Vinyl Theatre

Vinyl Theatre opened up for Twenty One Pilots on the 'Quiet is Violent' tour and it was there that we found them. I attended the show with my newest roommate who fortunately turned out to be a huge Twenty One Pilots fan! The show was insane and although I had to retreat from the pit to the back of the venue, I was able to stay for Vinyl Theatre's performance. And what a performance! Immediately, I fell in love with their sound. I went by their merch table after their set and spoke briefly with Keegan where we took pics, I got a CD, and spoke of an interview. So now! Here it is! (Thanks, Nick!)

What was it like for you guys living in a van on tour? What was the greatest difficulty? What was the best part?

It's a little difficult to do, but fun. Sleeping while we're moving can be a bit of a challenge. We recently installed a TV in the van complete with retro games and that is keeping us a little more sane in the van for hours. Going to a new city every day was always really exciting. Having the chance to be an opener every night for twenty one pilots was such a great experience.

What are your aspirations for Vinyl Theatre in the future?

I want to keep writing music with those three guys as long as possible. We love making music together and I hope that never changes. Hopefully in 2015, we get to do more touring and keep sharing our music with the world.

What events, if any, inspired the songs from 'Electrogram'?

Electrogram is a culmination and reflection of our lives at the time. Most of the music was written prior to signing with Fueled By Ramen. The struggle to create something completely unique was one of our main motivations when we were writing the album.

How does it feel knowing your music is being played on radio stations in Europe?

We're ecstatic to hear that! Going to Europe is a dream of ours. Some much great music has come out of Europe as of late. Hopefully we can make that happen in the coming years.

What's your favorite activity when you're on tour?

If we have time, it's nice to get out and see each city we are playing in. It's funny that some of our only memories of certain places are the drive in and the concert hall or club we play at. On the lucky occasion when we have a day off, we try not to waste it and get out to do something.

What do you guys do in the van (when you're not sleeping)?

Listening to new music is a must in the van. Not only do we want to see what's new, it's nice to see what other bands are doing. We try to look for influence in all places and it's good to relax and just listen. We sometimes write music in the van, but it's tough with limited space. If you're in the back bench, it's Goldeneye or Super Mario.

You guys just finished the Quiet is Violent tour with Twenty One Pilots, what band would be your ideal to tour with next?

We all have bands that we would love to tour with, but I wouldn't want to just name them because they are our favorites. To me, the twenty one pilots tour was a perfect example of three bands that mesh perfectly. I hope the next tour can be on the same level sonically.

What was the highlight of The Quiet is Violent tour for you guys?

During one of our last shows of the tour, Josh from twenty one pilots came out after one of our songs and did a back flip off of Chris's keyboard. That was the big highlight. We also got to run out during twenty one pilots' set with Misterwives and dance near the end of their set.

When you guys stepped out onto the stage the first night you opened up for Twenty One Pilots, what was the atmosphere like? Were you nervous? Had you played in front of a crowd that large before?

That was the biggest crowd we had played for to date. I think it was just under 6,000 people. I think we were nervous and equally excited. When we went out, the sun was just setting and the crowd was roaring with energy. We had no idea what to expect on a tour of this size. twenty one pilots took us under their wing and showed us the ropes. We learned so much from them and we couldn't have asked for a better first national tour.

Time for a silly question, what's the strangest thing we'd find in your fridge if we were to look right now?

In our van, there's only a cooler with one lonely Coca-Cola. Some of you will know what I am talking about.