British band Viva City played at the Varsity Theatre on Wednesday night. Viva City, an indie-electronic band from New Castle, England, is currently touring the South. Band members Ali Allerdyce, Trevor Cairns and stand-in drummer Eli James sat down with The Daily Reveille before the show.
TDR: What are some inspirations regarding your music?
Ali: Life, love and tequila, and basically we try and write songs that we would go and listen to out in life. It’s more like a feeling of a night out for us.
Trevor: It’s basically a night out and the early morning, the next day. Like if you listen to our album, there are a couple of slow songs in there that you’d want to put on when you’re feeling a bit groggy the next day. But the rest of it is a bit euphoric, like we just basically want to make people have a good time.
TDR: What has been your first impression of Louisiana and Baton Rouge?
Trevor: I don’t like the bugs. Some big-ass bugs.
Ali: We came up with the theory that if we can see its face, then it’s too big. But no, we love the place, Baton Rouge especially. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous, really cool as well. I didn’t expect it at all.
TDR: How would you describe [new music you’re producing]?
Ali: Well, it’s actually a new idea, a new project we’ve had to actually work with up-and-coming British artists, and we’ve actually been speaking with some up-and-coming American singers. And the idea is that we’re going to make a featuring album.
TDR: Is there any dream collaborator that you’d want to work with?
ALL: Bjork.
TDR: When did y’all start listening to her?
Trevor: I bought “Post” and “Debut,” just on the same day, and I fell in love with every track on both albums. Pretty much everything she does is so diverse and she’s so fresh and she has a different approach, like moving with the times.
Ali: Again, she’s pushing the boundaries and she’s an inspiration, definitely.
Trevor: I mean, she laid an egg on the red carpet.
TDR: What’s the craziest live show you’ve had or the weirdest thing that’s happened to you while live?
Trevor: Well, the weirdest thing that happened to us at one of our shows was there was a big, fat guy got naked. That was pretty weird.
Ali: We thought he was going to streak through the gig, but he just stood at the front of the stage, and it was so packed at the venue that not many people noticed apart from us. So we were like crying, laughing on stage.
Trevor: I didn’t notice at first. I thought [Ali] was just trying us over, but he was like, ‘Trev, Trev’ and I was doing my thing and was like ‘What the f—, man.’ And then I just turned around and there was a naked guy right there. So, I got an instant erection obviously. And then the night went downhill from there.
TDR: How’d you come up with the name ‘Viva City’?
Ali: It’s a play on words, put them together and you get ‘vivacity,’ which is to be vivacious and full of life. We thought that was a cool way to go.
Trevor: But if anyone asks, it’s actually the salon from ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua.’
TDR: How has the reception been in the U.S.?
Trevor: We played a really peculiar gig in Alpine, Texas, which is like cowboy central. There wasn’t a massive crowd, but people had heard of electronic music before, but they had never seen it before. So we were actually the first electronic band to perform in that venue. By the end of the show, they were banging their chairs on the floor, and I’d never seen that happen before. We thought they were going to kick our heads in. They were actually asking us to play more songs.
TDR: Complete this sentence: By the end of the night…
Ali: I’m going to have an STD.
Trevor: I’d like to have a bath.
 
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