Start Listening To: Vona Vella

After a two-year pause, the Nottingham-based five-piece return with new songs, new perspectives, and a renewed love for vocal harmony.

Vona Vella have never been a band to rush things. Since their 2022 debut ‘Go Outside Forever’, the group has grown quietly and confidently into a fully-formed five-piece. Drawing influence from The Coral to The Beautiful South, they've carved out a sound that's at once familiar and gently off-kilter. Their latest single, ‘Over and Over’, marks a darker, more reflective turn, shaped by personal experience and time spent away. We caught up with the band to talk about life post-debut, recording by the sea, and what it’s like to share a festival bill with Robbie Williams.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We’re a five-piece indie band taking notes from The Coral, The Strokes, Everything But The Girl, Belle & Sebastian … the list goes on! We’re based in Nottingham, but members stretch to Leeds and London. Occasionally a logistical nightmare, but we make it work! 

You’ve just released your first single in two years, ‘Over and Over’. What made this song feel like the right reintroduction to Vona Vella?

We’re sitting on a fair bit of new music, and ‘Over and Over’ felt like a strong “we’re back” message, and perhaps a decent palette cleanser. A few reviews have mentioned it feels a little darker than we were before, which would make sense. We’ve been experiencing life a lot more in the past two years and have lots more to write about. 

There’s a dreamy but driven quality to ‘Over and Over’. How did the track take shape in the studio, and how did Jason Stafford’s production influence the final result?

Once the tempo was set, ‘Over and Over’ came together really nicely in the studio. All the bands’ parts are very gelled together and important. Once you’re in the song, you feel safe in it. Jason really understood the mission for this song. We never wanted it to be a super-fast indie summer hit or anything, more ethereal and a little more serious. 

You’ve said the song is about tolerating people’s imperfections. Was that drawn from personal experiences or more of a general feeling you wanted to explore?

Personal experience is certainly behind the lyrics to ‘Over and Over’. When you’re leaving your teens and starting your twenties, there’s still a lot of naivety lurking around you. But as you learn more, and have more friendships/relationships, you learn to be more cautious. Maybe not everyone wants the best for you, and that’s okay. Perhaps we’re all removing our rose-tinted glasses! 

The video was filmed at The Great Escape and edited by Roger Sargent. What was it like handing the visual side over to someone with such a legacy in music photography and film?

We would always hand over visual to Roger with full confidence and pure excitement of what he’ll think of. His brain seems to be wired a bit differently. He only thinks of cool ideas … and he’s also lovely to be around. It’s pretty surreal for us, looking at his “portfolio” of celebs and icons, and then working with him ourselves! Pleasure always. 

Your music pulls from a wide range of influences, including Belle and Sebastian, The Strokes, and The Beautiful South. Do you share the same musical reference points as a band, or do your tastes vary?

Our taste does sometimes vary in the band but we never struggle to have a good car playlist everyone’s happy with. Dexter’s (guitar) got us all hooked on Wilco. We’ll sing ‘Jesus, Etc.’ like a choir quite regularly haha. We all love Parcels too, although it’s completely different to us. 

Your vocal harmonies are a big part of what defines the Vona Vella sound. How do you approach arranging vocals together?

We honestly don’t arrange harmonies too much, we just sing them how we fancy. It’s different for every gig. We occasionally have to pull back on the harmonies so we don’t sound TOO choir like, we can get carried away haha. We’re enjoying sharing a lead vocal now, singing in different octaves instead. And both taking a verse each is fun too.

Since releasing Go Outside Forever, how do you feel your sound has changed, especially now that you’ve grown into a five-piece?

It’s hard to reflect on our early releases as if we’re the same people honestly! We really have changed so much as everyone does from 19 to 24 ish. A lot happens, your taste changes, your performance style, inspiration. We’re always proud of our early work, even if it feels wildly different. Now there’s five of us, it’s easier to feel confident in the music. Five decent opinions is pretty solid!

You recorded ‘Over and Over’ at The Albion Rooms in Margate. How did being in that space shape the process or atmosphere of the sessions?

Almost everything on our discography has been recorded at The Albion Rooms, and it’s strange to imagine recording anywhere else. With staying in the hotel above the studio and hardly leaving the building, it becomes the perfect little nest for musical inspiration. It’s dead easy to lock in. We usually find our most productive hours are about 4pm - midnight. Although by the end of the week, we feel like deleting Uber eats and Deliveroo forever.

Opening for Peter Doherty across Europe must have been an intense experience. What did you learn from that run of shows, both musically and personally?

On the Europe Tour with Peter, we had the chance to play our new music to a brand new crowd. It’s made us feel like a million bucks, because it was SO well received. We’re just itching to release all the tunes and go back to Europe like we promised! We also enjoyed taking a few notes from Peter’s set, the way he and the band perform together. It’s like a different show every night. Certainly, one of our best memories we’ll ever have as a band. 

You recently launched your own new music night, Vona Vella Presents, at The Grove in Nottingham. What inspired you to create that space, and what kind of atmosphere are you hoping to build?

We’re so excited for our first music night at The Grove! Dan opened up the venue in August last year with local Notts friend Cam, and it’s just taken off. The Nottingham support has been crazy and so dedicated to the music scene. We know it’s going to be an amazing night because the Grove attendees are the best gig goers. It’s pretty special for us to all play The Grove, after hosting so many amazing artists there. It’s our turn!

What do you love right now?

Current LOVES - Big Thief, the sun being out, Nottingham in the summer, lechyd Da by Bill Ryder-Jones & horror movies  

What do you hate right now?

HATES - Glasto fomo and AI Spotify music kinda sucks honestly. 

Looking ahead, what can listeners expect next from Vona Vella? Are you already working on new material or focusing more on live performance for now?

We’re planning to smash it out the park, all the frills. New music coming out and loads of gigs too. We’re planning to be mega busy and just gig as much as we can around the UK and elsewhere. We feel very excited about playing our new songs, and are especially excited to play a big festival this year at Newcastle. Robbie Williams will be there which makes us all happy people. He would probably be a suitable answer for the previous question, we all grew up with a bit of Robbie. Now we’re sharing a festival poster! 

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