People love Vampires and I’m not talking about the bloodsucking monsters who dominate pop culture in print and on the big and the little screens.
I’m talking about Winnipeg garage rock/ punk duo Vampires including gui
tarist/ vocalist David Dobbs and drummer vocalist Matthew Powers.
They are on their way out west to rock Sled Island in Calgary on Friday night, June 26 at the Palomino. But en route to that show, they play the second Electric Eye/ Sled Island Lethbridge show at the Slice, June 21 with Medicine Hat metal trio Terra, local garage rock trio The Ruby Plumes and local garage rock band Internet Love.
This will be their second Lethbridge show.
Their first was in October with local bands Mormon Girls and Internet Love.
“That was a great show. It definitely exceeded our expectations. We met a lot of people we hadn’t met before. It was quite possibly the best show of that whole tour,” Dobbs enthused. So when they got their Sled Island booking, they booked a short tour around it and made a point of making sure Lethbridge was part of it.
“Sled Island is my grand pilgrimage. I’ve been going to it for the past five years,” he said.
“We’re opening for Fu Manchu.That’s our first official show. But we’re also working on an extra daytime show of Winnipeg bands,” he said, noting they booked a quick nine date tour around Sled island after which they return home and won’t be on the road again until October.
They are excited to play.
They released their debut EP in 2012 and their most recent Ep “Every Kind of Light” in May 2014
The duo just finished recording a new CD at the Exchange Studio in Winnipeg with producer Shawn Dealey.
“ He’s got quite a few names under his belt ( Counting Crows, the Weakerthans, Imaginary Cities, Novillero). I know it sounds cliche but this is the most excited we’ve ever been about an album,” he said, adding they will be playing a lot of the new songs from the CD which they plan to release at the end of summer.
“There’s a lot more singing on this one. Ever since I found my voice, I can’t shut up,” he said.
“I’ve always liked people who could turn a phrase like Daniel Johns, Neil Young and Thom Yorke,” he continued, adding there are also a lot of guitar riffs in the new music.
“There’s always a lot of riffage. We’re compared to bands like Swervedriver. And while I don’t think we sound anything like them it’s a huge compliment,” he said.
He formed the band in 2012 and made an immediate impression.
I recorded an album with my original partner. But he fell in love with a woman from Argentina. So we released the album and week later he moved to Argentina,” he chuckled, adding he was going to give up on the band, but received too much love from fans. I don’t think I played a single show in 2013, but the band made all of these end of year Top 10 lists with people like Keb Mo and Yo la Tengo. There was so much love,” he said.
So he decided to play the Big Fun Festival in Winnipeg, which is similar to Sled Island in Calgary, except in January.
“ So I hired Matthew Powers. I was already working on another project of his called Midnight Review Presents. So I hired him for the show and told him he could walk away if he wanted to,” he related, adding the two instantly connected musically.
Vampires play with Internet Love, Terra and The Ruby Plumes, June 21 at 9 p.m. at the Slice.
Tickets are $10 or $15 for a wristband that gives you access to the show and the two other Sled island/ Electric Eye Shows in Lethbridge.
