Los Angeles – This past summer, Philadelphia-based band Vacationer released their sophomore album, Relief. Their unique sound has been described as “Nu-Hula/ World Wave.” Relief is an appealing, earnest, and utterly joyous record. The laidback electronics booted with the dreamy guitars bestows a pleasant summer feeling we wouldn’t mind experiencing all season. It sheds light where there is darkness and washes away the negativity that is percolating within. In the end, “Relief” is for those searching, for those seeking something greater. Best New Bands recently caught up with Kenny Vasoli of Vacationer. Here is what he had to say about his project and their latest endeavor.
Sean Kayden: Your latest album, Relief, is a steady favorite of mine. What was the process crafting a poignant record such as this?
Kenny Vasoli: After making the first record, I was really happy with where we were heading with the sound of Vacationer. There was a lot of sentiment that went into that first one. It took a while to rebuild the material and have the inspiration to come into this record with. It was a “slowly but surely” process. It all started flooding in towards the end. It was kind of how the first record went. We saw what kind of energy we wanted to put into this one versus the first one after playing the first record live for a few years. We saw what people were reacting to. Not to say we gauge it all on that, but we wanted to have a more well-rounded live set, a little bit more of a pulse to dance to on this record. That was the biggest direction we wanted to take. Otherwise, we let it continue down the path.
Now that you have been on tour playing Relief, how are you feeling about the record? Since you have a perspective on the overall substance the album possesses, do you think it has a real identity?
Absolutely. I think this one has tipped the scale into more of being an engaging live band. While “The Wild Life” was a single and “Trip” was a single, it seems like there are so many songs that rise above being deep cuts. It’s nice when we have songs like “Good As New” and “Everyone Knows” and off the new record, “Shining” and “In The Grass,” that people really know and react to them in a very similar way they do with the singles. It’s getting to feel like a real band where everybody knows the songs.
Both records have a very ethereal, California feel to them, but you guys are from Philadelphia and Brooklyn. Where did the inspiration come from in developing this project?
The whole energy and idea of California has been appealing to me since I’ve gone there at a very young age. I think I was 15 and I just took to it right way. I never moved from Philadelphia my whole life. I never had a super strong desire to. As I get older, I find myself sort of pulled out there a little more. I’ve always soaked in my element out in the west coast like when I’m at the beach. When we started making music for this project, I wanted to have a message with it. It was like when Richard Dreyfuss says to Bill Murray in What About Bob… “I don’t want you to take a vacation from your work or from your job or from your home, I just want you to take a vacation from your problems.” I wanted that to be the whole mission statement of what the band is all about like vacationing in your mind all the time. And that’s where I am compelled to go, in a west coast sort of planet.
What’s the greater challenge, recording an album in the studio or participating in a nationwide tour?
Making a record is more of a challenge. You’re really forced to reckon with yourself and with your abilities as a musician. You have to keep going back to that well. The thing about inspiration is that it’s so fleeting. You can’t call upon it to be there at any moment. You have to wait for it to get a signal with some clear reception. When we were on a tour, it’s like my homework is already done. I get to perform and that’s when I am most in my element.
How has this experience of this band been different than your other projects before it?
It’s a lot mellower on me physically. The Starting Line became a physically demanding thing to me. Not specifically jumping around or anything because I still do that with Vacationer. I have old habits that I have that will never die with me. Singing Starting Line songs became really taxing on my voice. It got so bad that I couldn’t even talk at shows. I had to save my voice and not be able to sing during sound check. I sort of went by with really raw vocal cords. It was a real motivation writing for this project. I could sing a little bit more naturally and correctly. With this band I would never lose my voice and I still think I can deliver some powerful vocals in a very different context. That’s the biggest change of pace with (Vacationer) and it’s a really welcoming change. I would actually love to be talking to people after the shows. (Laughs)
“Relief” is an album that had me thinking about life and what I’m ultimately searching for. Is your definition of this album more of a life quest or a soul search?
Without having to ask you your definition of that, it seems like they’re one of the same for me. With me and my life and mind, if I can sort of make the objective as simple as possible, my life seems a lot happier and a lot more carefree. What this record is about is the whole search for relief. It’s kind of the big goal for me and I think that’s a big goal for everyone. Like finding something that can just make you feel like it’s lifting a little bit of weight off you. I’m in constant search of that. Everyone knows that life gets heavy sometimes and if you let it, it can get heavier. It’s nice signing music that’s always reminding you relief is in reach and it’s somewhere in your mind. You just have to put yourself in the right place up there.
The melodies are beautiful, tranquil, and exquisite. There’s an inherent positivity found within the album as a whole. How much do your own life experiences generate into the making of the album?
It’s 100% life experience. I really can’t write in a narrative way. I don’t like manifested characters or anything like that. That’s another thing with inspiration, if there’s not a lot going on in my life, it’s hard to scrape something together. I don’t like feeling that I’m singing about nothing. I want it to be something meaningful. I want it to be something people can identify with. I write all from experience but I put it on a broad scope. If something is specifically happening to me, I try not to get down to details of naming names or personifying it in the song. When people hear a song and they are relating to something similar, they can put themselves in it more by keeping the details a little looser.
As a collective band, what has been your favorite moment?
That’s so tough. There have been a lot of joyous moments with this band. You know, getting to go to Iceland to do Iceland Airwaves was a big one. Performing in a big room over-filled with thousands of people within the first couple of years of being a band that was a huge accomplishment for us. I had never been to Iceland even with The Starting Line. It brought to light what this band is all about. Getting to travel and going to exotic places like that was a big ulterior motive for this band. That was a huge experience for me and that whole week of being there was one of the coolest times of my life.
Check out Vacationer ’s Facebook to see if they’re coming to a venue near you.
Sean Kayden
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