VAST: The Interview

Visual Audio Sensory Theater, known as VAST, is going to turn a lot of heads. Their debut, self-titled CD was released on Elektra in March. You better take notice because there is a quiet storm brewing and before you know it, it’s going to be raining hard on your weak ass. 22-year-old Jon Crosby is the mastermind behind VAST. Even at such a young age he is a well-seasoned player, not some rookie off the street.

Ya see, at the age of 13, Mr. Crosby was written up in Guitar Player Magazine as one of the young guitarists to watch. As far as I can tell, the thing that Jon Crosby and VAST brings to the party is technical detailing and depth. Technically, this stuff is pretty much lightyears ahead of what passes for music on your radio dial.

But, regardless of what I say, until you listen to this disc, until you hear the music for yourself, you won’t get it, or understand it. VAST will change the climate of music. If not now, somewhere, sometime, down the road. I don’t have to tell you that in today’s music, lines and categories are blurred. Music is like a huge painting done with water colors and someone left it out in the rain. All the col­ors, all the music styles run together, they run into each other, creating something new, and hopefully something original.

VAST takes various parts and pieces of metal, goth, electronic and best of all, clas­sical and throws them into a great big boiling pot of sound, mixing them around. Add an 18-piece orchestra, sam­ples from the Bulgarian Female Choir and the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maur, Cleraux, and some heavy guitar chords and I think it’s safe to say you’re not messing with any of the new light-weight bands on the radio or on MTV. But then again, you know as well as I do that those bands will be a faded memory in 6-8 weeks.

I had the opportunity to speak with Jon Crosby last week. He was in DC checking out the Clinton scandal first hand and get­ting ready to play live. I was in Ogden drinking a cold Coke, checking out a whole lotta nothin’.

Jon Crosby: With everything going on down here, it’s insane. Did you hear some of the stuff that Monica Lewinsky is testifying?

SLUG: A little bit. What do you think about all that?

JC: I think it’s kind of a sign of the times. I mean, you know, you don’t have to be a hardcore, bible-thumping, right­-winged, Christian Southern guy to have morals and to believe in truth.

SLUG: Yeah, that’s exactly right. Well, we live in a different age too, than ever before with the media and the access to informa­tion. People are willing to be paid off for information that they have, and that didn’t happen 20 years ago.

JC: Yeah, it seems kinda like people don’t realize somehow that information isn’t the same as wisdom, and knowing something isn’t the same as understand­ing something.

SLUG: Right. (technical, didn’t I tell you?) So, you’ve never been in DC before huh? Do you like it?

JC: Not too much, it feels a little segre­gated. I’m used to California, that’s where I’m from. In a lot of these other states, it feels like white and black people live totally separate lives, and it bothers me.

SLUG: Do you have a full-on band? How many other people do you play live with?

JC: Me and three other guys. There’s four of us.

SLUG: What instruments do you play with this tour?

JC: Just guitar and singing.

SLUG: Are you actually on tour, or are you just doing some sporadic dates here and there?

JC: We’re on tour. We’re about half way done. I think we are going to be touring for a while. It was a five week tour, then I’m going to go over to Germany, then when I get back we will begin our fall tour.

SLUG: How are the audiences reacting to you?

JC: Great! People seem to really enjoy it. It’s been a little mixed because this is our first tour and the record came out a lit­tle while ago. Some of the shows, the attendance is good. We sold out shows in New York and that was great. We’ve only had two shows that I didn’t think were that good. Well, two shows that sucked, and one show that wasn’t that good. We played a small club in St. Louis that was a drag. And we played a small club in Cleveland that was a drag, and then we did a show in Cincinnati that I didn’t think was that good. But the rest of them, I thought were amazing.

SLUG: What makes you think they were not good? Was it the audience? Song exe­cution? Was it the whole feeling?

JC: I think that when we play in the real small places, something doesn’t work and I don’t know why. When you play in 200 seat places, the vibe in the club is kinda strange, for the kind of music we are doing, it doesn’t work. The show in Cincinnati, we were supporting Psychotica and it was just mixed. Half of the crowd was there to see us, and the other half never heard of us and they could have cared less. It was alright, but we did have some technical problems. But as far as the performance of the band, they/we were good.

