Featured Artist: Vegan Coke
March 7, 2010 · Print This Article
It’s not often that a band makes a mockery out of an interview for a featured artist piece, but Vegan Coke is different. This is not the only way that Vegan Coke remains different, however. The three-piece instrumental band from Atlanta doesn’t stick to rules when making sweet music and most of their live performances are spur-of-the-moment improv sets. They pass out handmade CDs named UNTZBENON, apparently a play on the word “unbeknownst,” and scoff at the prospect of having their music labeled as psychedelic.
The band asserts, “Music is psychedelic. You’re calling your music turd-soup, if you call it that.” There are many musicians that would likely argue with that, and Vegan Coke might actually disagree with their own statement, since the band’s self-described sound on their MySpace page is “loud, heavy, psychedelic.” Though I had to sort through banter the likes of that spewed by delinquent teens, we managed to get a few points across. Here’s a closer look at a band called Vegan Coke.
Vegan Coke is made up of Chad LeBlanc on guitar/noise, Eric Grantham behind drums and electronics, and Amir Mirsajedin handling bass/keys. As fragments of other local bands, they pieced together to form Vegan Coke in 2008 after playing some impromptu house parties and frequent jam sessions in their basement. The threesome is a close-knit bunch, to the point of branding their music as “bro-jams.” The band portrays their songwriting process as an intimate affair, by which “You don’t have to say anything. We just look into each other’s eyes and know what to do next. We form a triangle formation, an isosceles triangle.” According to Eric, they were going to be a rap group, but his “beats were too ill and trill-mafio,” which drove the band in the direction of rock. The first album from Vegan Coke is a 5 song compilation of spacey, heavy, noisy bipolar rock songs, ending with an 18 minute long track, called “Space Jam (Looney Tuning).” The band created the album artwork with Alex McCleskey and sells these handmade creations at their shows. The next album is in the works with a tentative title, Narnyabuznas (translation: none of your business), which is supposedly focused on, “leather jackets, the flyest tennis shoes, the baddest babes, and no hats.”
The influences cited by the band include sounds made by the Earth “when you put your ear to the ground,” guitar heavy bands, like King Crimson and Mastadon, and others like Boredomes, Zack Hill, Miles Davis, Omar Rodriguez, Heuy Lewis, CCR, Bee Gees, Cyndi Lauper, and Nat King Cole. Mostly, the guys say they influence each other. When asked about why Vegan Coke chose to do without a vocalist, they stated that there were a number of try-outs, but things didn’t click with some, while others wouldn’t commit. The band ended up solidifying as a three-piece and has continued in this manner. In regards to relaying a message through song, Eric believes it to be “retarded to have message” in music, while Amir adds, “Music is already a rebellion against order. Words are redundant.” The band feels strongly about personal interpretation of songs and play in a way that fulfills what matters to them. They describe their sound as post-genre, blending blues, funk, gospel, hip hop, new jazz, and industrial. “We are changing our minds all the time, but we stay generally heavy.”
Vegan Coke keeps up a fierce show schedule, playing regularly around Atlanta and the southeast. The live performance is most highly regarded by the band, who states, “Recorded music hasn’t been around forever, but live performance has.” The guys don’t concentrate on their set lists, but rather making sure all their gear is in place and optimizing the sound, because they don’t play the same old songs on stage. The guys improvise during every live show, and rely on the experience to deliver a fresh sound with each performance. Amir explains, “If it’s not fun, we don’t play it. If your mom would like it, we don’t play it. And we don’t get married to our genre.” Vegan Coke doesn’t like to be constricted to a certain sound, and they have an involved set up at live shows, which allows them to do live sampling and sound manipulation, even plugging the drums into a separate PA running through sound effects. Amir explains that as a group, they are constructing sound as soon as they begin to play their instruments. If that’s during soundcheck, he says, “It seems wrong to stop playing. Any noise can be the beginning of a song.”
Among Vegan Coke’s favorite shows was a three day underground rave called “Welcome to Pangea” and a night in Jacksonville, where they played 3 shows back to back in one night. Playing The Clermont Lounge has also been a highlight for the band, especially considering that during the gig, the disco-ball was destroyed in this infamous Atlanta strip joint! Other memorable shows for Vegan Coke include a benefit for Rollergirls in Chattanooga and always at the top of the list are the house parties at Thundercoot in Atlanta. The band is set to play a slew of festivals this year, including RadFest in North Carolina, Gainesville Fest, and Strange Daze Music and Arts Festival in Atlanta. Check their show schedule at www.myspace.com/vegancoke to stumble upon a Vegan Coke jam session near you!
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