Feeling Liberated: Vanessa Worm Interview

New Zealand’s Vanessa Worm discusses self-expression, Scottish vibes and her LP of existential disco punk for Optimo Music

Vanessa Worm’s debut album Vanessa 77 (Optimo Music) is a journey of discovery for the artist that communicates the thrill of that to the listener. Creative chances have been seized in the moment while maintaining the sense that it could never have been any other way. The occupation of different musical zones – existing along the electronic/punk continuum – is here an invitation to explore these areas together, finding new worlds of possibilities in the process. It is as if Vanessa 77 has been occluded from space-time, as it holds a dialogue with the past while existing entirely in the present. This has resulted in a set of boundary-less yet sharply focussed experimental dancefloor excursions. As the tracks expand and contract – between out there space and inner consciousness – Vanessa captures the sense of artistic freedom as it was experienced back in the post-punk days. Vanessa 77 is a debut album where the ideas don’t overshoot the means of expression, making for a thrilling and satisfying sonic document.

We fired up the global communication networks to speak with Vanessa about the album and more.

Who is Vanessa Worm? 

Tessa Forde, from Southland, New Zealand!

Is there any music that’s keeping you going in these strange and worrying times? 

Since the pandemic I have listened to these mixes only: Tornado Wallace’s recent Beats in Space mix, Grim Lusk for 12th Isle x dublab, Eden Burns & DJ Chrysalis for Hope Street Radio, about 4 of Nosedrips’ NTS mixes, Optimo’s 07.06.2020 NTS show, JD Twitch’s This Was Belgium 1987-89 2 hours of New Beat favourites mix on Soundcloud, JG Wilkes’ Beats in Space mix, + Otologic NTS 06.08.2020 mix and that’s it I think! 

Albums/EPs I’ve listened to have been Psychic TV – Live in Tokyo 1986, Mariah – Utakata no Hibi, Vanessa 77, Kelly – Eden Burns + all of Eden Burns’ music, Whistling Thorn – Nice Girl.

Of course a few other songs here and there. But for the most part what you see above is it! All of which brought me great joy of many kinds! 

Actually, Eden [Vanessa’s partner] bought a lot of records this year too, so we would always listen to those when they arrived, or when we came back home with them! A lot of those records I actually found quite inspiring! 

What do you think club culture is going to look like post-pandemic? It’s particularly worrying concerning grassroots and DIY scenes, although perhaps there might be opportunities at that level to do things differently. Do you have any ideas about what can be done as a community moving into an uncertain future? 

Good question. I have no idea what club culture is going to look like, I guess that is up to us as a collective to decide! 

One thing for me, I think this is kinda a great point for a new musical revolution to be made… whatever that looks like. I mean in my opinion the music industry was somewhat already in a time of major transformation (with the internet and all). I feel like Covid is just creating a whole new reason for musicians to get creative… and for musicians to create their own world within all this. The outcome is unknown but I look forward… Music is also such medicine in times like these… hopefully the music can push through this turmoil… and be a space for healing, connection and love! It is so needed right now. I also just cannot wait for us to be back performing. 

In regards to what can be done as a community? I am honestly not sure. I have been thinking about this a bit. I mean supporting the artists you love is a good start! 

What’s the scene like in New Zealand? If your music is anything to go by, then I imagine there’s a similar attitude towards breaking down genre-boundaries as Glasgow. Do you feel part of what’s going on either there or on a global level? 

Yeah, to my understanding New Zealand music definitely encourages self-expression on all levels. I went to high school in a place named Dunedin, which loves guitar heavy, experimental + punk music. It was really inspiring actually. Definitely learnt to feel free in creative expression there!

Dunedin was colonised by the Scottish, and a lot of the city is built based off Edinburgh as well. I think that plays a part in the Scottish vibes musically, for sure.

