Q&A + Show Review: No Vacation

So this first question is for Sabrina – I read somewhere that your first practice space was a laundromat, how exactly did that happen and how does that work?

Back when I lived in the dorms in SF my freshman year, I didn’t have access to practice spaces so I just went to the laundry room and wrote songs there. We just plugged into the wall with our tiny practice amps and sat on the machines. People would come in and out and you could hear us playing from the hallway, haha interesting times.

Another question for Sabrina – No Vacation’s latest EP, Intermission, was the first release from No Vacation post-separation from the original lineup. Did you think that you were going to make music as “No Vacation” again during the pause? Were you still writing music during this time?

During our break, I wasn’t able to focus or think about making music as No Vacation because our break ended so abruptly and there was so much uncertainty that none of us knew if we were going to continue again. However, I was able to continue writing and some of the songs that are on Intermission were for my solo project but then were reworked with structural changes and new parts after the band got back together.

Intermission represents how we all felt during the No Vacation’s break and lots of the songs, instrumentals, mood, etc. are a product of the solo projects that Nat, Harrison, and myself were pursuing when we were on a break.

How has the sound and writing process changed with the new lineup?

The writing process changed in a positive way. We were able to collaborate with each other off of improv jams. I feel like once Nat and Marisa joined it made our sound more full, especially by adding another layer of synth. Once Harrison joined, he really helped complete the songs that we released on Summer Break.

Is there any new music in the works? Can we expect to see any releases in 2018?

There is definitely new music in the works! We’ve been performing a few new songs during our live shows just to test them out a bit. Keep your eyes peeled – 2018 will have some sort of new release coming up!

And you just wrapped up your recent tour with Hot Flash Heat Wave? Any shows that you were especially excited about playing?

Yes, we just came back from a full US tour. All of the shows were filled with so much love and support from our fans especially from the places we never played at before. Santa Cruz, Chicago, and Washington DC were some highlights for the cities we’ve never played at before. In addition, we were super excited for all of the other California shows and it was really nice seeing lots of familiar faces.

This is also the second tour as a band right? What would you say are the most important things you’ve learned the first time around?

Yes this is our second tour! I think the most important thing we learned was to make sure your dirty clothes were kept in a separate pouch…jk. Although that’s important, I think we learned to be very patient and understanding of each other! We’re in such close corridors for so long that sometimes it can drive you crazy. However, this tour was very positive. As long as everyone had sleep and food, they were happy!

Any bands/artists that you look forward to playing with for this tour? Did you know any of these artists prior?

Ahhh, I would say this was a “friendship tour” since we were already close with the other bands. Plus, we love all of their music!!

We did the full tour with Hot Flash Heat Wave. The Hot Flash boys definitely are like a brother band to us. We played our very first show (April 2015) with them and I feel like they’ve been super supportive and helpful to our development. Nat also went to preschool with Nathan from Hot Flash.

We had a few shows in California and at SXSW with Tim Atlas, who we are always ecstatic to play with. Tim actually produced our first EP, AMO XO, for us!

Surf Rock is Dead joined us and HFHW on the east coast dates. We knew of Surf Rock is Dead before we relocated to NY through the inter webs and it just happened by coincidence that we became neighbors when we moved here!