of this new liberal movement, this new social movement that was happening,” Crosby said.

“Computers [were] making new opportunities to make sounds and music,” Crosby said. “The rave thing was really big in the Bay Area in the mid-’90s when I as a kid. I was a guitar player, but [my friends] would have these keyboards with samples on them. … And I’d be like, ‘Oh, what’s this?’ And I would mess around with it.”

But this makes playing live particularly important for VAST. The live show provides a different experience for both the band and the audience, Crosby said.

“We can really kind of mingle with the audience. We don’t know what the show is going to be every night, and I love that.”

This tour, VAST has left the tracks and samples at home — a decision embraced by Fenton, the band’s guitarist for the last two years.

“It gives everybody — not just me as a guitar player, but everyone — room to play. When you play with samples, it’s really restricting. You have to stick to the program; you have to stick to the songs in a certain order. Now we can just pick up and play anything, … so I like the freedom a lot more without the samples.”

This move toward a more organic sound follows the ’07 release of April — the band’s first, mostly acoustic album — and Jon Crosby’s Generic I and II, which are challenging but rewarding listens for fans of VAST’s dark and noisy youth. The albums’ unique sound is the product of the Americana influence from Crosby’s current home in Austin, Texas.

“The musicians, the people, it’s just something that’s seeped in,” Crosby said. “I’ve learned about music. [There are] a lot of great story-songs in that kind of style that I resonate with.”

But nostalgic listeners have new material to look forward to, including Big Band Sixx’s Relay, a heavier, more electronic collection sharing the band’s name with Crosby’s new book and a new VAST album nearing completion.

“It’s very different — it’s VAST, yet it’s very different,” Crosby explained. “We’re kind of toying with the idea of calling it Jon Crosby and the Resonator Band. But I think what we’re going to end up doing is it’s going to be a thematic VAST album.”

And that’s when, as Crosby said, the explanation got “kind of odd.”

“So it’s like us as a band having an alter ego. Us as a band experimenting with the idea of being a different band … like an accidental Sgt. Pepper-type theme, or Ziggy Stardust, where we step into these other shoes.”

Crosby and Fenton laughed elaborating on the project’s name.

“It was originally going to be R-E-S-I-N, but we didn’t want to be a weed band,” said Crosby, chuckling. “There were a lot of strings initially in that project, so the idea of resin. But as we made the record, the strings kind of dropped out. There’s not as much strings on that album as even on the April album, I think. So it’s our little baby.”

And it’s that enthusiasm for his art that makes creating music such an elaborate process for Crosby.

“I’m trying to let the music tell me what to do, and I’m embracing the different directions at the same time.”

Yet, VAST doesn’t want to alienate fans; they just want to follow wherever their music takes them.

“It’s fun to sit there in front of a computer and use sequences and samples and loops, and then it’s also fun just to tinker with an acoustic guitar and go outside and strum some sweet G chords and sing about life. I like having both. It’s like sushi and pizza, though; they’re both great, but not together. So you have to keep them separate a little.”

But ultimately, it’s the song at its simplest state that is most important for Crosby.

“Everything I’ve ever written is a song you can play on piano or guitar, and it shines as a song versus the chorus and some lyrics and the melodies that aren’t a cohesive message. And I think that style of the genre or the production really, it’s just clothing. I’m also going to be making electronic albums in the future. I think people sometimes view — unfortunately — records these days as sequels. And I view them as completely different projects.”

But letting the audience scream in adoration or grumble in disgust is part of VAST’s art, Crosby said.

“That’s like the completion of the whole process of writing a song, recording a song, producing a song and then the feedback you get from the audience. It’s like you’re full circle. Without that it feels incomplete.”

And escaping a static sound isn’t just a way of avoiding boredom, Fenton mused. It’s also one of the band’s strongest attributes. “We’re good enough to be able to… play all that ritzy Americana stuff, and then we can totally switch gears and rock out.”

And that’s just what they did Thursday. Plowing smoothly through a set of early maverick hits, contrasting acoustic ballads, a hypnotic cover of Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game” and the western tango of “You’re the Same,” VAST proved they are just as comfortable in the realm of the singer-songwriter as they are dishing out the noise. But not only did they play in a dynamic fashion, they segued between these different types of songs with elegant finesse.

And VAST’s five Annex-rocking members — Crosby, Fenton, Austinmoore, a drummer and a violinist — played crisply as a band with the tightness only experience can provide. Crosby and Fenton both agreed VAST is finally settled as a unit, but it seems no one knows musically what direction they will go next.

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