Next Wave #653: VITAMIN

Indie-pop with sugar-rush choruses

It's a rite of passage for every hopeful British guitar band, and VITAMIN are about to experience it. The four-piece are gearing up to be on Leeds' stage this weekend rather than caged behind the crowd control barriers where they've been until this moment, Strongbow in hand. "It's Leeds festival, innit, it's the one," says lead singer Jared, his grin travelling down the phone line.

Steeped in a rich musical heritage, the city has birthed a number of high flying bands and the Yorkshire boys have recently taken over one of its vast warehouses to live, work and play. "It's free reign for us to do whatever we want really, we can ride a bike round it, play ping pong…" With a studio space to record there, today has been spent moving guitars around and writing lyrics in the basement. "We're very close. Like most bands, it's a brotherly relationship, you know. Beat each other up and… Not physically… mentally! Yeah, the warehouse is basically Fight Club," Jared jokes.

School mates Jared Laville (vocals), Cameron Fraser (guitar), Harry Smith (bass) and Theo Cookson (drums) dropped out of college as soon as they knew that music was what they wanted to do. It's a move you could imagine a teacher shaking their head at – that's unless you get signed to the same label that CHVRCHES and Haim started on – National Anthem. "I personally really like a lot of the acts on the label and I think it really suits us," he states. "It's really exciting to follow vaguely in the same path as some of those acts. It feels really good to us."

First single 'Giving It Up' is a neat little earworm, one part Foals, one part Mew; a fresh blend of stadium-destined pop with an electronic edge and a rousing chorus. "It's fun-loving," he describes. "It's not completely vacuous, there are deep meanings behind the songs that mean a lot to us and hopefully mean a lot to other people, but it's fun, it's light and funky, with rhythmic Chicago house beats behind it."

The EP it's off has just come out ("I can't wait to hold it! Although our vinyl player's broken… I'll spin it on my finger and play it off my laptop"), stamped with a piece of broccoli coated in hundreds and thousands as artwork.

For now, the quartet's priority is to write and write, with the intention of crafting some album tracks in the process. "There's no greater buzz we get than when we know we've written a good song," Jared concludes, with more than a hint of conviction. "I sing all of them in the shower, anyway!"

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WHAT: Indie-pop with sugar-rush choruses
WHERE: Leeds
GET 3 SONGS: 'Giving It Up', 'Miss You', 'Heart & Soul'

FACT: Harry is addicted to chamomile tea. "He's always telling me to drink it," says Jared. "Apparently it's the solution to all your problems. I think it smells like cat wee. Not that I go round smelling cat wee…"

Words: Felicity Martin

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