More about: VIstas

Introducing our newest feature on Gigwise, where we use the song title as a springboard for conversation to give our dear readers a deeper insight into the musical works of our fave artists. To kick off the feature with a bang we’ve invited Vistas, the Edinburgh indie-pop trio, to take us through the song titles for their debut album, Everything Changes In The End. 

Releasing a debut album in the social and political quagmire of a global pandemic is not something to be taken lightly, yet the Scottish trio have decided to face the threat head on, and plough through to provide the goods. Lead singer Prentice Robertson takes us through the album, title by title, so that you can enjoy the album with extra insight - covering everything from the most foolish thing they’ve done to the first instruments they ever picked up. 

Gigwise: ‘Intro’ - Introduce your band in five words.

Prentice Robertson: Hey we’re Vistas from Scotland.

GW: ‘Everything Changes In The End’ - How have you been adapting to the changes in the world currently? Did you ever imagine you would be releasing an album, and your debut no less, in the midst of a global pandemic?

PR: It’s been a strange period of adjustment for all artists but I think we’ve managed to adapt okay. We’ve been doing lots of live-streamed gigs, guitar lessons, Q&A’s and writing a huge amount of new music. We definitely didn’t think we’d be putting out an album in the middle of a pandemic but I’m glad we’re still releasing it. I hope it can provide some light relief for people and it reinforces for me that being in a band is all worth it.

GW: ‘Teenage Blues’ - Who were your musical heroes when you were a teenager? Are they still the same now?

PR: My teenage musical heroes were The Strokes and I would say they probably still are now. The record they recently put out shows they still know how to write fresh indie tunes and re-work the formula that they’re so good at.

GW: '15 Years’ - You sing “And I could move to California, and I would know that I’d still wanna go to the basement clubs” on this one, how much of an impact has your hometown music scene had on you as a band? And could you tell us a little more about it?

PR: That’s absolutely what it’s about. ’15 Years’ is a thank you letter to our fans and that lyric is saying that no matter where we might end up I’ll always be thankful for the basement gigs we played in our hometown and then later up and down the country. I think it’s really important for bands who are starting out to really cut their teeth in their local venues. A lot of the time that’s where the best bands are born.

GW: ‘Sucker’ - You say on this track that you’re “a sucker and a fool” when you’re in love, outside of love, what is the most foolish thing you have done?

PR: Well I broke my left wrist playing football in goals. And then six months later I broke my right wrist also playing football in goals so that was pretty daft.

GW: ‘Summer’ - How have your plans changed for summer this year? What will you be doing to fill your time in the absence of festivals?

PR: The main change as you say is the absence of festivals. The last three summers I’ve been playing festivals or recording so it feels strange not being able to book any of that in. I think we’ll spend a lot of time planning for album two and getting the direction of that ready so that when the world goes back to normal we’ll already have a lot of the framework for it.

GW: ‘Tigerblood’ - This song has been kicking around for a little while, what changes did you make to this and ‘Retrospect’ for the album?

PR: This actually a really interesting question. We re-recorded every single detail from the clap samples to the ambient background noises and tried to emulate them as closely as we could while giving them a slightly fresher feel. The hardest thing to replicate was the reverse sound that you hear at the start of ‘Retrospect' but I think we got it down. There’s a few extra harmonies and things added to the tracks too that we’ve added in as we played them live countless times over the last few years.

GW: ‘The Love You Give’ - This is one of the singles leading up to release, how did you go about deciding which songs to share first? And how easy was it to decide on the final tracklist?

PR: For the singles we tried to share a slightly different side to Vistas with each track so that’s how we narrowed down what we’d release. Tracklisting-wise, we tried to imagine it as if it was a gig setlist. We wanted the record to feel somewhat live and conjure up images of a festival with your mates so we tried to structure it as best we could like that.

GW: ‘Shout’ - What’s the most memorable thing a fan has shouted at you during a gig? Have you had any interesting fan encounters?

PR: I love the classic Scottish chat - “here we, here we…” and you don’t tend to hear that much at English shows. But I remember when we played Community Festival in London last year we walked out on stage to see loads of Scottish flags in the crowd and to a chorus of “here we, here we…”, so that was a really nice surprise.

GW: ‘You And Me’ - This one is a short, sharp stab of indie pop, do you think there is a specific formula for concocting these kind of songs, and if so, would you say you have perfected it yet?

PR: I wouldn’t say there’s a formula as such, but there is a lot to be said for the structure that goes: riff, verse, chorus, riff, verse, chorus, guitar solo, double chorus. I don’t think we’ve perfected the indie tune yet but in terms of bang for your buck indie I’d say ‘You and Me’ comes pretty close.

GW: ‘Sentimental’ - Do you still have the first instruments you ever bought/acquired? And what are they?

PR: I’m pretty sure we all do. The first instrument I ever had was a violin and thats in my attic. Dylan got a tiny guitar for his sixth birthday which we actually ended up using on the album as an extra layer. And Jamie’s first bass was bought in Costco of all places and we keep that in our practise room.

GW: 'Retrospect’ - What is one thing you wish you could tell your younger self?

PR: Don’t stress out so much and worry about every little detail.

GW: ‘November’ - What is your favourite month of the year and why?

PR: Probably around about August, life just seems to be easier then. I have really fond memories of August last year because that’s when we recorded the record too.

Everything Changes In The End is out now. Vistas headline our virtual SXSW showcase, streaming on Thursday 4 June 2020. Find out more information here. Or buy a ticket below!

More about: VIstas