Tom Vek Will Kick Off if He Doesn’t Have Tacos on his Rider

The best shows are always when you’re within touching distance of the artist; located in a room where you can hear someone’s heartstrings pull. They’re intimate, and for that reason, memorable. You get to hear the music like it’s being played just for you. Sofar Sounds have been putting on these sort of life-changing shows for years – taking over people’s living rooms across the globe. Now they’re teaming up with GAP – as part of their #summerloves campaign – to bring Sofar to a bigger audience.

We caught up with Tom Vek before his performance at last week’s Sofar event.

Noisey: Have you played a secret show before?

Tom Vek: I’ve definitely played to a room of people that don’t know what’s going on but whether that was secret or not, I’m not sure. Tonight, the sets are short so it seems like things can only go badly for a very short amount of time. It’s more fun this way though. Usually people want you to do so much social propagating. It’s nice to be under cover.

Have you been to someone else’s secret show?

No, it’s not like me. I need to know what I’m doing and I’m very much into my panicky organisation. I’m always like, “What’s going on, what’s going on?” My label’s office is just *points* there, so I think that’s how it came about. That’s safe for me. When I come for meetings I come here so it feels like a family space. It should be fine. I’ve heard people will be sitting on sofas which is a little concerning.

That’s an extremely homely show…

I hope there are enough sofas for everyone. I’ll just do my thing regardless of how relaxed it is. Hopefully I can convert some relaxed, curious musos.

Do you think there will be people here who haven’t heard of Tom Vek then?

I imagine there will be quite a few. Maybe some people who are on the fence. I always like convincing some people. It’s a weird thing because I’d so much rather people heard the recordings for the first time rather than me live. We try and play faithfully to the recordings so hopefully that’ll work out fine.

Your new album is called Luck.

The album deals with that. Should anyone consider themselves lucky? Does that get in the way of working hard and getting somewhere? I was in two minds whether to call the record that or not. There’s a song on the record called “Pushing Your Luck” because that’s a term I find particularly interesting. I grew up on emo grungey music and that’s all about frustration. This album particularly has its backbone in rock music – I’m not frustrated exactly but when I work I do the sounds first and then the feelings and words kind of come out and that’s how this cautionary tale came out. There are a lot of warnings. I’ve always written this way, even on the first album. All these questions.

Do you think you’re lucky?

It’s a difficult one. I’ve had enough luck in my time. I remember being told very young that the more I practice, the luckier I get – that old saying. I sort of thought it was true but is there something humbling about still believing in luck? You can certainly be unlucky, you can have misfortunate things happen to you. So is luck simply avoiding misfortunate events? Interesting. When you get to your late 20s it’s very easy to feel down and feel like nothing good will happen to you. Sometimes you need someone to come in and give a slight change of perspective. In that sense, my music is often optimism shrouded in being cool and cynical.

You said you like emo music. What kind of emo music?

I like Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against The Machine. From there my taste evolved with my drumming. Whatever was more interesting in terms of beats and grooves. There’s a band I really love from that era called Soul Coughing. I still take a lot of influence from them. He had a very beat poet rappy thing going on, it’s very noir. It’s Lynchian and rather unhinged. But they had an amazing drummer that had these grooves. As an emo-grunge-rock drummer, it was cool to me.

Are you still a bit of an emo?

Sure – I still listen to those bands a lot. Deftones are the best, they’re a classy band. R.I.P Chi.

You did this album pretty much on your own too.

Yeah. I’d always played and written by myself but I’d always had a producer to help wrap it up before. That’s the hard part really. You can get 95% of the way and you get stuck at a point where you know things could be better. Finishing something is the hardest thing to do on your own but now I felt like, it’s okay, I know what to do to get this finished. Being independent gets somehow easier and moving to an indie label was a big move but I like to feel independent and not at the mercy of someone else to finish something. I needed someone to help me with the first album – I wasn’t as pro tools literate as the guy I worked with. But that’s the kind of stuff I know now how to do myself.

Do you prefer being a lone wolf then?

Yeah – I mean…if I were to meet somebody and we got on then maybe I’ll change my mind. There are pros and cons to everything. I worked with a friend on a side project last year for a couple of songs and that was really fun. It can be easier though not having to have a debate or argument with someone about issues. I kind of feel like the brand of Tom Vek is just “a dude”. One man’s vision. And it’s fun that it really is that now. I am so passionate about all these weird roles behind the scenes and now I’ve learnt all these roles. It’s not a right and wrong but it suits me.

But tonight you’re back to collaboration – playing with your band.

I think my music sounds like band music. I wouldn’t know how to play live completely solo. My music would be very boring live with just me as in the studio it’s all pedals and stuff and doing things one at a time. It’s finding the right people to work with – I like these guys. It’s nice to come into a space with all the instruments and people.

And the space tonight is very interesting. Is it exciting to play in a venue that isn’t just another pub or regular space?

Ask me tonight after it’s done [laughs]. You never know – it’s a big boomy room which is always nerve wracking from a technical point of view. It’s weird – you can never tell how a show is going to go. I’m feeling good vibes which is usually a good sign and it’s a really short set. It should be a breeze. And it looks interesting.

What’s your perfect venue?

My favourite place to play is a place called Union Pool in Brooklyn. It has a separate theatre as the gig venue and then there’s a very cool bar with a taco truck. And they give you taco tokens for your food. It’s nice when the venue is separate from the bar. It’s so cool there … I think it’s because I’m a bit of a tourist.

I don’t think we’ll be getting tacos tonight.

I’ll kick off if there’s not. We’re going for Turkish so that’ll be appropriate anyway.

Do you like the other artists playing tonight? Or is that a secret to you as well?

I know Teleman, I’m label mates with them. But I don’t know the other band. I know they’re called Crushed Beats but I don’t know them. And they may remain a secret! The problem with playing shows is that you often don’t get to see your support or other bands on that night. When you’re soundchecking and going to dinner, you can miss them. It’s always a shame.

What can people expect from a Tom Vek set?

A twist on contemporary rock music. Maybe some interesting noises. Some semi-in tune vocals. Some beats.

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