A Chat with Vague Notion (07.05.26)
Emerging from the mountain town of Nelson, British Columbia, Vague Notion continues to carve out a distinct space in contemporary indie electronic music with the release of their new EP, GLOW. We chat with the duo about all things music below.
OSR: The production of the EP has a very distinctive sound. Can you tell us how this came about?
Vague Notion: Bevan and I combine our individual sonic tastes to create our unique sound. We use Ableton, and they’ve upped their game, improving the quality of modulation and effects that we use in our production. All our music is created by us.
OSR: What was the inspiration behind creating GLOW?
Vague Notion: The same as it is whenever we create. We both have a burning desire to express ourselves through music, and these songs were born out of that. The theme seemed to be something along the lines of giving people hope and facing our challenges with love, truth and unity.
OSR: Did you have any musical influences while working on the EP?
Vague Notion: For myself, I was listening to Sleaford Mods, Baynk, El Ten Eleven, Neil Francis, Zero 7 and more. Bevan was discovering 80’s new wave for the first time, as he was not interested in it as a young man, so that’s been fun watching him realize how much valuable material was created back then.
OSR: Were there any challenges or breakthroughs that you experienced while creating the EP?
Vague Notion: Challenges were finding the time to get in the studio when we both work full-time. Breakthroughs were realizing how we want more electric guitar in our songs. Bevan had put it down for many years, saying he wasn’t going to play again largely because of a hand injury from working in construction, but he changed careers, and it healed thankfully. Electric guitar is back on the menu! We also let go of the idea of trying to fit into one genre. It helped us relax and just create what we want, despite the genre being very vague. Ha! We named our band appropriately after all.
OSR: Are there any songs that almost didn’t make the final EP? What changed your mind?
Vague Notion: As per your question above, we almost didn’t put ‘We Made It So’ on the EP because it was more rock-sounding than our other material. Bevan said, “Cheryl did such a good job on the vocals, it needed to be part of it.” We threw caution to the wind and let it stand.
OSR: Did you write GLOW with a live audience in mind? Or is it more of a studio-focused EP?
Vague Notion: I guess it’s more of a studio EP because it’s just the 2 of us, and we would rather not go live unless we had a full band to play all the parts. Otherwise, it would be a lot of backing tracks, and we’re not sure that would fly. We are not opposed to having a full band, though! That would be amazing.
OSR: Looking ahead slightly, does GLOW mark a transition into a new era for Vague Notion?
Vague Notion: We would say yes, as we feel a marked improvement in our songwriting abilities and certainly getting faster at it as well. With Bevan having recently acquired a Gibson SG, we are going to be writing more with that, so our sound is evolving. We also have a new sense of confidence that comes with writing more as we hone our skills and being new ’empty nesters’, we can be more open to opportunities that may come our way.
OSR: How have your fans responded to the EP? Has it been the way you expected?
Vague Notion: We try not to expect anything from our fans, but we have been pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of love. One of our long-time fans claimed that we are ‘musical geniuses’ with this release
OSR: What did you learn about yourselves as artists while working on this EP?
Vague Notion: We learned that we will never stop doing this in whatever capacity presents itself. We love it, and it feeds our souls, and we will continue to grow and learn as musicians for our entire lives. We are excited about Vague Notion’s future!
OSR: What is next for Vague Notion? What can fans look forward to?
Vague Notion: We have an album in the works, which we are hoping to release this fall, that will include 2 tracks from our catalogue that we reworked with our improved skill set. We think we’ve improved them significantly. A new video is in the works for the track ‘Book of Time’ from the EP, as we are currently story blocking for it. Bevan wanted to use one of my Halloween costumes for it, so that will be fun. It’s unorthodox to release a video after the song has been released, but that’s how we roll. We are also toying with the idea of getting a drummer on board. We have someone in mind already, so that’s exciting.
Many thanks to Vague Notion for speaking with us. Find out more about Vague Notion on their Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, and Spotify.
