Shaun from Melbourne band Fearless Vampire Killers was keen to point out he had not watched a single episode of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer,’ nor had he heard of Buffy, Spike or Angel.
He was however a big fan of Roman Polanski and the 60′s film of the same name. High School was good for one thing for young Shaun. His film group studied Roman Polanski and he was struck by the name. One day he would form a band and Fearless Vampire Killers was born in Melbourne! ‘We don’t take ourselves that seriously and we were sick of the short name syndrome, so we went for a long name.’
Music could be described as ‘Sixties inspired rock,’ he explains They have a their debut album about to be released called ‘Batmania.’ Being from Melbourne, the guys were happy to have a link with the old town. John Batman, his concept for the town as ‘Batmania.’ It all linked in. Shaun likes linking words. ‘It’s not that serious, it’s a play on words as well. Fearless Vampire Killers, Batmania, Roman Polanski and Jnohn Batman. All rolled into one. Shaun lives in the best tradition of the educated indie musician.’
There are ten songs on the release. The album began its journey some two years ago when the first tracks were laid down when the guys were just sixteen years of age. ‘It should have taken only a year to make this record, but it ended up taking two,’ he explains. Line-up changes, a decision to have the Cd mixed overseas, all meant delays. The release was recorded at Melbourne Sound Park Studios. Why there? ‘Because they were cheap to hire! We brought all our own stuff, even our own engineer in the day. He had all his own gear.’ But things took their time. Shaun explains that the album has been ready for about a year. ‘It gets mastered, one single lead to another single and another single. The artwork has to be done. We then had to work out how were were going to release it. Next time we’ll do it as quick as we can! Two years is too long.’ Shaun points to the live show as to how the band sounds now.
‘The record is the sound that we had two or three years ago. They sound a little different now,’ he explains. ‘A bit louder and a bit faster.’ The press release talks about “raw talent and genius.’ I asked Shaun for a small explanation. What’s the raw talent and who has the genius? ‘Justin is the genius, maybe he has the raw talent and Al is the genius? Maybe I’m the infectious one?’ Favourite track was the last one on the release. ‘All Coked Up.’ ‘It was fun and I enjoyed listening to it. Plus it’s the last track on the album. It has no words. We don’t play it live. It is just a 7 minute jam. It’s a piece of music, not a song.’
Favourite track? ‘None, they’re all my children!’ I
got the feeling Shaun was the edgy character rocking back and forth on the chair never able to stand still.
FI was not wrong. Even in rehearsals and before going on stage, it was hard to Shaun to stand still. The launch will happen in November.