Premiere: Meet Perth indie-rockers Vancool, who are one to watch with I’ll Follow You

Vancool are an act that everyone in Western Australia should be watching right now. Led by Dion Mariani (The Flairz, Custom Royal and Ray Finkle), the indie-rock outfit have already been labelled one of the state's best new bands with just three songs under their belt (2019's debut Better Tonight and last year's pair of Change Your Mind and Undone) and live shows that transform their already-pulsing rock energy into something otherworldly; a live show that's become one to watch in Perth's live music space, something well worth going out your way for when shows are announced.

After a breakthrough last year thanks to those two singles, the group are now keeping their eyes set on 2021, a year that they hope cements their one-to-watch status in stone for what's coming next. Premiering on Pilerats today ahead of its greater release later this week, their new single I'll Follow You is a song that might just do it, showing the charm and energy of Vancool as they hit a new peak.

It's a single that acts as a perfect introductory point for Vancool if you're yet to be acquainted already, capturing the heart of their sound and how they translate that into catchy indie-rock. I'll Follow You feels destined for the festival stage in that way; pacing vocals dancing amongst a hotbed of guitar and percussion that feels like the morphing of modern-day giants like DMA's with the nostalgia and rough-around-the-edges pulse of classics like Catfish and the Bottlemen and the Arctic Monkeys.

It's also a single that - for frontman Dion Mariani - showcases how Vancool are changing and moving forwards in the year ahead. "I never wanted to put a full stop on where Vancool’s sound would go," he says on the single, which also arrives with a combo of tour dates you can find underneath the embed below. "This new single, I feel, is the closest and most accurate representation of where Vancool is right now - it’s really exciting."

Exciting it indeed is, and you can take a listen to I'll Follow You below, as it premieres on the Pilerats now. Underneath, introduce yourself to Vancool, and catch their forthcoming, not-to-be-missed tour dates:

Tell us about yourself?

Vancool is an indie rock project that I formed towards the end of 2019, and has been gigging around for the better part of the last 18 months or so. It continually gets more and more fun - it’s been a great ride so far and I’m really lucky to have such amazing musicians, some of my best mates, onboard too.

What’s your music like? What does it sound like? What kind of themes does it usually cover? 

To sum up, I’d say 3-minute pop/rock songs, drenched in guitars, which is essentially the music I grew up with. Sonically, I’ve had comparisons to You Am I, Catfish and the Bottlemen and DMA’s, which I’d say is pretty accurate haha! In terms of themes, I guess anything goes really. I’ve always been drawn to the idea of capturing a ‘snapshot’ in time, of my life, and the people and friends around me - the forever, never-ending changes in life.

What are your production and writing processes usually like? 

Usually, it’ll start off as an idea which I’ll flesh out and demo at home. Then I’ll spend time working on it until I’m happy to add it to the live set. Production-wise, and in the case of I’ll Follow You, I had my mate, Justin, who helped produce the song - he was quite happy to take elements from the demo and put them straight into the final studio version, which I thought was really cool. You can actually hear moments in the final master that came straight from takes I did in the early demo.

Can you tell us about your new single, I’ll Follow You? 

I’ll Follow You was a complete spur-of-the-moment song for me, a total impulse write. I remember just sitting at home, actually going through a bunch of demos that I had recently finished, when I thought - purely as a fun exercise, that I’d attempt to write another song before I had to go out (it was New Year’s Eve, I’m pretty sure), and I just remember having a lot of fun, and it happening quite quickly, which was also insanely frustrating because I still hadn’t finished a number of songs that I was already in the middle of working on haha! But I’m really proud of how the song turned out.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2021?

Vancool has already had such a great 2021, it’s been so much fun playing some really special shows along the way. Obviously, I’ll Follow You comes out on Friday, which is exciting. Then we kick off a tour next week at The Aardvark in Fremantle, before we head down south for some shows, then I guess it’s back into studio mode to continue working on some new material, which I’m also super excited about.

What do you want people to take away from your work? 

I think as a songwriter, performing and releasing songs you’ve written is already one of the great pleasures, and when you hear people say that they really dig your song, or maybe they’ve added it to their playlist, or just had a great time at one of your gigs, then I think that’s probably the most rewarding part. I hope people continue to enjoy listening to the music Vancool puts out and of course, the live shows. I know we certainly have a ball.

Where can we find more of your music?

Usual suspects; Spotify, Apple Music… all the streaming things! 

Tour Dates: 

May 28 - Aardvark, Fremantle + special guests
May 29 - Fire Station, Busselton
May 30 - Bungalow Neighbourhood Social, Dunsborough

Follow Vancool: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM