[listen] Vehicles
Layers of sound that beg for repeated listening. Wall of guitars, yet the melody is not lost. Ethereal keys lift the music into space. This is Vehicles.
The band members are Cody Cloud (vocals/guitar), Kerry Bainum (drums), Daniel White (guitar/keyboard), Taylor Martin (guitar), and Blake Miles (bass). I met with Daniel and Kerry before their show at Rock Island Live this month to find out more about the band.
How did Vehicles form?
Kerry: Cody and I had been playing in bands for 12 years now. We had a different version of Vehicles (starting in 2005) and guys decided to go in a different direction. We’ve been doing this current lineup for a couple years. Things are starting to go really well.
What are the songs about and how do you describe the sound?
Kerry: We’re space rock. That’s what everybody says.
Daniel: We’re kind of space jam rock. Cody is the main songwriter and basically talks about issues in his life from dealing with his father in law, church, his own personal struggles. Sometimes it’s kind of dark.
Kerry: They’re about male/female relationship stuff that a lot of music talks about.
Daniel: We’re starting to incorporate more people into the songwriting process. For the most part, Cody brings in a song or a song idea to us, then we add our part to it.
What are your musical influences?
Kerry: WILCO!
Daniel: I grew up with a lot of classic rock – Pink Floyd, Beatles, Zeppelin. I really love Sunny Day Real Estate. Cody’s influences have been Mellowdrone, Secret Machines, Radiohead. Our sound has a lot of “Euro” flavor.
Kerry: I’ve been going between Wilco, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins.
Daniel: Kerry is a classically trained percussionist and Blake, our bassist, is classically trained on upright bass. They both have a wide range. Taylor grew up playing bluegrass. Cody and I are self taught and have grown up playing in bands.
What is the ultimate goal for Vehicles?
Daniel: Get better gigs, a little more money to put toward albums, improve how we sound and how we play and have fun while we do it.
What bands do you want to play with?
Daniel: We just played with Roman Numerals out of Kansas City. We opened for Pilot Speed, Black Gasoline. We’ve played with Spirit of the Stairs, In the Wake, and Sailor Sequence out of Kansas City.
Kerry: I wouldn’t mind playing with Gooding. I’d love to play more shows with Black Gasoline, we had a good time with them. We’d like to play with Sky Meets Earth.
What should Wichita know about Vehicles?
Kerry: We don’t leave anything behind. We give 110% at shows. Every night is different. We love Wichita, love being a part of the scene.
Daniel: We’re not the typical rock band. Come see us and be surprised.
Vehicles’ album Luna is available at iTunes, CDBaby, and their shows. They are currently working on a 4-song EP to be released this summer.
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