With the announcement of their debut album, ‘A Funeral For Youth’, due to be released in September, Miss Vincent break down their inspirations for ‘Gravity’.

The Shirelles – ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’

Old songs are going to be a bit of a theme, because Gravity is drenched in vintage influences. I love The Shirelles – that whole ‘girl group’ movement (a very out of date term, I know) brought out so many great songs with the most beautiful melodies, and harmonies that bring the songs to life. Shirley Alston has the most effortless, distinctive voice, and I get so much inspiration from listening to her. I read recently that this song was the first no.1 by a black female group, which makes it feel all the more significant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4955hA_hcB4

Bruce Springsteen – ‘No Surrender’

I’ve always liked Springsteen, but these past few years I just can’t get enough of his entire back catalogue. This song is such a great driving stomper of a rock song, which immediately comes to mind as an influence for Gravity. “No retreat baby, no surrender” is a killer hook to have in the chorus, and I love the way that each half of the chorus has different harmonies. I love straight up rock songs that don’t mess around and have an instantly memorable chorus, and this ticks all the boxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD3DdskaPhs

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – ‘This Train’

This one is less about a direct influence on the sound, and more about how it led me to approach writing certain parts. Sister Rosetta is one of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll, and her voice is one of the most soulful, natural sounds in the world. I honestly feel like I could listen to her sing the phone book and still love it. After all, a lot of her music is pretty religious, and I’m not religious at all – but even so it’s hard not to be reeled in by her voice. The way that she changes melodies halfway through a line, and occasionally adds an almost spoken word element to it is incredible. Whenever I’m struggling with vocal parts, I put some Sister Rosetta on, because she’ll get me right back on track.

Green Day – ’21st Century Breakdown’

This is a really underrated Green Day album in my opinion, and I love this track as an album opener. They’re the masters of the rock opera, which we all knew from American Idiot, but when this album came out I actively disliked for some reason. Then, when I went to see them on that tour (2009 I think?), something clicked and it all made sense. I’ve always wanted to write a song with very distinct sections that are totally different, but fit well together. ‘Gravity’ has a lot of that, and I can definitely hear the Green Day influence. We never want to be a pastiche of anything, but at the same time, sometimes influences shine through a bit clearer, which is definitely the case with this song.

Against Me! – ‘Bitter Divisions’

This is a song off the deluxe version of White Crosses, which is one of my favourite albums ever. Until recently I’d only ever heard the original album, so listening to the extra songs on the deluxe version was mind-blowing, I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to hear them. This song really stuck out to me as a bit different from the rest of the album, but it still made total sense – and it had one of my favourite choruses that they’ve ever written. Lyrically it was a little brash but somehow still constructive, and I found it weirdly positive. It’s definitely informed my approach to writing lyrics.

Connie Francis – ‘Who’s Sorry Now’

I first heard ‘Lipstick on your Collar’ and that really got me into her music. Then when I heard this, it felt like a beautiful ballad, but with a rock’n’roll undertone. It’s short and sharp, and both her vocals, the harmonies and the backing vocals all come together so cohesively. I really channeled this song in the bridge of ‘Gravity’. When we were recording the album, I was going to hard on the vibrato because I wanted to sound like her, and the guys had to get me to rein it in. She’s definitely got some of the best vibrato I’ve ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QEAtcz3o8

My Chemical Romance – ‘The Only Hope For Me Is You’ 

This is a weird one, because I don’t really like this album that much, but this song in particular has always stood out to me. It’s a huge stomping rock song and has one of the biggest choruses they’ve ever written, and if there’s one thing I love above all else, it’s big choruses. It also stuck out to me that it’s actually quite a plodding song, which I’ve always struggled to write. I generally gravitate towards fast songs, but with ‘Gravity’ I really wanted to rein that in and find a way of writing a massive chorus that was a bit slower. I remember seeing this live at Reading in 2011 (I think?), and it just sounded massive. That always stuck in my mind.

Ramones – ‘Danny Says’

It’s no secret that I’m a complete Ramones obsessive. I’ve been to the museum in Berlin a whole bunch, and I even met Arturo Vega by chance in NYC years ago before he passed away. They’re the greatest band of all time in my opinion. This song is on ‘End of the Century’, which is often seen as a misstep in their career, mostly I think because they worked with Phil Spector. But there are some really high points on this album and this song is one of them – I love the way it builds and Joey’s vocal performance is one of my favourites. There’s an undeniable romance in so many of their songs, and they channel all of the ’50s doo wop and bubblegum bands that I love. They were a catalyst for me falling in love with that era of music, and everything I’ve ever written, or ever will write, will be influenced by them in some way.

Danny and the Juniors – ‘Sometimes’

This one was a toss up between this song and ‘A Thousand Miles Away’, because they’re two of Danny and the Juniors’ best ballads in my opinion. The harmonies in this one are just the best, though. Back in the golden days of rock’n’roll, if you wanted to make a song bigger and fuller, adding harmonies was one of your only options, because recording was still so rudimentary. Harmonies are such a bit part of the Miss Vincent sound, so when I hear good harmonies it really makes a song stand out for me. There’s a beautiful, melancholy romance to this song, and lyrically I think it had an impact on ‘Gravity’ – especially in the bridge.

The Gaslight Anthem – ‘1,000 Years’

I’m in a minority of Gaslight fans because I unashamedly love this album to death. It’s raw, understated and incredibly vulnerable. When I first heard this song, it got to the line, “I heard about a woman once, who did everything ever asked of her. She died last week and her last words were ‘it wasn’t worth it’” and all of the hairs on my body stood up. The chorus is so uplifting, yet somehow so melancholy. Brian Fallon’s way with words is inimitable, but it’s certainly had an impact on me.

