Band Spotlight Vices And Adulation

In our latest Reverbnation Spotlight, we chat to Fabian and Lucy-May Upton of Vices And Adulation about their music and inspirations.

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S] What, or who are your great musical inspirations?

F] “My musical inspirations started with christian rock around 1998. I was into everything from Vineyard to World Wide Message Tribe. Suddenly, a Scottish friend sent me a music file. It was death metal. At the time I was brainwashed into Christianity and thought this was the devils music, I was told by my parents that Lucifer was the angel of music and to stay away from his temptations.

Anyway, Children of Bodom stunned me, with melodic guitar and keyboard solos. From there I explored everything from Dimmu Borgir to Bal-Sagoth. In 2003, I got my first guitar, and strived to play like my symphonic black metal heroes. Ended up finding GuitarWar.com, a competition site. Through over 100 competitions I finally achieved the World Championship at eight finger tapping in 2009. All the musicians on that site are my inspiration. People like Eric Glass, Ross Pearson, MetalVinnie, Danny Danzi, KC Jones, Ben Swanwick can play better than any commercial guitarist. They became my dream, so I try every day to combine all of their techniques into my own hybrid style.

L] “From Franki Valli to Michael Jackson, to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. But my dream guys are Def Leppard. I have every merchandised item they ever produced. I also found emotional connections to Blue October. I have inspirations throughout my life that are symbiotic with my mood. Queen make me want to head bang. Evanescence make me want to produce my music better. I feel that I was born for something special and that I have extraordinary things to share with the world. I will put that into every lyric I write and mix I produce.”

S] What about personally, what kinds of themes and ideas can inspire your songs?

F] “I make mixes of dubstep, death metal and our Band to compare the levels and EQ. Hearing how the top producers make such a thick yet clear sound inspires me to make the next one better. As for the actual music, the progressions, notes, dynamics, scales, those just flow out of me. I have been in so many competitions now that every time I pick up the guitar the thirds and fifths gush out uncontrollably. The hard part is mixing it all because I play all the instruments except for the drums.”

L] “I have had a tough life. Without going into details, I have wells of pain and suffering from my past that have inspired my poetry/lyrics. My imagination runs wild all day every day and I can tap into that when creating our songs. There is happiness too, which is reflected in my work, and those people responsible for my happiness have been told they are in a song.”

S] What song that you are working on right now best defines your sound, and why?

L] “We are trying to combine everything into an epic hybrid melodic sound, think Evanescence, mixed with melodic metal

S] Do you have a message for any UK fans?

F] “We love you, and thank you, come over for a beer!”

S] What’re your plans as we move to the end of 2014?

F] “Working on new material, acquiring new gear so that in 2015 our sound will be up there with the best of them, and our solos will blow the competition out of the park.”