Vanishing Point
By Dave Hargreaves
UM's Dave Hargreaves spoke to Chris Porcianko of Australian metallers Vanishing Point about their recent European tour, and more!
Vanishing Point has just returned home from their European tour, as guests of Gamma Ray and Sonata Arctica. What was the sequence of events that led to VP being included on the tour?
Everything just fell into place really, we expected to record the follow up to Tangled In Dream and all of a sudden we are being booked for a European tour playing alongside Sonata Arctica and supporting Gamma Ray.
The agency that was booking the tour really liked our music and so did the guys from Gamma Ray from what I heard, so in a way it was flowing from there and we found ourselves in Europe.
To be honest with you, there was somewhat of a surreal vibe in the 3 months preceding the European tour because it is a big thing for us and to be going away from home for over 3 and a half months can be a little scary, everything just seemed to be going so fast and running at full speed once the tour was confirmed.
We are still kicking ourselves because we really didnt expect to have everything go so fast and arranged so fast, it was strange trying to adapt to it all at the start, but once we started getting used to the whole idea and the whole tour, we then felt really excited and we were ready to go out there and do our best.
I think that our manager was going out of his mind at the time because there was so much that had to be done and he was everywhere at the same time heh heh heh I guess he had to be, to make sure that it was going to be smooth sailing.
I am assuming that your set list consisted mainly of songs from the "Tangled In Dream" album - which songs did you play, and what sort of a reaction did you get from the audience?
Our set list was the songs off Tangled In Dream because that was what we were promoting and because we only had a 30minute set, we could not play all the songs that we would have liked to , but nonetheless we did an ok job.
We started the set with Two Minds-One Soul , Closer Apart, Father, Surreal and Never Walk Away.
For us it was unbelievable to be playing to a great and responsive audience night after night, we recieved a great applause and we had many people coming up to us after the shows totally in shock saying that they had never heard of us before and now they considered themselves to be fans after our set was finished.
I think that we made alot of new friends on the tour and it was an absolute pleasure to be playing to them, we also had some die-hard Vanishing Point fans travel long distances and even from other countries to come and see us.
I was blown away to have fans and friends from Norway come to see us in Stockholm, that was such an awesome night to meet up with them and just hang out with them, I met some fans of ours who drove over 300-500 kilometers to come and see us play live.
I was blown away to meet up with fans that we didnt know we had , it was pretty cool to see and meet so many nice,interesting and warm people throughout the tour, it was a positive experience and we will definately be back in Europe in the near future.
Vanishing Point tends to be the headline act of any gig that you play at home in Melbourne, was it a strange feeling to be the opening act on the European tour?
We normally in Melbourne do headline and we have done so for quite a while now , so going to Europe and doing the first support slot on the tour was not a problem to us because we have to start somwhere and we were honoured to be on such a great tour with bands that we respect.
The only thing that was weird was playing for thirty minutes, because here when we play a show here, we are onstage for a minimum time of sixty minutes and we have a chance to really sweat it out, yet when we were playing for thirty minutes it felt like sometimes we were just starting to warm up and all of a sudden we were finished heh heh heh
We were treated very well and we had a great time, all the bands and crew were excellent and we all got along very well.
Everyday was a new day, it definately was a great, positive learning experience, and we are very happy that we made some great inroads and new friends as well.
Compare the European metal / gigging scene with the Australian scene. Was their anything that struck you as being very different to home, or anything that was very similar?
The thing that struck me with the European metal scene is that they are so into it and they just want to have fun like the Australian scene, so in a way it didnt really feel any different at all with the crowds.
I think the case was that there were definately more people at the concerts in Europe if you want to compare it to the Australian scene because our scene here is still growing and getting stronger .
The only other significant difference iis that the European mainstream press are not fearful to write and promote heavy metal music like some of the press here are, it is really cool to see that heavy metal bands chart on the mainstream charts over there, it is not like in Australia that metal bands are trying to chart or gain mainstream press, it is more like that in Europe it is being acknowledged on a bigger level and I think that we still have some work to do here in Australia.
We have a wealth of great talent here and the Australian metal scene is getting stronger , I think that people are starting to get sick of the candy covered la la rubbish that is here today and totally forgotten tommorow heh heh
The funniest thing that I saw while up onstage was people slamming and trying to get up on the stage during our concerts in France, heh heh it was weird because we really didnt expect to have people slamming to our music heh heh... that was very cool and we had alot of fun.
Highlights and lowlights of the tour?
Highlights would definately have to be playing to all the great crowds in all those beautiful countries, to me there was nothing that could better that, it was so much fun to play to such enthusiastic audiences, we felt like we were not far from home most of the time because everyone was great and friendly.
