Portland’s purveyors of perfect Pop Van Go Lion (that’s my clever writing quota for the year done!) release their brand new single ‘Body Moves’ today on Ninthwave Records.
Unashamedly ambassadors for electronic Pop music, the duo of Josh Loerzel and Amy Paige have been quietly and constantly putting out the kinda’ of tunes that make you smile and make you dance for the last year or so but the release of ‘Body Moves’ should give them a bit more exposure and propel them into the ElectroPop limelight. The track features everything we’ve come to expect from VGL in the last twelve months. Josh’s kicking dancefloor production with a synthetic twist and Amy’s powerful vocal delivery and lyrics shot through with a streak of humour.
It’s actually interesting that Ninthwave is putting out the single as in retrospect Van Go Lion are, in many ways, the spiritual successors to the 90’s Modern SynthPop scene. A lot of the elements of Modern SynthPop are present in VGL’s music but with added savy when it comes to contemporary music and dancefloor production (something Modern SynthPop always failed miserably at). Maybe that’s what Van Go Lion represent, Modern SynthPop all grown up and ready for the big time.
With the huge, anthemic, ElectroPop of ‘Body Moves’ Van Go Lion will defiantly be seeing a lot more attention. Listen for the “show me moves made of sweat and a bassline” drop…awesome!
Amy and Josh were kind enough to share their thoughts on this, that and the other. Here’s the ‘words’ bit:
ER: How did you guys get together? Was is always to make electronic music? Were you in bands before you got together?
Amy: I moved to Portland from NYC in ’09 and Josh answered by ad on Craigslist for a band. We’d both been in some bands over the years, but nothing serious. Band sluts! Originally Van Go Lion was a four-piece alternative-pop band, but we decided to do our own thing in early 2010 and it immediately went toward pop. It was totally natural! All it took was the two of us sitting down and listening to a little Tears for Fears, a little Madonna, and that was that, we were synth-pop.
ER: Van Go Lion? What does that mean anyway?
Amy: Haha, we get that a lot. So back in the 80’s there was this goofy show on PBS called ‘Zoobilee Zoo’ where the characters were humans dressed up as singing and dancing animals. Watch it now and you’d probably be horrified, but as a kid it was the most amazing thing. Van Go Lion was one of them. Plus we thought it’d look cool on t-shirts.
ER: Who are your heroes and influences, both musical and otherwise?
Josh: Queen, Billy Ocean.
Amy: PRINCE!
ER:The 3m30s pop song is one of the most important things on the planet and can change your life. Discuss.
Amy: Totally, that quintessential pop song can change your life, so true! A few years ago I would have completely agreed with 3m30s, but now that I’m doing it I’d have to bump that up to 4:30. Lots of the classics are there, Vogue, Billy Jean, they all go up to about 4:30. I think I’m taking this too seriously…but this is serious business.
ER: What movie would you have liked your music to be on the soundtrack of? And what song in what scene?
Josh: Top Gun, the volley ball scene.
Amy: Sex and the City, one of those scenes when the four of them are walking down the street all dressed up and you’re all like, “Watch out, THOSE ladies are OUT ON THE TOWN”
ER: What’s in Van Go Lion’s’ studio? What are your favourite bits of kit?
Josh: 2 Macs, a condenser mic, a couple keyboards and speakers. I like my cool plug-ins galore.
ER: And how does that translate live, both with gear and performance?
Josh: Lots and lots of sampling and live singing.
Amy: The gear is minimal but the sound that comes out is big. Our goal is to make our live show as close to the recordings as possible and I think we do that well.
ER: If money was no object what synth would be your dream purchase?
Josh: A Roland AX-1, red. KEYTAR!
ER: Who would your dream support slot be supporting?
Josh: Madonna or Lady Gaga.
Amy: Robyn, Pink, Sam Sparro or Lady Gaga.
ER: What does the future hold for Van Go Lion?
Amy: Releasing more music! There’s a whole debut album no one has heard yet, plus we’re constantly working on new tracks and on becoming stronger writers and musicians. ‘Body Moves’ is our official single so it’s just the beginning. We really want to get our live set out there. Also, the future will hopefully involve keytars.
ER: Are Van Go Lion more cereal or pile of pancakes for breakfast kinda’ band? Would that change the morning after a show?
Josh: Cereal!
Amy: Cereal, but I’d prefer a big disgusting pile of pancakes any day. Oh yes, especially after a show.
Cheers guys.
Check out title track from the single:
‘Body Moves is released today:
electronic rumors 