The Icelandic power trio The Vintage Caravan again took three years for a new album. Some critics are annoyed by "Gateways" that the impetuosity of the first albums is partly gone, others praise the new serenity and attest the band that their psychedelic heavy rock now sounds more modern than ever. Bassist Alexander Örn Númason is convinced that the band is ready for something bigger.
When two school friends form a rock band at the age of twelve, you can assume that they know what they want to do with their lives. Guitarist/singer Óskar Logi Ágústsson and drummer Guðjón Reynisson started their band project The Vintage Caravan in 2006. Three years later, we made our self-distributed debut. Another three years later they got a deal for the successor "Voyage" with a small Icelandic record company. From that moment on, they really took off. In order to be able to go on tour, the boys strengthened themselves with bassist Alexander Örn Númason. Vintage Caravan made friends with the Swedish formation Blues Pills and moved to the German-Danish border. "Arrival" marked the arrival at the Nuclear Blast power label in 2015. The band also became a household name in many rock clubs.
eclipsed: Without digression: What does "Gateways" have that the albums didn't have before?
Alexander Örn Númason: In contrast to "Arrival", the album I was part of for the first time, this time we had much more time for the recordings. We were able to prepare it in peace. You can hear this calmness on the record, I think. We also don't have to prove anything anymore and can therefore concentrate better on real songs.
eclipsed: Yes, there are now solid songs in vintage caravan sound.
Númason: If it comes across like this, we've already done a hell of a lot right. At least that's what we were aiming for so we could take the next step as a band. We're not 20 anymore.
eclipsed: No, mid-twenties. Your concerts are true hell rides because of your energy level. Does that change now?
Númason: I don't see why. (laughs) We're not a big band yet, but hopefully on our way there. So at the concerts it depends on whether we afford some additional musicians - sometimes we do that to get all the overdubs of the album live - or we just play louder together to compensate for the missing musicians.