I will always feel welcome to play music in Dunedin I think, I feel very safe there. Now that I have settled back in NZ after having lived in Australia, I am really looking forward to playing shows here in New Zealand… I am in love with this place. Probably feel much more a part of a scene here in real life. But when it comes to the internet and all, I definitely know that music reaches out much more than just where you live. I look forward to going to Europe and playing shows there. Maybe that will feel like home too.

The always open-minded and forward-thinking Optimo Music feels like the natural home for Vanessa Worm. Would you agree? Could you talk about how you got together with the label?

Sure. They seem to be pretty wild and love self expression, they have a bit of a punk element and a bit of a dance element! Makes sense to me.

I got with the label by sending JD Twitch my Z Time EP. Luckily, he liked it! Yay.

How would you describe the music you make and what do you hope listeners take away from it? Conflate some of the tags from your Bandcamp album listing and you get ‘existential disco punk’, which seems as apt as anything. 

I really don’t know how to describe it, I mean I’m terrible at describing any music so I have no clue. I like to help people feel liberated and I like to feel liberated when making music… so maybe that’s something to go from?

Where does your output sit on the club/live/home listening spectrum?

Hopefully the whole lot! I love love love to perform live, and that’s super important for me. For home listening the album is definitely made to be listened to start to finish… provides a bit of a vibe. In regards to the club, I feel like some of my music could be very difficult for a DJ to make work in a club, but if you do, it’ll be great!

Your artistic vision arrives fully formed with album Vanessa 77. The command of different musical languages, easy shifts in tone and boldness of the creative choices don’t fit the sometimes tentative moves on a debut album. Could you tell me about how the album came together? 

Thank you. It was definitely a process of learning about myself musically, and on a personal level too. I had been experiencing a pretty intense creative block… I had these ideas of how an album needed to sound… or different ideas of how it could come together… and just kinda kept getting stumped by them. I just had to learn to let go and allow whatever needed to come through, to come through. 

I was in a completely unique stage of my personal development for each of the songs… I had no idea how it was going to sound together, and didn’t even know if they would work together. 

By magic, it just seemed to fall into place! I now know for sure, that by creating from the heart/soul it will just always work out one way or another… even if the road is bumpy and uncertain to get there!! 

The Mazzy Star-meets-Velvets opener “144” flows into the avant-garde backwards currents of “123”, then on to the electronic stomp of “Bones and Blood” – any of which might suggest alternative paths that the album could have tread. It all fits as a cohesive whole however. Was it always your intent to inhabit various musical styles or did that develop organically? Were you ever tempted to settle on a particular direction or did you maintain confidence in your vision?

Yes similar to my answer in the last question, it was very organic… although many times where I would get stuck with trying to make something that I thought was necessary (eg a ‘dance’ track). Always had to come back to letting go and letting it be! Confidence was there a lot of the time, but also definitely had times where I thought, “How the fuck am I even going to do this?”, “Can I even do this?”… etc etc.

After having finished the songs and choosing an order, everything made sense. The story that was told, all of it. It was like one massive epiphany. To this day I am still receiving new revelations and ideas about the album and what it means, and how it came to be. 

How did you feel about the reaction to your singles and did that help shape the LP? 

I didn’t pay too much attention to the singles, to be honest with ya. I was having many doubts about the album at the time. Once the vinyl arrived in the mail, I was over the freakin moon. I am really happy about it all to be honest. 

In terms of remixes, the Eden Burns “Baked Beans in the Basement Mix” of “Heaven to Hell” is really outstanding. Can you tell us more about the person behind the remix?

Yesssss, I am soooo happy with Eden’s remixes. 

Eden is my partner… we have been together for a while now! Through Eden I was introduced to club music and Optimo music… and so so so so so much more. He is my guiding light. I love him. 

Is a live Vanessa Worm show alongside Optimo DJs in 2021 a dream that might become reality?

Better be! Let’s see. I want to be in Europe next year, hands down. 

Thank you for this chat and interview!! Sending love to everyone out there. xxxx

Vanessa Worm’s album Vanessa 77 is out now on Optimo Music