This interview was originally posted on Sound Revoltuion, 08/05/13.
In addition to fronting legendary punk bands I Am the Avalanche and now defunct The Movielife, as well as starting new band Peace’d Out, Vinnie Caruana has just released his first ever solo EP. We caught up with Vinnie on his European tour for a quick chat about his bands, new material and the future…
So, how’s the tour going?
Really, really well. I’m happy with everything. The shows have been fantastic. The UK has been really good to me. It’s nice too because there’s a few festivals here and there so I get to see a bunch of friends from home at the beginning of the tour and at the end of the tour when we go over to Europe to play Groezrock and Monster Bash. So all around, happy days.
Do you think the crowds have been receptive to your new solo stuff?
They have, I hear them singing along really loudly so that’s all I need to hear!
When did you decide you wanted to put out the solo EP?
I just knew I had a little bit of time in between the Avalanche albums and this and that. I just knew I had a bit of time to write and record and tour for it so I kinda seized that opportunity when I could.
I know you’ve been playing “To Be Dead and In Love” for quite a while. Did you have the other songs already written?
The “If I’m a Battleship, Then You’re the Northern Lights” song had been written for quite a while. It was kicking around as an Avalanche song and I kinda held onto it. Everything else is pretty new.
Are there any plans for releasing any more solo stuff or is it a bit too early at the moment?
Yeah I mean not any time soon, but the next thing I do will be a full-length. I’ll probably do an Avalanche record and some Peace’d Out material before we see another solo release.
What’s happening with I Am the Avalanche at the moment?
We’ve demoed a bunch of songs which is good. We’re pretty much ready to head into the studio so we’re just trying to figure out the specifics of that, but relatively soon we’re gonna start recording the Avalanche full length.
So you play these shows and you play a lot of I Am the Avalanche and The Movielife songs. Would you ever want to play shows filled with just your solo material?
I might do that here and there but I really do enjoy playing a bit of everything, and I know the fans do too so I wanna give them what they want while I also get what I want. I like doing a bit of everything, it adds some variety to it, but there will be certain shows that I feel like doing that then I will. For the most part I like to play a mix of everything because I know people enjoy that.
What’s your favourite I Am the Avalanche or The Movielife song to play acoustically?
It seems like “Hey” works out best for The Movielife. It sounds nice on an acoustic guitar. For the Avalanche, I really enjoy playing “Symphony”, “Green Eyes” and “Clean Up” and “Brooklyn Dodgers”. Songs that kinda make perfect sense playing in an acoustic setting and seem to work out pretty well.
Is there anything interesting to say about The Movielife at this point?
People ask me if we’ll ever play in England again and the answer is always maybe. It’s just always the thing where you never know what’s gonna change in your life and the way you’re gonna feel about things. So it’s always a maybe because I never wanna close the door on anything anymore. I just really think leaving the door cracked a little bit for possibilities of things in the future is a good way to be.
And just to round off, what are you listening to at the moment?
A lot of Morrissey A lot of Pedro the Lion. A lot of Fugazi. A lot of Tom Petty and The Band.
