Six-piece Texas band The Vandoliers was formed by Joshua Fleming in 2015, following the demise of his punk band, The Phuss. Blending the punk sensibilities of his former band and Fleming’s love of outlaw country music, the band has established itself as one of the most energetic and hell-raising stage acts on the circuit and has toured with Flogging Molly, Turnpike Troubadours, Toadies and Lucero. Despite the demise of their record label Bloodshot, they have gone from strength to strength and are currently touring Europe and the U.K. for the first time. We caught up with Joshua by Zoom to get the low down.
This is your first trip to Europe and the U.K. How are you finding it?
Yes, it’s been great so far. We’re in London right now, we’ve been playing a couple of festivals and some shows. We just played The Maverick Festival, playing to a thousand people stuffed into a barn and overflowing out onto the street, it was incredible. We’ve a couple more shows and festivals in Europe and then we head home.
When did you decide to target Europe for shows?
We were at SXSW in 2018 and Bloodshot approached us and wanted to take us on and it happened from there. I’m a landlocked Texan and had never crossed the ocean before. I started out very excited about it but, when it was cancelled the first time because of Covid, I got kinda scared. Right before I eventually left for the tour this year, I was just hoping that people will enjoy what we’re doing, which they seem to be.
How did the demise of Bloodshot affect you, having released your 2019 album FOREVER on their label?
Yes, it was bad. Everybody’s career was set back during that time. It was like, ‘oh well, there’s another thing gone wrong’. We were on top of the world before that, recording the new album for Bloodshot, the one that we’re about to put out now. We were playing with bands like Lucero and The Toadies, we had been discovered by the band Flogging Molly, lots of stuff was going to happen in 2020, and then it didn’t. The first concern with Bloodshot was when we didn’t get a contract extension, which meant that they were in some sort of trouble. A little bit later the label disbanded and folded. Like ourselves, every band had a choice, either stop and change or try and hold out. In March 2020, we finished recording the record the way it was supposed to be at that time, the first version of it. When we got back in the studio later that year songs like Every Saturday Night, The Lighthouse and Bless Your Drunken Heart made it onto the album. So, in the end everything worked out for the right reason. We were supposed to be on this tour in 2020, but I don’t think we would be drawing the crowds that we are now, so it’s all worked out.
The new album will be self-titled. Is that a statement that this record particularly defines your band?
Yes, I feel like this is a turning point for the band. We’ve been burnt to the ground and we have rebuilt. There’s a lot of stuff on this album that we’ve never done before, we’ve pushed harder in every direction and I think it has the best songs that we’ve put out. The original songs were written before covid and written before I was a father. I went through more challenges, grew up a bit more during that period. Usually, I’m writing songs based on where I am with my life at the time. When the album didn’t come out on time in 2020, I just kept on writing and found more songs that defined where I was at that time and what person I was at that moment. I think we really got to the point where we had the right songs for this album and it’s ready to go. We then had to figure out how we were going to put the album out and decided to start our own label.
How do you describe your music and were the early cowpunk bands such as Jason and The Scorchers, Meat Puppies and X influences?
Yes and no. When I first started writing, I was listening to Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton and classic outlaw stuff. I don’t know, I think the damage was done for me playing with my punk band, The Phuss, before starting this band. It’s all Texas music. As you get older your songs evolve, I was lucky that I got to grow as a person and still being in a band now. I’ve been along different paths and I’ve found this one. All the guys in the band had been aware of each other, the final line up of the band is a mixture of my best friends and musicians that I have most respect for. We are all players that wanted to keep things going with this band.
You’ve recorded four albums in a relatively short time. Had you written the material for the debut album, AMEN-KINDA, while you were still with The Phuss?
No, I wrote about twenty songs to start the band. We formed in the studio because we didn’t know we were going to be able to do what we’re doing now. I just called some friends up with these songs I was working on. We found a sound and were just going to play one show at this little local festival. We had a really good time and booked another show and, all of a sudden, we had a band.
With your normal hectic touring schedule, how do you find time to write?
I’m always writing. I’ll put my headphones on in the van and put on sounds that block out the noise of the van and write some lyrics. I’ve written thirteen songs on this tour already.
You’ve toured with Flogging Molly and Turnpike Troubadours, were they not anxious that you might be too dynamic to open for them?
(Laughs) Flogging Molly wiped the floor with us every night, those guys are great, we had a great time with them. They had us on their Salty Dog Cruise, we got to play with some of my favourite punk bands of all time on that cruise. We were the first band to play, we were the sail away band as the boat starts moving. We played in front of three thousand people and I got to open for Face To Face and Descendents with my country band, it was ridiculous. After that we played with Turnpike Troubadours opening shows for them which was really special, I’ve always wanted to play with them.
Any particularly noticeable differences between playing in Europe and the U.K. compared to the States?
There’s a lot, for a start it’s a bit smaller over here and people are a lot better mannered, maybe not as loud in the mouth. We’re starting off in Europe having worked so hard getting around America over the past seven years and it does feel right at home here, it’s good.
How difficult is it for all of you, being on the road so often?
We’re a week away from going home and then twelve days later we leave again. Our families are making sacrifices as we all are, but it’s all because we believe in the same things. As long as we respect each other, love and listen to each other, things go pretty smoothly. We got the chance to produce this record and put it out and I’m working with the best team that I’ve ever had. My life and my career, like everyone in the band, is hard.
Interview by Declan Culliton