Vant (stylised as VANT) are a British
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band formed in 2014 by frontman and songwriter Mattie Vant. In 2015, Vant signed to
Parlophone Records
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 19 ...
.
The band announced an "indefinite hiatus" in 2017 to take effect at the end of their Last Days of Punk tour during November. The band released a new song, "Propaganda Machine" in December 2018 and teased new music in 2019.
Background
The band came together in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, while Mattie was working at Dalston venue, Birthdays.
Originally from Seaham, Mattie has played in various bands, formulating the style for Vant while living in Brighton.
A lot of Vant's lyrical themes deal with political issues, with Mattie citing inspiration from global issues; "My concerns are worldwide things. It's not strictly centred around the UK - it's wars, global conflict, global warming".
With this philosophy, Vant prefer to refer to their origin as 'Planet Earth' - rather than associate with a particular nationality. Of this issue, Mattie says "I don't believe in borders, I was born on Planet Earth".
This is evidenced in the lyrics to "Birth Certificate".
Vant toured throughout 2015 and have made appearances with
Royal Blood
A royal descent is a genealogy, genealogical Kinship and descent, line of descent from a past or present monarch.
Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic ...
,
toured on DIY Magazine's NEU tour with The Big Moon and InHeaven
and appeared at several festivals through the summer, including
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
,
Secret Garden Party
The Secret Garden Party, often colloquially shortened to the SGP, is an independent arts and music festival which takes place in Abbots Ripton near Huntingdon in England. This location is on part of the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse and has its ...
and Dot To Dot Festival. They started 2016 with an appearance on BBC Radio 1's Future Festival and toured the UK and Europe through the beginning of the year. They continue into festivals through the summer, including
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
,
2000 Trees
2000trees festival is an independent music festival held from Wednesday to Sunday on the second week of July at Upcote Farm, Withington, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. It offers a diverse selection of more than 120 acts across five stages, ...
, Japan's
Fuji Rock Festival
is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. ...
,
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
, plus one off dates with
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...
and
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British indie rock band from Wales. The band's debut album, ''The Balcony'', reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart and achieved Platinum status on 30 December 2016. The band have toured in South America, Japan ...
.
The songs "The Answer", "Parking Lot", "Fly by Alien", "Karma Seeker" and "Peace & Love" have all received premieres on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
as
Annie Mac
Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...
's 'Hottest Record in the World'.
The song "Parking Lot" was featured in the trailer for the video game ''
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
''Pro Evolution Soccer 2017'' (officially abbreviated as ''PES 2017'', also known in some Asian countries as ''Winning Eleven 2017'') is a sports video game developed by PES Productions and published by Konami for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, ...
''. The track also appears on the game's soundtrack.
The band released their debut album ''
Dumb Blood
''Dumb Blood'' is the debut studio album by indie rock band Vant. The album, produced by Sam Miller, was released on 17 February 2017 by Parlophone. A deluxe edition of the album was simultaneously released featuring tracks from the band's "''Ka ...
'' on 17 February 2017. It peaked at number 46 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
.
On 2 October 2017, the band announced via a Facebook post they were taking an "indefinite hiatus". With the announcement the band also declared their upcoming tour, "The Last Days of Punk" to be their final and announced a final mini-album called "Talk like Thunder."
On 18 November 2018, exactly a year after the band's last show, a video was posted on the band's social media pages of lead singer Mattie as well as their profile pictures being turned into a black screen and the stylization of the band's name being changed to lower case. On 3 December those signed up to the band's mailing list were sent a link to a new song entitled "Propaganda Machine."
The song showed the band turning away from punk rock sound of their previous music and turn towards a hip-hop/pop inspired sound. On 12 April the band released an EP called "Exoskeleton" which featured "Propaganda Machine" and the previously released single "Thank Lucifer."
Band members
Studio
* Mattie Vant – vocals, various instruments
(2014–present)
Live
* Mattie Vant – lead vocals, guitar
(2014–present)
*
Alice Costelloe - bass guitar
(2019–present)
*
Ed Hayes - guitar
(2019–present)
*
Adam Gammage - drums
(2019–present)
Past live members
* Billy Morris – bass guitar
(2014-2017)
* Henry Eastham – guitar
(2014-2017)
* Martin Söderin - drums
(2014-2015)
* David 'Greenie' Green – drums
(2015-2017)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Dumb Blood
''Dumb Blood'' is the debut studio album by indie rock band Vant. The album, produced by Sam Miller, was released on 17 February 2017 by Parlophone. A deluxe edition of the album was simultaneously released featuring tracks from the band's "''Ka ...
'' (2017)
* ''
Conceived in the Sky
''Conceived in the Sky'' is the second studio album by British band, Vant
Vant (stylised as VANT) are a British indie rock band formed in 2014 by frontman and songwriter Mattie Vant. In 2015, Vant signed to Parlophone Records. The band announ ...
'' (2020)
* ''
Extinction Ballads
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
'' (2021)
Mini albums
* ''Talk Like Thunder'' (2017)
EPs
* ''Karma Seeker'' (2016)
* ''Exoskeleton'' (2019)
Singles
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
English punk rock groups
British garage rock groups
Parlophone artists
Musical groups established in 2014
Musical groups disestablished in 2017
Musical groups from London
2014 establishments in England