Meeting VLURE in their studio under a motorway flyover on a rainy Glasgow night felt very fitting; the five piece, consisting of singer Hamish Hutcheson, brothers Conor and Niall Goldie on guitar and bass, and Alex Pearson and Carlo Kriekaard on keys and drums, have gained a considerable following for their emotionally intense live shows; performing a darkly glamorous, dance-infused post-punk that feels made for the slick, black city streets.
Your music feels connected to Glasgow in a very intentional way. How important is that to you?
Hamish Hutcheson: It’s ingrained in all of us. And I think for us, it’s very important to be proud of that heritage and be proud of this place. Because of everything that comes with it, there’s an honesty within Glasgow, which is a huge part of our music; we want to have honesty throughout, we want to have passion for our music. It’s a passionate city. It’s a no-bullshit zone. You have to wholeheartedly believe in what you’re doing and who you are for people to take note and understand it. And if you’re not, you’ll get called out. And I think for us, that really has to be ingrained in our music, it has to be part of our identity. And we want to take that identity to the wider world and show that we are proud to be Glaswegian, and to show the world how great Glasgow is.
Conor Goldie: A lot of Scottish artists kind of downplay it. I think we wanted to actively be very Scottish and tell a very Glaswegian story.
Hamish: We filmed the ‘Euphoria’ video on the roof of the studio here. The ‘Desire’ footage is filmed around here in Anderston because this is where we came to be the band and built what we are. So we’ve always wanted to keep that a common theme throughout what we’re doing, and make sure that we’re very much remembering that this is the core of it, that Glasgow is at the core of it. At the start you have nothing else to give
but yourself.
Something that really strikes me about your music is that it’s never just one thing. The songs that, upfront, are quite kind of dance focused – like ‘Euphoria’ – if you look at the lyrical content, they tend to be quite introspective.
Conor: I think it’s about asking the big questions. Like, let’s explore that and really put it outward but without making it an inner dialogue and becoming something people can’t relate to. Being vulnerable with that emotion and putting that on a stage in the way that we have in our live performance, I think it’s a really empowering thing. It’s about, I don’t know, asking for more. You should ask your rock stars for more. It means you don’t just wear the clothes and write the hook. Put more of yourself in the music and try and grapple more out of it.
Carlo Kriekaard: It’s reinforced by the live show, definitely. Because for me – and I think for the rest of us – I can leave it all on the stage. And some of the lyrics Hamish writes, the music we’ve written, is very powerful and it’s really nice to let it all out.
Conor: We can really share that euphoric therapy with other people in a room, and hope that the audience can get the same back from it that we got when we put ourselves into it in the first place.
Hamish: Usually people go on tour and they come back out of shape. I come back from tour so much fitter.
The stages are only getting bigger too – you’re playing the Pitchfork Paris shows and then the SAMAs in a couple of weeks.
Hamish: Pitchfork Paris is a teenage dream for us all. I think we watched all the shows growing up, so to be asked to do it is a full-circle moment for us. I think it’s another kind of teenage dream come true.
Conor: The SAMA show is such a nice thing, like I have mad respect for what they do to shine a light on young artists and Scottish artists. I think we need so much more of that up here. I think pride in your community means everything, so it’s amazing to see folk get recognition
Hamish: And it’s been voted for by the people; I think that the most important thing is that it’s for the people. It seems to have grown really organically over time and that’s our favourite thing. So we always kind of look at that and look at who’s
on there.
Alex Pearson: I’m stoked to play Saint Luke’s as well. My favourite venue. I worked there for three years, so it’s really exciting to actually be up on stage. After this we will be wrapped up, pretty much, for the year, so it’s going to be a good celebration.
VLURE play the Scottish Alternative Music Awards at Saint Luke’s, 8th December
