Vesta Collide On The Sunset Strip

Vesta Collide On The Sunset Strip

Vesta Collide from Detriot, Michigan made their way onto the Sunset Strip in Hollywood-land, performing a superbly impassioned set at the world famous Roxy Theater.  On the road supporting Alesana’s Ten Frail Years Of Vanity And Wax Tour, Vesta Collide won over the early arrivals in an epic way with an absolutely gripping, inspiring show.  Their debut album New Obsession has been unveiled via Stay Sick Recordings, and it’s a tremendously intensive collection of dark metalcore that should catapult Vesta Collide into the big leagues.  Highwire Daze Online caught up with a few of the members of Vesta Collide backstage after their thunderous opening set to find out more about their new album, visit to the Sunset Strip, donuts, and a whole lot .  Read on…

Introduce yourself and tell me what you do in Vesta Collide.
Mark: My name is Mark and I am the vocalist.
Alex: My name is Alex, I play bass.

How has this tour been going, and what have been some of the highlights?
Mark: This is only our third tour ever, so it’s been great. The response has been great. There’s been kids at every show whether it be five or ten kids that are there and they know our words and everything. It’s very exciting, being in such a new band, our album just came out two weeks ago. Very exciting.

Is this your first time here in CA?
Alex: Yes.

What do you think of Hollywood?
Alex: Not a big fan of Hollywood. It’s not that I’m not a big fan of Hollywood. If I were to come here on vacation and had a car, that might be nice, but driving a bus and trailer through Hollywood – that’s the tough part.
Mark: I like it.
Alex:: I like it, but it’s tough to drive through here with a big vehicle. That’s all.

How did you wind up on Stay Sick Recordings?
Alex: We were contacted by Fronz, actually. We recorded three songs in 2013 with Joey Sturgis and he was good friends with him. We shopped out to some record labels, sent some emails back and forth and Fronz really liked what he heard.  They sent us a contract.
Mark: They gave us the best option out of everyone else. We really liked what they had to offer for us.

Is there any story or concept behind the title New Obsession?
Mark: It’s kind of a double meaning. Obviously you can say it’s a cheesy name, like this will be your new obsession.  But it’s kind of like the album’s written a lot about social anxiety and trying to move on from time.  Being so obsessive over the concept of time and so many fears that I’ve personally had, and I know a lot of people have had. I’m always obsessing about this, something I want to move on from. Literally find anything in life that’s not those things I’ve been wasting my time obsessing over for the past year.

Select two songs from New Obsession, what inspired the lyrics?
Mark: I’m gonna say “The Lights” and “Hallucination.”
“Hallucination” is actually a weird song about someone that I know that had passed away and it’s about just always seeing that person even when your eyes are closed, when they’re open.  And “The Light” is about –  there’s a line in it that says “take the world in our hands, these lights would fade but we won’t let them.” I was talking about time, about how you have so much time and it’s the things you want to do are on a timeline that’s constantly ending. You just want to grab the world by your hands and just do what you want to do and drop everything, whatever you’re afraid of.

What can one expect from your live show?
Mark: When we go on stage we try to interact with the crowd as much as we can. We just want to have a good time. We’re here to have a good time, just as the fans are and it makes it so much more fun for everybody if everyone is just vibing and feeling the show. I guess, just expect to have a lot of fun when you come to a Vesta Collide concert. Hang out.

If Vesta Collide could open for any band either now or from the past, who and why?
Alex: I would personally love to open for a band like Slipknot. I love Slipknot. They’ve always been one of my favorite bands.
Mark: Marilyn Manson and The Used.  They’re two of my favorite bands and I’ve been into their music since I was young. I’m very influenced by their aesthetic and I really think it’s cool that they’re not afraid to wear makeup or sing about weird shit,

What’s up next for you guys after this tour is over?
Mark: We’re gonna go home and take a month or so off. We’re gonna start writing our second record, just demoing and stuff. Then we have some tours we’re working on right now.
Alex: Touring all year round.
Mark: That’s pretty much what we’re doing to be doing, touring, that’s it.

Do you have any messages for people who are reading this now, who should check out your music?
Alex: If you have never heard of Vesta Collide, you should do so just because I think that our music is really fun and we bring a lot to the table. We put our own weird spin on everything that we do and we’re very nice people, so if anyone wants to come out to a show and hang out, we’ll have a great time.
Mark:  I think if you come see us, you’ll have a good time. We want to inspire kids to not be afraid to look the way they want to look or do the things they want to do.  If you want to wear makeup, wear makeup. If you want to have long hair, have long hair. If you want short hair, if you want to be bald, we’re still going to love you. I think you’ll like our music. If you like darker metalcore, you’ll definitely like us.

Vesta Collide is:
Mark – Vocals
Jake – Guitar/Vocals
Kay – Guitar
Alex – Bass |
Max – Drums

(Review and Backstage Photo by Ken Morton – Live Photo by Jack Lue)

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