"The most original band around": Vekta Sigma's lead singer discusses recording sessions and the best way to start up a band.

Winner of the three bands playing at The Grey Horse’s Battle of the Bands Final was Vekta Sigma, a ‘Weirdpop’ band from London made up of lead singer Simon Williams, his brother Allan Williams on bass and guitar, Kelwin Botten on drums and Tom Bird on guitar. All friends before the band officially got together, they have been performing around London for many years. And there’s a tie to the University: Kelwin Botten completed his MA in Environmental Management at Kingston.

As the last band to play on the night, they were greeted by an enthusiastic audience and didn’t disappoint. One fan, Ben Frost, said: “I’ve been to ten of their gigs and they’re the most original, alternate band around.” So far so good, so what did the band itself to say? Simon Williams gives an insight into their creative process, their aims for the future and reveals some handy tips to aspiring musicians...

How does it feel to have won and what comes with winning?
We haven’t actually won anything before so we’re really pleased. The first and most important thing we get is validation.  It's exciting to think that people, other than us and our inner circle of friends, think we're quite good.

We also get a prize: 3 days recording in a studio in Thames Ditton called ‘Studiophonics.’  We still don't have our own amplifiers or a decent recording of what we do.  We have some recordings on our Myspace, but they don't really sound like us on stage.  We're sure that this recording session will offer us the opportunity to finally get our set on tape and then we'll have the tools to spread the word about our little band and hopefully impress an A&R [Artists and Repertoire] person at a small label enough for them to take a chance on us.

If you were performing in concert, who would you choose to support you, and vice versa?
The Advantage to both of those. They’re brilliant. They’ve covered the music from the Nintendo games.

What are your musical influences and do you want to appeal to a particular audience?
We like music that is fresh, innovative and bizarre.  Like Hella, Godspeed, You Black Emperor, Broken Social Scene, Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Battles, Palace, Mars Volta and so on.

We don't think about audience appeal.  What we try to do is to make music that we think is new and exciting, and if it gets us going and is really exhilarating to play then we're pretty sure we won't be the only ones to like it.  So far our plan seems to be working, with more and more people coming to, and enjoying our gigs every week.  Most people who come up to us say that the music doesn't sound like anything they've heard before, which is the biggest compliment you can pay a musician. 

How do you approach songwriting?
When it comes to any creative endeavour the most important thing is to keep the process fresh, so we are constantly changing our approach.  Any attempt to formularise forces away inspiration.  So we might start with a drum beat, or a handful of chords, or maybe one of us will start chanting something. 

Often, a lyric or a melody will strike when we least expect it, then you have to keep humming until you get somewhere you can record it.  However, with our best songs, we never remember how they were written. It's as if they've always been there.

Have you got any advice to someone wishing to start up a band of his own?
Be original. Try to ignore your influences and allow your personality to shine through the music. People are perhaps too afraid to put a personal stamp on their music lest it mark them out as separate from the crowd.  If you listen carefully to the music that you make you will hear riffs, melodies or licks that you've borrowed, subconsciously or not, from the music your heroes made.  If you root out all of these homages you will be on the road to creating something that has originated entirely from you.

Don't decide on what kind of band you are to start off with. It seems to me to be very self-limiting and really establishes what kind music you won't be playing, which could lead to all sorts of interesting ideas being discarded. 

What are your future plans?
Primarily we want to write the best music the world has ever heard.  Some people say it's an unrealistic goal but we think it doesn't hurt to aim high.  Commercially, we're not that bothered about huge success, all we want is a record deal where we can afford to make music all the time and where we have complete creative freedom.  Now, that's not asking too much is it? 

How can fans keep up to date with your next gigs?
We have a myspace page and a Facebook group,'The World Of Vekta Sigma' which has all the latest news of gigs and parties. Oh yes, and if you've got any parties coming up at the college that need a cheap but hardy band of musicians and storytellers, then I believe Vekta Sigma might be able to help you out!

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