We are VCR: A Conversation with Christian Newby

VCR were an anomaly in the Virginia music scene, a synth punk band with no guitars! The band didn’t last long but they left a definite impression in their scene and to a few people nationally. Signing with renowned punk label Side One Dummy, the band only released one album and a tape of Misfits covers but they still have their own place in the overall scheme of Virginia music. Drummer Christian Newby, now living across the pond, took time out during this pandemic to talk about the band’s career and what could have been.

Pete Crigler: What got you interested in playing music?

Christian Newby: Hearing a kid down the street play the drums in his garage. I was around 11.

Pete: Tell me about Ursa Minor.

Christian: First band I ever played in. I was 17. People I knew from going to hardcore shows in high school but that preferred to be in bands that sounded closer to Rye Coalition or Unwound.

Pete: How did VCR come together and did you feel there was a place in the VA music scene for a band like you?

Christian: I think it started with Mya and I smoking weed and thinking of funny people we knew that also played instruments.

Re any kind of Virginia music scene, I don’t know. Is there one? Richmond had one, or rather, had many. Our initial impulse was to simply entertain our friends—to harvest some of that cultivated nonsense and jibber-jabber that we threw around all the time.

Pete: What was it like having three synthesizers and no real guitar?

Christian: Easier. Eventually we devised a very efficient system for writing songs. Casey and Steve would pass little Midi nugs back and forth to each other and some would evolve into a song, and some would just sit in the bank until it was useful. Then we would all listen to these parts, practice them, tweak them if necessary and Chad would add lyrics. Over time they would change a little bit more here or there and whenever we recorded them things would get adjusted then too. But eventually we had more songs than we could put out, at least in a Midi format.

Pete: What was it like recording that first EP?

Christian: Fine, I guess. Recording is boring and stressful and also funny and exciting.  We recorded with our friend Jason, who recorded everything we made after. It was recorded in Mechanicsville. No real stress to it.

Pete: How did the band come to sign with Side One and do you feel it was a good move?

Christian: Our friend Andy helped us get some things together for labels at the beginning. I think this involved something on mp3.com I think a publicist saw it, liked it and sent it to their friends and contacts who ran labels. A few big labels asked us to send press packets or whatever they are and one of them eventually stuck.

As for it being a good move, it was the only move. It wasn’t like we had any choices. No other label got back to us. Their roster of bands wasn’t exactly our cup of tea but having a bit of support was nice. But it certainly wasn’t strategic.

Pete: What was it like touring nationally?

Christian: Fun and boring. Playing for a crowd is great. Playing for nobody is not so great. Seeing amazing landscapes across the country is great. Only getting to stop for an hour to walk around in it isn’t. Money is great. We only ever lost money.

Pete: What do you think of the band’s amount of success; do you think the band could have been bigger.

Christian: I don’t think we were ever successful. Outside of 1 or 2 places nobody came to see us, in particular. We definitely played in fun places but I don’t think it had to do with us as much as the folks in those towns.

I do, in fact, think we could have been bigger if promoted more or differently. I guess a lot of bands could say the same thing.  

Pete: Tell me about recording Power Destiny.

Christian: We recorded it just outside of Amsterdam. It took two weeks. It was recorded onto tape. It was in winter. There was a lot of weed and Vla (a delicious yoghurt drink) and sometimes Steve made meatballs. We went on tour for a couple of weeks afterwards with a guy named Ramon that drove me around a few months before when I played with Snack Truck. We mixed it back in Mechanicsville.

Pete: What caused the band to break up so suddenly?

Christian: Casey and I decided to leave Richmond to study. He went to Penn State to do a PhD in Physics and I went to Glasgow, Scotland to do a Masters in Fine Art. And then a few years later Chad and Mya each moved away to other corners of the world.

Pete: Were tracks like 50.5 supposed to be demos for a second record?

Christian: I actually don’t know what 50.5 is, but probably. We had a few much much slower songs that we started to play and maybe even recorded but not enough to put out. I don’t even know if the label would have even liked it.

Pete: Tell me about the Misfits tape.

Christian: Our friend Jason that recorded all of our things wanted to make a tape label. We didn’t have any new things but we did have lots of covers from various parties and Halloween parties so we did the Misfits ones on his request. Then the label Riot Style in New York asked if they could put it out on vinyl. By the time it came out I had been living in Britain for over 5 years.

Pete: What were you up to after the split?

Christian: I moved to Scotland for graduate school and then down to London.

Pete: What are you currently up to and what is everyone else doing?

Christian: I’ve been in the UK since 2007. I’m doing a PhD at the moment. Played in some bands. I’m doing one now call In a Skull. We just put out an album on Soundcloud during the coronavirus lockdown.

Mya lives in New Jersey with her family. Casey is in Germany with his wife and kids. Steve is in Richmond still. Chad is in Colorado.

Pete: Do you see the band playing a show at any point?

Christian: Probably not considering how far away everyone is. It’s not like anybody is going to pay for us to go on a reunion tour. I’m sure we still owe people money.

I don’t think anyone is against the idea, necessarily. It’s just not likely from a logistical point of view.

Pete: What do you hope is the band’s place in the spectrum of Virginia music?

Christian: I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it that way. Maybe a musicologist or ethnologist will dig up a CD of us in the future and we get to share some historical space alongside Timbaland or D’Angelo or the Rah Bras or Ella Fitzgerald or maybe GWAR.

As it was in the beginning, it was basically just for our friends. I reckon it still is.

Pete: What do you hope the band’s overall legacy will be?

Christian: To burrow ourselves into total obscurity until we emerge in our 70’s to play music we think will blow the youngsters’ minds.