Vacant Weekend: “Coming to Manchester was definitely the right move for us”

Manchester-via-Cumbria trio Vacant Weekend are here to fill the silence.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd.

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In the heart of Manchester’s iconic music scene, a trio of school friends turned indie-rock revolutionaries are starting to kick up a buzz. Vacant Weekend have come a long way from their early days in Cumbria. 

As the band prepares to release their new EP, ‘Something To Fill The Silence’, they find themselves at a pivotal moment. The EP, a collection of six tracks that explore themes of self-acceptance, ego death, and the anxieties of early adulthood, reflects their journey from wide-eyed teenagers to young adults navigating the complexities of the music industry and life itself.

When we catch up with Connor, the band’s guitarist, he’s enjoying a rare moment of respite after a whirlwind of touring and teaching commitments. “Today is relatively chill. We finished tour last week, and I’ve been teaching or gigging every day since, so today has been some nice respite,” he shares. “Rehearsals this morning, and going to watch a big band jazz gig at college tonight.”

The band’s formation story is one of friendship and shared passion. Connor explains, “I play the guitar and, because of that, play a big role in writing the songs’ riffs, chords, etc. Unfortunately, I also take on the role of booking all the gigs and answering all the emails. Isaac – Dobo to us – plays bass and drums on all the recordings but just bass at our live shows. Isaac also engineered and mixed all the tracks on the EP.

“Last but not least, Alex is our singer and also plays guitar. They often come to Isaac and me with the seed of a song, and we all collaborate and build it together, but Alex will usually go away and finish the lyrics when we have the full song worked out.”

This collaborative approach to songwriting is evident in the rich, layered sound of their music. From the lullaby-esque hook of their latest single, ‘The Windowsill’, to the anthemic crescendos that have become their signature, Vacant Weekend’s sound is a testament to their collective creativity.

The band’s journey from Cumbria to Manchester has been instrumental in shaping their sound and identity. “Manchester is phenomenal,” Connor enthuses. “We’ve been here for about three years now. It obviously has such a rich history of alternative music, and that’s still very alive today; we love going to see other bands play and do their thing. Really proud to call this place home. At the same time, we have such a deep love for Cumbria. Nothing really compares to a home gig in Kendal; I think we all get homesick if we’re away for too long, but coming to Manchester was definitely the right move for us; we just love the scene.”

The band’s history is a tale of friendship, perseverance, and musical evolution. “We’ve been friends for nearly ten years; we all met in school around year 7 or 8. We played music together from day one, but I think Vacant was formed properly in 2018,” Connor recounts. “We self-recorded and produced a couple of EPs and an album when we were 16/17, which was loads of fun even if nobody listened to it and gigged around our home town. We were very fortunate to play Kendal Calling, Bluedot and Solfest in 2022 and returned to those festivals in 2023 with Eskfest and Victorious added too. But in all honesty, the whole of our friendship has been a highlight – I mean, we put a band together in school, and it’s still going strong, isn’t that everyone’s dream?”

Their recent tour has been a rollercoaster, pushing the band to new heights and testing their resilience. Connor’s enthusiasm is palpable as he describes the experience: “Tour was crazy, so much fun, so many new faces. I feel like it needs a book written about it to do it proper justice. Playing at the Windmill in Brixton was a huge highlight, a real bucket list venue for us. Joel, our live drummer, broke his knuckle on the Leeds gig and spent six hours in A&E back in Manchester when we got back – we forced him to take a night off playing for the Kendal gig, but like an absolute trooper, he still played the last night of tour in Manchester and a Gaza fundraiser with us two days later. I’m not sure if that counts as a fun story, though?”

