A.M. Vibe Interview!

San Diego band A.M. Vibe is back with a new album and are ready to rock your socks off. A.M. Vibe recently released their second full-length, self-produced album ‘Capricornio’. The band won “Best Recording” at the San Diego Music Awards and have toured with bands such as Zwan and Jesus and Mary Chain. If you have not had a chance to see them, you should make a point of it. According to their website, the band describes themselves as “a rock band that use our ’sometimes noisy, sometimes nice’ approach. Clean guitars, fuzzy guitars, Carpenters-esk vocals with a Pixies edge.” Lisah Nicholson has a great voice and rocks the guitar, Mark Vernon keeps the band in time on the drums and Porter creatively plucks the bass line. Recently, A.M. Vibe played at a Keep A Breast/Chopaderos fund raiser and packed Hensley’s Flying Elephant Pub and Grill in Carlsbad.

I was able to catch up with the trio (Porter was out of town) to talk about what’s new on the A.M. Vibe front.

1. Introduce yourself to your public. How did you all meet?

Hello, I’m Mark the drummer/melodica player. I was turned onto A.M. Vibe by the A&R woman who signed my previous band while I was living in LA. I had moved to North County and wasn’t really looking for a band, but I really liked Lisah and Porter. I thought the songs were really good, and that I could contribute.
HI! I’m Lisah. I met Porter (a.k.a. P Ditty) a long time ago. We had a mutual friend and she really wanted us to be in a band together and voila!
Plus, I used to see Dodgeball (Porter’s band) play and I’m sure Red Dye No.5 (my last band) played with them a few times….?
PORTER - Was unfortunately out of town at the time of the interview.

2. What goes into choosing a band name?

MARK - In this case, I think it was desperation…the band had a gig and needed a name. Lisah came up with A.M. Vibe. I still don’t know what it means.
LISAH - Oh Markus Wellby!!! You know what it means….or did you forget?

3. Was A.M. Vibe the first name you thought of?

MARK - Probably not.
LISAH - Nope. Choosing a band name is so hard. I don’t care who you are, it’s hard. A.M Vibe has a meaning and I told Mark what A.M. Vibe stood for after we recorded ‘Capricorno’. We were walking back to the hotel on Hollywood Boulevard after we all had some celebretory ‘finishing the record’ cocktails!!!! Whheeeeee - that was at the Frolic Room in Hollywood…fun…(that night Porter said, “I’m gonna do 5 shots of tequila in 30 minutes!” Let’s just say, he did.

4. Who’s idea was it to bring A.M. Vibe together and what other bands have you all played in?

LISAH - I played in Red Dye No. 5. I wanted to start another band after about a year off from Red Dye, so I started this band.
PORTER - Played in Dodgeball
MARK - I played in the Almighty Ultrasound. A.M. Vibe was already a band when I replaced the old drummer.

5. With two self-produced full-length albums under your belt, will the band do more touring for the album ‘Capricorno’?

MARK - It is very expensive and very difficult to break your band by hitting the road. We are selling records all over the USA right now through CD Baby without having to finance a tour. That’s not to say we wouldn’t tour…things would need to be in place and it would need to make sense for us. If we got the Smashing Pumpkins tour tomorrow…we would pack our bags tonight.

6. While in A.M. Vibe, where was your favorite place to play and which band has been the most fun to play with?

LISAH - Well, we have played some really fun and big shows…I think my favorite was either with Zwan (Billy Corgans band) in Vegas at the Hard Rock or with Freeheat (ex-Jesus and Mary Chain members) at the Troubadour in L.A. because it was great to see my friends and play some gigs with them. But gee, let’s see here …we have played some really funs shows but those stick out for me just now.
MARK - I would have to agree with Lisah. The Zwan show was fun. If you’re going to spend the night and gamble at the Hard Rock it might as well be after you rocked 1500 faces off. Lisah checked a pineapple at the coat check, Porter had a conversation with a Pepsi machine and I learned a new language..Porteresse - now that’s rock.

7. What was the inspiration behind the ‘Capricorno’ album?

LISAH - That record has some really sad songs on it..lyrically. I had gone though some terrible things in life and they came out in songs of course. I reckon the inspiration was getting it all out of my soul. And also the ‘way’ some humans are….i just cant get my head around it at times so I wrote about that…Religion and its curiosities…(my boyfriend) Elvis and his magnitude…and how much I love him…life and things…hide and seeking…spinning out of control and looking for clairity in mind…infinite. Mark wrote the lyrics for his wife Dana on Sea Song.
MARK - Indeed I did, it had been a while since I had wrote any lyrics, so it was nice to get that chance. I think the over all idea was to make a better, deeper record…and I think we did.

8. If you could play with any artist? Who would it be?

LISAH - Oh man, that is hard question….
MARK - For me it would be; U2, The Stones and Led Zeppelin. Actually, that would make a pretty awesome bill. Playing with Oasis wouldn’t suck either. But if we are talking about reality I would like to do a gig with Band of Horses.

9. Split questions: favorite city, band, movie, place to drink?

LISAH - Sydney Australia and my hometown. I dont have a favorite band, I like many bands. Movie would be ‘Bridges over Madison County’ or ‘The Black Stallion’ or Monty Python…oh my, that could go on for a while. Heh…ok, favorite place to drink? Hmmmmmm, that would be with friends anywhere but I dont like drinking much anymore.
MARK - Paris or Amsterdam. My favorite band of all time would the Beatles. Movies…hummm…I’m not a big movie guy but I would have to say ‘Gimmie Shelter’ or ‘Almost Famous’. My favorite place to drink would have to be at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, a true dive bar where the Rolling Stones have played a few times. Also, the Westerpark in Amsterdam with my bicycle club buddies from the Chopaderos.

10. Where do you see A.M. Vibe going from here?

MARK - “To the topper most of the popper most”. (Google it)
LISAH - To make another record hopefully this year. And go on tour with Zep.

11. When is your next show?
MARK - The only show booked right now is at The Ken Club on March 8th with the Black Out party.
LISAH - I think we might do some dates with the Marychain this year.

12. Anything else you would like your fans to know?

MARK - We have fans?
LISAH - Yes indeed! I like to share the music and thoughts in our songs. It’s important to me to share because I remember listening to bands that I really “got” and it meant sooo much to me and I want to give that back to anyone who cares. Thank you kindly for listening! xxxx