Miss Vincent’s debut album, ‘A Funeral For Youth’, is out September 17th via Silent Cult and available for pre-order here.

The Ramones are a band that need no introduction. Their legacy is almost unmatched, and they have influenced almost every band that will claim they are a punk band. The band’s third drummer Richie Ramone breathed a new life into the band when he joined in 1982, and during his five years with The Ramones is credited as writing some of their most beloved songs such as ‘Somebody Put Something In My Drink’, ‘Smash You’, ‘I’m Not Jesus’ and more. After recently releasing his solo album ‘Entitled’, and with his first UK tour on the horizon, we caught up with the legendary drummer to talk about his solo album, what to expect from his live shows and what punk means in to him in 2014.

So Richie, you recently released your first solo album ‘Entitled’. What inspired you to do the record after so many years?

It’s kind of weird, I didn’t do much for like 10 years and something was eating at me. I went and scored ‘West Side Story’ for an orchestra and did some of those shows, and that was cool. Then I went to the Joey Ramone bash in 2006 or something, I did that for a couple of years and started writing and it just snowballed from there. After that long, I had a long rest and got myself together and people said, “You should make a record!” and I know nothing about making a record. It was a lot of work but it all worked out.

What made you decide to re-record some older Ramones songs for the album?

I did that because a lot of fans know the older songs and I wanted to put my own twist on it. Instead of giving them 12 new songs, I gave them eight. Well nine actually,  I put ‘Somebody Put Something In My Drink’ as an extra track on the vinyl. Just so they could be familiar with me, they knew my singing, and I didn’t want them to have to absorb too much new stuff.

You played drums as well as sang on the record. Was it hard to find a drummer for the live shows?

I still drum and sing live, but my second guitarist Ben plays drums as well so I move out front a few times during the show just so I can get in the kids’ faces. We switch it up a little live.

Is it quite liberating stepping out from behind the kit and fronting a band?

It just seems natural to me. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m not pretentious, I’m just being me. If you are just true to yourself like a real punk should it will be natural.

You wrote some classic Ramones songs in your time with the band. Do you have any particular favourites?

‘Somebody Put Something In My Drink’ is one of the favourites, and I think that’s in the top ten of all time. ‘Can’t Say Anything Nice’ is another and the Latin countries really love that. It’s their favourite in South America. I’d probably say ‘..Drink’ and ‘I Know Better Now’ which has a strong message for kids. The writing was good, and I just try not to write too much fluff you know, it has to be special.

Do you feel you have a duty to maintain the legacy that The Ramones left on the punk world?

In a way. I mean it’s kind of two-fold being a singer now where I have the legacy of The Ramones, but I’m also a new artist. I wanted to make sure that this album was tough, aggressive and hard, and that’s how it came out. It blends well when I do some Ramones classics live mixed in with the record, and it all ties in really well. I do more of the Ramones songs like ‘Commando’ and ‘Loudmouth’ which is some of the harder Ramones stuff, not the poppier stuff.

Do you have any stand out memories from your time in The Ramones?

There was a lot of stuff. Five years is a long time and we were together a lot because we would play 160 shows a year. I hung out with Joey every night for five years and we would go out together all the time if we weren’t playing. The great memories are being able to play in packed clubs, and the excitement that came with it. Ramones always packed them in too, because we would never play anywhere too big, it would always be floor to ceiling with people. That was a real exciting part of it.

With the amount of songs that would be in a Ramones set and the speed of the songs, did it take quite a physical toll on your body?

I was a kid then so you didn’t do anything but drink and stay up all night and still play a show. To play that fast I would practise on pillows because the sticks wouldn’t bounce back up so I had to really develop my wrists. Now when I’m doing this where I’m singing lead and playing drums it’s extremely exhausting so I have to stay in shape. It’s a totally different thing when you take up the responsibility of being a lead singer too. Now I have to take care of my voice and all that shit. You can’t get away with not sleeping, so I tend to make sure I keep my heart rate up, ride a bike in the gym, all so you can get used to your heart going at 170 beats per minute live.

You have a UK tour coming up in December. What can people expect from a Richie Ramone show?

The people that are on the fence and don’t show up, all their friends are going to tell them what they missed, put it that way. They are going to get stuff off the new record that maybe you haven’t heard yet, and some Ramones classics. It’s just really hard and in your face, it doesn’t stop, and the band is really tight. I’m really looking forward to it as it’s my first time bringing my band over there, so I’m interested to see what happens.

What’s in store for the future? Do you have any new projects in the pipeline?

January we are going start laying some tracks down. We’re probably going to start on a new record or EP or something as I have some more ideas I want to get out there, and in February we are going to head South America for a tour.

Do you still stay in touch with the current punk scene, or have you heard any new bands that you have enjoyed?

I really like Teenage Bottlerocket. They got it right and they are a really good band and one of my favourites out there now. I also keep in touch with Isis Queen (Barb Wire Dolls vocalist), I really like what they are doing. I would like to get out to Greece and do a show with them, but we will see in the future. I’d like to hook up and do some touring with another band, like one of those guys maybe.

And finally, what does punk mean to you in 2014?

What punk has always meant to me is that it’s not about the haircut or the clothes you wear, or it’s not about spitting. It’s about being true to yourself and not being phoney. That’s what we do at our shows, because I sing the songs and tell the story. Either you like it or you don’t like it, just try to have some sense of being true to yourself, because that’s what punk rock is.

Richie Ramones solo album ‘Entitled’ is available now. Make sure you catch him on tour in the UK throughout December. All the dates for the tour can be found here.

GLEN BUSHELL

Ramones drummer Richie Ramone has a new video for his track ‘Criminal’, which was on his ‘Entitled’ album that came out late last year. Have a watch below.

https://www.facebook.com/RichieRamoneOfficial