SLUG: When was the CD recorded?

JC: Me and the producer started work­ing on it, on the computer, in his apart­ment in June of ’97. Then we ended up mixing it, and finishing it at the end of January ’98.

SLUG: Do you listen to it much now, or not really just because you play so much of it live?

JC: We play it live, like everyday. We are playing 4 or 5 shows a week.

SLUG: So it’s not like you just pop it into the CD player and listen to it.

JC: Well, I love listening to it, and we didn’t start the tour until July. I used to listen to it like, everyday, for months.

SLUG: Do you have a favorite track?

JC: I went in phases where there were sections of songs, or groupings of songs that I really liked.  Overall there’s person­al songs that mean a little more to me than others, just because of what they remind me of, or what inspired me to write them. “Flames” means a lot to me, it’s a personal song. But I don’t enjoy those personal songs more, nor do I like listening to them more than the other songs on the record.

SLUG: What do you like play­ing live the best? What do you think comes off really well?

JC: Well, it’s funny. “The Nile’s Edge” I enjoy listening to a lot. But playing live sometimes can be a little awkward to sing. I don’t know, I enjoy playing them all live. “Three Doors” is a little older so it feels a lot different than playing the song, “I’m Dying.”

SLUG: What bands have you seen live that inspired you?

JC: When I was growing up in Humboldt County, in California, live bands never played there. The first show I ever saw was Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was the only artist that actually came out there. That was amazing. For my second show I drove down and saw Metallica and that was pretty amazing. I would have to say Metallica. They played in The Coliseum and there were 80,000 people singing along to every word. That was pretty inspiring.

SLUG: Well, to be able to see Metallica in a realm like that, and then to have Lars Ulrich say, “one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in a long, long time. It hits you on so many levels. It’s been a record I’ve been listening to over and over.” And then they send that quote out on your bio page, that’s gotta be pretty cool.

JC: Yea, it was really shock­ing to see him on MTV talking about my music. I wasn’t expecting that, ya know. I can’t think of anybody that would be more validating.

SLUG: What are you currently listening to?

JC: I kinda dig out a lot of things that are older. I’ve been listening to a lot of Dead Can Dance. I’ve been really influ­enced by them. I bought all their stuff, like a week ago, so I’ve been listening to all that. I like  nice records. I like Synchronicity by The Police, I like Sgt. Pepper’s by The Beatles, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I like Pretty Hate Machine, I like Nevermind. I like Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, Achtung Baby. I like Depeche Mode stuff. I like Bob Marley. Actually, the record I just listened to the other day, that I used to listen to all the time and it just totally blew my mind was Blood Sugar Sex Magic. I don’t think that any other record grooves more than that thing does. I just like music that touches me, that is real and that I can feel. I can grow into it. Most of my favorite bands, I didn’t like the first time I heard them.

SLUG: What do you think about Prince, the artist?

JC: Considering how much stuff he’s done, he’s so prolific, I haven’t heard that much. He’s done a lot of really amazing stuff, that’s for sure.

SLUG: How many instru­ments do you play?

JC: (real casual) Um. Just umm, I sing, I play guitar and bass, keyboards and the piano, drums and I work with sequencers, samplers and stuff. 

SLUG: Have you had any for­mal training? Like guitar theo­ry, or jazz theory or lessons like that?

JC: Not really. I was mainly self taught, but I did have an instructor that I would see once a week or once a month, or whatever. He would keep me on track. I recommend going to somebody that would push you to do things and try things that you might not do on your own. 

SLUG: Are you coming to Salt Lake City?

JC: Yea, we’re playing a place called the Holy Cow…

Well, you heard it directly from VAST, they will be playing live at the Holy Cow on Sunday September 6th. Believe me, I don’t think you want to miss this one. And if you do miss this, you might as well start kicking yourself right now.

Over and out! —Royce

Read more interviews from the SLUG archives:
Slayer: The Interview
Clutch

Enjoying breathing the dust of ages past in the archives? Consider joining our community of donors!