As they gear up for the release of ‘Something To Fill The Silence’, the band is keenly aware of the significance of this moment in their career. “I think there’s been an urge to work on a bigger project like an EP for a while, but we wanted to wait for the right time and treat it as a collective work as opposed to a compilation EP of unrelated singles,” Conor explains. “We wanted to explore different sounds and textures – push what was possible without being superficial. Thematically, the EP explores death, ego death, self-acceptance, anxieties around the responsibilities of adulthood when leaving your teens, and ultimately, our reluctance to try to be liked; we’re only trying to be ourselves. ‘Something To Fill The Silence’ is exactly what it is – only something to fill the silence. We appreciate that not everyone might like the sound of these songs, but we don’t think anyone could argue that we’re not being ourselves.”

The EP serves as a poignant reflection on the band’s formative years, but Connor is quick to clarify that it’s not about drawing a line under their past. “Does anyone ever get closure on those years? I think different periods of your life will always have things to teach you, even if you might not be able to appreciate it immediately,” he muses. “This EP is an acknowledgement that we’re no longer teenagers; we’re no longer in the middle of a time that was pretty harrowing and upsetting, and to an extent, we must move on. But because Vacant started properly when we were teenagers, I think it’s actually a very lovely way to keep in touch with being that age, to try to remember to be honest and not be jaded by getting older. It’s an acceptance of those years rather than closure. I feel pedantic, but it’s an important distinction, I think.”

“We self-recorded an album when we were 16/17, which was loads of fun even if nobody listened to it”

connor

The creation of the EP was a process spread out over time, with each song capturing a different moment in the band’s evolution. “The writing of it was fairly spread out. I think we wrote ‘Talk’ first in October 2022, ‘The Windowsill’ second in July 2023, ‘Funny Dad’ and ‘French Inhale’ on the same day in December 2023 and ‘Alien’ and ‘Proud of You’ in March 2024. The recording was very consistent, though; we did two tracks in a week and booked a recording week about six weeks apart starting from February this year. We got so used to the sound of the room that the recordings became a very efficient process.”

When asked about the perfect ingredients for a Vacant Weekend song, Connor’s response is both poetic and revealing. “I suppose time? We need space to breathe more than anything else; we need to start an idea in the morning and then wander around a big second-hand shop, have tea and talk at each other. Come back to it at lunchtime, play around and maybe start something else. Show each other whatever we’re watching at the time – I think we had Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace on during a lot of writing sessions. Then, maybe in the last hour before we leave, it all comes together, almost as if by accident.”

This organic approach to songwriting is evident in the band’s music, which feels both carefully crafted and spontaneously alive. It’s a testament to their chemistry as friends and musicians, a bond forged in the crucible of teenage dreams and strengthened by years of shared experiences.

Looking ahead to the summer, the band are taking a more measured approach compared to their hectic schedule of the previous year. “We’re taking it a bit easier. Last year, I think we played five festivals. And booked at least one or two gigs between each festival,” Connor explains. “This time, I think we’re just playing Kendal Calling, and we’ll try to get a home headline booked before our friends all go back to Uni. After tour in February and tour this month, we’ve really put the work into getting our faces out there, so the pressure is off a little bit with festivals. Hopefully, we will return to the fields next year and be a bit higher on the bills if we’re lucky.”

But the band aren’t content to rest on their laurels, and Connor hints at exciting developments on the horizon. “There could be a deluxe version of the EP in the works. No promises, though. Should be a very cool collection of some early demos and possibly a few features from some very talented friends.”

As our conversation draws to a close, Connor is keen to extend an invitation to anyone at Kendal Calling this summer: “Please come and say ‘Hi!’,” he asks. “Alex isn’t as scary as they look, we promise. We’re on the Calling Out stage on the Friday. We think so, at least. Bringing the full live band, so it should be a very special show.”

As they continue to evolve and push the boundaries of their sound, Vacant Weekend remain true to the spirit of honesty and self-expression that has defined them from the start. The silence they seek to fill with their music is not just the gaps between notes or the spaces between tracks. It’s the silence of unspoken truths, of suppressed emotions, of the quiet moments between the chaos of everyday life. And in filling that silence, Vacant Weekend are making damn sure they’re going to be heard. ■

Taken from the August 2024 issue of Dork.