The only lowlight of the tour was when it finished because we had to so goodbye to many new friends and all of us in the three bands grew close during that time and I think that a really cool bond was made from this tour, we all looked out for eachother , there was no competition, it was like we were all family, we all became brothers ,and that is how it ended... sadly but happily also, we are all still in touch with each other.
Now that the band is back home again, there have already been some rumours about a new album in the works. What can we expect from the next Vanishing Point release?
What can people expect from the next Vanishing Point album?... well, we are currently writing for the new album and it is pretty much going to be what people expect from us, I dont think that we are going to change , I think that we will always progress and move forward like every band does, to be honest with you , we are comfortable with our sound and the way we write music together as a team.. We dont have any real preconceived ideas, we just go with the flow and if it sounds good then we will play it.
It doesnt matter if it has three chords or ten chord changes, as long as it sounds good and it is melodic then we will play it, that is what we have been doing pretty much since day one.
I am confidant in the new material and I think that the next album is going to be really cool, we dont feel any pressure really because this is the style of music that we play naturally anyway.
VP is probably the only Australian metal band that I can think of who have released several video clips. Personally I have only seen "Forgotten Self" (from the debut "In Thought CD) so far, but it was a very impressive and well produced piece of work. How successful have these video clips been, in terms of air play and exposure?
We have a few video clips and they are really cool, we have been getting some exposure in Australia with some of our video clips on some music/metal video shows and last year we compared a show for cable television which was really cool because we also had a chance to play the film clips that we wanted to see heh heh, we recieved emails from many people who didnt know of us and from that night, they took an interest in Vanishing Point.
I think that video clips are important because they can expose you to many people who are interested in new bands whereas the mainstream radio stations here in Australia dont seem to show any iinterest at all, video clip shows like the ones we have been on here in Australia are very good and they are the closest thing that we so far have to optimum exposure via the "mainstream " heh heh
They are a necessary evil in a way and they are also cool because I remember when I was a kid , I loved to record all the metal clips on video and I still have mountains of unmarked video tapes in my cupboard full of metal clips from the 80's and 90's heh heh
Can we expect more Vanishing Point music video clips in the future?
Absolutely ,we dont want to do film clips for every song, but we will be doing alot more in the future to come, we really want to do more and I like the idea of putting film clips as extra's on the cd , because it is a cool thing and alot of people now have pc's , so they can play their cd's /cdr's and I think that it is a good idea to give people who buy the album an extra suprise in the way of a videoclip heh heh
By Dave Hargreaves
UM's Dave Hargreaves spoke to Chris Porcianko of Australian metallers Vanishing Point about their recent European tour, and more!
Vanishing Point has just returned home from their European tour, as guests of Gamma Ray and Sonata Arctica. What was the sequence of events that led to VP being included on the tour?
Everything just fell into place really, we expected to record the follow up to Tangled In Dream and all of a sudden we are being booked for a European tour playing alongside Sonata Arctica and supporting Gamma Ray.
The agency that was booking the tour really liked our music and so did the guys from Gamma Ray from what I heard, so in a way it was flowing from there and we found ourselves in Europe.
To be honest with you, there was somewhat of a surreal vibe in the 3 months preceding the European tour because it is a big thing for us and to be going away from home for over 3 and a half months can be a little scary, everything just seemed to be going so fast and running at full speed once the tour was confirmed.
We are still kicking ourselves because we really didnt expect to have everything go so fast and arranged so fast, it was strange trying to adapt to it all at the start, but once we started getting used to the whole idea and the whole tour, we then felt really excited and we were ready to go out there and do our best.
I think that our manager was going out of his mind at the time because there was so much that had to be done and he was everywhere at the same time heh heh heh I guess he had to be, to make sure that it was going to be smooth sailing.
I am assuming that your set list consisted mainly of songs from the "Tangled In Dream" album - which songs did you play, and what sort of a reaction did you get from the audience?
Our set list was the songs off Tangled In Dream because that was what we were promoting and because we only had a 30minute set, we could not play all the songs that we would have liked to , but nonetheless we did an ok job.
We started the set with Two Minds-One Soul , Closer Apart, Father, Surreal and Never Walk Away.
For us it was unbelievable to be playing to a great and responsive audience night after night, we recieved a great applause and we had many people coming up to us after the shows totally in shock saying that they had never heard of us before and now they considered themselves to be fans after our set was finished.
I think that we made alot of new friends on the tour and it was an absolute pleasure to be playing to them, we also had some die-hard Vanishing Point fans travel long distances and even from other countries to come and see us.
I was blown away to have fans and friends from Norway come to see us in Stockholm, that was such an awesome night to meet up with them and just hang out with them, I met some fans of ours who drove over 300-500 kilometers to come and see us play live.
