VHS or Beta Explore Different Sounds on New Single

Posted on Nov 12th 2009 3:30PM by Emily Tan
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While VHS or Beta have been known to toe the line between dance and rock music with 2004's 'Night on Fire' and 2007's 'Can't Believe a Single Word,' the Kentucky-based band has decided to leave guitars and drums behind for samplers, synthesizers and drum machines on their new single, 'Feel It When You Know.'

Inspired by '90s Chicago House music, Craig Pfunder, the band's singer and guitarist, took elements and techniques from that style and incorporated it into the VHS or Beta sound. "I wanted a part of a song to sound like it was sampled even though it wasn't since it was me singing it," Pfunder tells Spinner. "So when I started writing that track, I just wanted to run a vocal that sound like it was stolen from an old record."

With dance music growing in popularity in the US, the band isn't trying to evolve within the genre, opting instead to take their sound on a new path. "It's just new for us," Pfunder says. "It wasn't us trying to reinvent any type of music. It's just us having fun. When you've been a band for as long as we have, it's just healthy to try to change your approach. It's just trying to keep your perspective fresh and new."

Since breaking from Astralwerks and starting their own label, Chromosome Records, the band is looking forward to many potential projects in the future such as signing artists and releasing more singles opposed to full-length albums.

"[Singles] give us a lot freedom as to what type of songs we want to create," Pfunder says. "It was giving us the opportunity to explore different sounds without committing to a full statement like for a record."