Bleary-eyed and tellingly unkempt, it’s obvious that Mark Allen, the charismatic frontman and de facto spokesperson for the Vincent(s), is nursing a hangover. “You know yourself, I was hard at it last night”. Although alone for this interview, he’s joined in the band by Shane Murphy on drums, Aaron MacGowan on guitar, Kevin Sanderson on synth, and Marcus Gordon on saxophone and guitar. While The Vincent(s) might be a name still unfamiliar to some here in Dublin, over the three years that they have been together they have steadily risen to become a band of some noteworthiness in their own hometown of Cork. “Cork is small like, but there’s a nice selection of bands”, Mark says, before referencing acts like psych-rockers Altered Hours and dream-poppers Elastic Sleep. “It’s very incestuous – everyone plays in each other’s bands, they’re all in different projects with each other”.
The limited size of the Cork scene seems to act as a boon for its musicians, and Mark suggests that its tight-knit nature acts as a creative stimulant. A number of members of The Vincent(s) have concurrent separate projects. Aaron plays with steppy alt-funk act Lowlek, Marcus is a member of psych-folk outfit The Great Balloon Race, and Shane lends his talents to The Shaker Hymn. Playing with different bands gives these musicians the opportunity to experiment with different sounds, something which they can then feed back into the writing process for The Vincent(s).
Marks describes his own influences as being drawn from a wide variety of sources, mentioning Tom Waits and talking about his love of black metal. The multitude of influences brought together in The Vincent(s) caused them to come up with their own genre tag: “death pop”. It’s a fitting label for their brand of nihilistic but melodic grunge. However, for all that The Vincent(s) are most definitely a “rock” act, there’s a definite note of what always feels to be a very natural Celticism in their music. Mark confirms that this is something he’s definitely aware of and actively tries to incorporate into his songs. “Sean Nós is a huge influence, and I try to fit it in as much as I can. I’ve an Irish accent, and I’m not going to change it… It’s hard to put that into heavy music and to not make it sound forced, but I suppose it’s more natural for us to put that into our music than to put on an accent to make us sound like a “rock” band”.
The Vincent(s) are currently in the process of trying to finish their full-length debut. They have the songs down, but Mark gives the impression that the band are in no hurry to commit themselves to a definite tracklist. He does not come across as a man to compromise, not least to appease an audience, and seemingly the group are following quite a singular vision for the album. “I’ve never been a man to sell myself short, I’ve always had a pretty ’punk’ attitude towards things”, he says.
The Vincent(s) have recently started rubbing shoulders with some rather big names in popular music. Over the summer, The Vincent(s) played support for Billy Idol at his Live at the Marquee gig. Any Leesider will recognize the Marquee as a veritable institution of Cork, and for Mark playing that stage was always something he had wanted to do. “I’ve ticked that box”, he says, before commenting on how nice it was to be “treated like a princess” for the night. Perhaps the most exciting development for the band though has been the close affinity they’ve developed with Courtney Taylor-Taylor, frontman of the ever-popular Dandy Warhols.
Taylor-Taylor has been an ardent champion for the band after they met by chance while both playing at Sea Sessions in Donegal. Their relationship is mostly “long-distance”, with Courtney acting as a mentor of sorts, stepping in to take on mixing duties when needed. Do the Vincent(s) have plans to visit him in his home city of Portland? Definitely. That is, if Shane can sort himself a passport: “It’s definitely something I want to do, if I can get Shane to get a passport. Every time we go into a different country it’s like a letter from his mom saying he’s OK to go in in. He has the forms, he just hasn’t bothered filling them in. He’s difficult, you know?” Mark laughs. It remains to be seen whether Shane will get up in the air or not, but be assured that The Vincent(s) will continue with their own steady rise.
