RealSoundsOK: The Vaulted Skies Q&A

Your name:

James Anthony John Scott (principle songwriter, guitar, vocals and pointy shoes).

Where are you from?

St. Albans, Hertfordshire. Just North of London in the UK.

Name of band:

The Vaulted Skies.

Who else is in your band?

Scott Bradley - Danceable Drums

Rupert Hobday - Gothic Guitars

John Melia - Bass, Bass, Grumpy Face

'Doktor' Ben Singleton - Keyboard Experiments

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

Lyrics inspired by Longfellow, behemoth melodic basslines, gothic guitars, dramatic drumbeats and soaring synths are performed with unrelenting passion by a New Romantic, a Mad Scientist, a Rockabilly-Hippy-Goth, a Giant and a Cyborg Drummer from the Future, to create epic, edgy alternative indie pop-rock, designed to make you laugh, cry, think and dance (sometimes all at once).

Who are your main influences musically?

The Cure, Nirvana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Warpaint, New Order, Muse, Joy Division, Radiohead, PJ Harvey...

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Whilst reaching as many people as possible through radio and so on is really important to us, there's nothing better than playing to large audiences and creating memorable events. We'd love to headline Glastonbury one day. And if that's happening, it probably means that a number of other things are going well too.

All I know is, the bigger the stage, the better the gig seems to go down. I think this music is made for large stages.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

This interview, probably :0)

Otherwise, I think it would be when we found out that John Ravenhall (who produces the artists on Sir Paul McCartney's label) had shortlisted one of our tracks for use in a US TV show he's working on as music director.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

To be honest, it's all been pretty good for The Vaulted Skies so far!

I guess, despite the fact that he has a shiny metal ass, our cyborg drummer Scott might regret "cutting a caper" at our observatory photo shoot and splitting his trousers mid-air. The rest of us quite like reminding him of that.

I also had a situation in a previous band where I was on stage in front of a packed house with the flu and pretty much off my tits on cough syrup, and I kept getting electric shocks off of the microphone! As painful as it was, I think the shocks were the only thing that kept me going for the duration. Looking back, I can laugh about it, but I wouldn't want it to happen again!

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

That's a tough question because we set out to be eclectic and make sure every song has something different to offer. In terms of what's available to listen to online in the form of a finished mix right now, Caroline Slipped Across The Sky might be a good starting point. It's at the more serious end of the spectrum, whereas other songs like 'It Starts With You', 'Hungware' and 'Does Anyone Else Feel (Strange)?' are more danceable and feature what could be described as a little bit of humour amidst the pathos.

Where can we listen to it?

Caroline Slipped Across The Sky is currently streaming at https://soundcloud.com/thevaultedskies/caroline-slipped-across-the-sky-the-strange-ep-mix