I was blown away to meet up with fans that we didnt know we had , it was pretty cool to see and meet so many nice,interesting and warm people throughout the tour, it was a positive experience and we will definately be back in Europe in the near future.
Vanishing Point tends to be the headline act of any gig that you play at home in Melbourne, was it a strange feeling to be the opening act on the European tour?
We normally in Melbourne do headline and we have done so for quite a while now , so going to Europe and doing the first support slot on the tour was not a problem to us because we have to start somwhere and we were honoured to be on such a great tour with bands that we respect.
The only thing that was weird was playing for thirty minutes, because here when we play a show here, we are onstage for a minimum time of sixty minutes and we have a chance to really sweat it out, yet when we were playing for thirty minutes it felt like sometimes we were just starting to warm up and all of a sudden we were finished heh heh heh
We were treated very well and we had a great time, all the bands and crew were excellent and we all got along very well.
Everyday was a new day, it definately was a great, positive learning experience, and we are very happy that we made some great inroads and new friends as well.
Compare the European metal / gigging scene with the Australian scene. Was their anything that struck you as being very different to home, or anything that was very similar?
The thing that struck me with the European metal scene is that they are so into it and they just want to have fun like the Australian scene, so in a way it didnt really feel any different at all with the crowds.
I think the case was that there were definately more people at the concerts in Europe if you want to compare it to the Australian scene because our scene here is still growing and getting stronger .
The only other significant difference iis that the European mainstream press are not fearful to write and promote heavy metal music like some of the press here are, it is really cool to see that heavy metal bands chart on the mainstream charts over there, it is not like in Australia that metal bands are trying to chart or gain mainstream press, it is more like that in Europe it is being acknowledged on a bigger level and I think that we still have some work to do here in Australia.
We have a wealth of great talent here and the Australian metal scene is getting stronger , I think that people are starting to get sick of the candy covered la la rubbish that is here today and totally forgotten tommorow heh heh
The funniest thing that I saw while up onstage was people slamming and trying to get up on the stage during our concerts in France, heh heh it was weird because we really didnt expect to have people slamming to our music heh heh... that was very cool and we had alot of fun.
Highlights and lowlights of the tour?
Highlights would definately have to be playing to all the great crowds in all those beautiful countries, to me there was nothing that could better that, it was so much fun to play to such enthusiastic audiences, we felt like we were not far from home most of the time because everyone was great and friendly.
The only lowlight of the tour was when it finished because we had to so goodbye to many new friends and all of us in the three bands grew close during that time and I think that a really cool bond was made from this tour, we all looked out for eachother , there was no competition, it was like we were all family, we all became brothers ,and that is how it ended... sadly but happily also, we are all still in touch with each other.
Now that the band is back home again, there have already been some rumours about a new album in the works. What can we expect from the next Vanishing Point release?
What can people expect from the next Vanishing Point album?... well, we are currently writing for the new album and it is pretty much going to be what people expect from us, I dont think that we are going to change , I think that we will always progress and move forward like every band does, to be honest with you , we are comfortable with our sound and the way we write music together as a team.. We dont have any real preconceived ideas, we just go with the flow and if it sounds good then we will play it.
It doesnt matter if it has three chords or ten chord changes, as long as it sounds good and it is melodic then we will play it, that is what we have been doing pretty much since day one.
I am confidant in the new material and I think that the next album is going to be really cool, we dont feel any pressure really because this is the style of music that we play naturally anyway.
VP is probably the only Australian metal band that I can think of who have released several video clips. Personally I have only seen "Forgotten Self" (from the debut "In Thought CD) so far, but it was a very impressive and well produced piece of work. How successful have these video clips been, in terms of air play and exposure?
We have a few video clips and they are really cool, we have been getting some exposure in Australia with some of our video clips on some music/metal video shows and last year we compared a show for cable television which was really cool because we also had a chance to play the film clips that we wanted to see heh heh, we recieved emails from many people who didnt know of us and from that night, they took an interest in Vanishing Point.
I think that video clips are important because they can expose you to many people who are interested in new bands whereas the mainstream radio stations here in Australia dont seem to show any iinterest at all, video clip shows like the ones we have been on here in Australia are very good and they are the closest thing that we so far have to optimum exposure via the "mainstream " heh heh
They are a necessary evil in a way and they are also cool because I remember when I was a kid , I loved to record all the metal clips on video and I still have mountains of unmarked video tapes in my cupboard full of metal clips from the 80's and 90's heh heh
Can we expect more Vanishing Point music video clips in the future?
Absolutely ,we dont want to do film clips for every song, but we will be doing alot more in the future to come, we really want to do more and I like the idea of putting film clips as extra's on the cd , because it is a cool thing and alot of people now have pc's , so they can play their cd's /cdr's and I think that it is a good idea to give people who buy the album an extra suprise in the way of a videoclip heh heh
