The Vaccines: When music is the right medicine

The Vaccines are in fine form ahead of their headline slot at Longitude, writes Ed Power

VACCINES singer Justin Hayward-Young regrets nothing — not even a controversial songwriting tryst with One Direction. Surely it crossed his mind that pitching in with the world’s biggest boyband might tarnish his punk-pop credentials? “It was a very casual thing,” he says, sounding vaguely peeved I’ve brought it up. “Nobody would even have known if one of them hadn’t tweeted about it.”

While nothing came of their jam session, he is still immensely proud that he ventured where other alt-rock frontman might have feared. One Direction make pop music — so do The Vaccines, after a fashion. Why should he be embarrassed?

“It was no brainer from my perspective,” he says. “You can write from the heart and you can write from the head — both are equally valid, in my opinion. Being able to [write for others] is something I would love to be able to do. I’ve always adored pop — writing for the biggest pop band in the world felt like an obvious ‘yes’. The reason I didn’t work out, really, is because I wanted to focus on our stuff — to make sure The Vaccines got our best songs.”

Hayward-Young, 28, has grown up a great deal in the four years since the Vaccines’ debut album. Back then, he was an archetypal student-disco wallflower. Though born into privilege (the grandson of artist Walter Hayward-Young, and raised in the New Forest stockbroker belt outside London), he seemed unsure of himself and awkward in the spotlight. That is no longer the case.

“There have been periods in my life where I have had incredibly low self-esteem,” he shrugs.”Fame was never going to sit comfortably with me. To be judged not as an individual but whether I had Johnny Depp looks or wrote poetic lyrics — it was a transition. That said, as I’ve got older I’ve learned that none of that really matters. What DOES matter is playing music and writing music — things that are incredibly cathartic to me. “

All is changed utterly now but when the Vaccines came along it was still possible for the British music press to anoint a bunch of scruffy newcomers the future of rock.

Indeed, there’s a case Hayward-Young and co were among the last to benefit from the imprimatur of London music periodical NME, which slapped them on the cover before they’d released their first LP.

“It was a poisoned chalice in many ways,” says the singer. “It was exciting. At the same time, you are under a magnifying glass. If people aren’t actively hoping you fail, they are certainly expecting that you will. We feel we have proved ourselves — selling out arenas, having number one records. Things that we never in a million years imagined we’d do.”

Starting out, the group had an almost minimalist aesthetic, with songs that rarely lasted longer than two minutes. However, the Vaccines recalibrated considerably on third LP English Graffiti, with excursions into art rock, psychedelia, and even Coldplay-style arena pop.

It’s an impressive reboot from an outfit previously reluctant to venture beyond a defined repertoire of tics and tropes.

“We ended up recording two or three records worth of stuff that never saw the light of day. It took us a while to find cohesion. We used time to our advantage and really thought about what we wanted to do. We had a chance to conceptualise — it was the first occasion we were able to truly do that.

“Early on, we came from the perspective that songs really only needed two or three chords. There was a directness — we would have hated to ever be thought of as pretentious. Eventually you have to evolve.”

He knows The Vaccines could have churned out a rehash of their first two LPs and probably satisfied their fans. But a little part of him would have died inside.“It’s pointless being on autopilot — you have to pause and remember that every so often. There is no use deluding yourself — a band should only keep on making records if they feel they are capable of bettering what they’ve done before. In our mind, we had no doubt that we could achieve that.”

The Vaccines play Longitude Festival, Marlay Park, at 8pm tonight

LONGITUDE HIGHLIGHTS

Hozier (Friday)

The divine man-bun of Irish acoustic rock (right) stages a triumphant home-coming having conquered the US several times over with his single ‘Take Me To Church’, striking up a friendship with Taylor Swift along the way.

Young Fathers (Friday)

The Mercury winners (below) specialise in uncompromisingly avant-garde hip-hop, delivered in flinty Edinburgh accents — with results that suggest Wu-Tang Clan cameoing in Trainspotting.

Years and Years (Saturday)

Booked halfway down the bill, expect the London three-piece to be cheered like headliners. They topped the UK charts with the Sam Smith-goes-indie ‘King’ — and last weekend came agonisingly close to repeating the feat with ‘Shine’.

Girl Band (Saturday)

This Dublin four piece have built an international reputation with their jagged, lurching rock — a glorious noise that seems always on the brink of falling in on itself. With a debut album soon to be released, their story is just beginning and Longitude is an opportunity for the band to catch the ear of a mainstream audience.

Chemical Brothers (Sunday)

Back with another one of those block rockin’ beats, 90s dance icons the Chemical Brothers fill the quasi-traditional Sunday ‘veteran’ slot at Longitude. They won’t simply be sprinkling nostalgia, however — the Chems have a cracking new record, Born In Echoes, to promote. Word is, it is their most exciting in more than a decade.

Wolf Alice (Sunday)

For anyone despairing of modern alternative rock, Wolf Alice are here to remind you there is always hope. A splenetic mix of Pixies, Sleater-Kinney, and Cat Power, the Londoners last month delivered their pile-driver debut album My Love Is Cool, a record distinguished by its power-tool guitars and Ellie Rowsell’s shrapnel coo.