来自英国伦敦的Vega4,由来自爱尔兰的主唱John McDaid,贝斯Gavin Fox,加拿大的鼓手Bryan McLellan和新西兰的吉他手Bruce Gainsford。四人在伦敦生活时通过共同的朋友介绍而结识,组建乐队也是因为大家都有共同的音乐爱好,来自五湖四海自然各自受到的音乐影响各异,照Johnny自己的话说“我们的音乐是难以描述的,唱片中蕴含了太多元素和影响”。
他们真正证明自身价值的作品是单曲You And Me,出自专辑《You And Others》,呈现了Vega4最显明的音乐基调,善心悦目的吉他和弦配上坚定有力的演唱,牢牢勾起了对于愉悦听觉的憧憬。Vega4同Jackknife Lee基于专辑《You And Others》的合作开始于2006年,对于乐队来说这是次值得纪念的经历,Lee全身心地投入乐队唱片制作,专辑花了9个月完成,Johnny感慨万千“和Lee合作太美妙了,他努力让我们把注意力放在广义的音乐世界,开拓了我们对于音乐的展望,突破内省的作风,让我们感受到了音乐无处不在。”
故事的结尾就是Vega4带着他们醒目上进的音乐来到了我们面前,Johnny清醒地坚持道“我们觉得没有必要隐藏在技术进步的背后,或是为了迎合时尚创作附和,对我们来说最重要的是通过歌曲和人们形成种联系,不能刻意苛求,制作专辑是让我享受在细节中找寻美丽的过程。”
by Stewart Mason
Part of the relentlessly polite school of dad rock that flowered in Great Britain after Coldplay (think Muse, Snow Patrol, Travis, etc.), Vega4 is based in London, although of the band's original lineup, only bassist Simon Walker was an actual Englishman. The rest of Vega4 migrated into London from the colonies: lead guitarist Bruce Gainsford is from New Zealand, drummer Bryan McLellan is from Canada, and lead singer Johnny McDaid is from Derry, Northern Ireland, where as a teenager he took guitar lessons from local legend John O'Neill of the Undertones and That Petrol Emotion. Flatmates McDaid and Walker formed Vega4 in 1999, adding Gainsford and McLellan through mutual friends. The nascent band signed with indie label Taste Media in 2000, setting up distribution deals with Capitol Records in the U.S. and Festival Mushroom in Australia for their 2001 debut EP, Caterpillar, and the follow-up full-length, Satellites. Despite heavy touring and promotion, the album was not a success, and Vega4 went into a period of dormancy while extricating themselves from their various contracts. In 2006, a slightly revised lineup of Vega4 (with Walker replaced by former Idlewild bassist Gavin Fox) signed with Columbia Records in the U.K. and Epic Records in the U.S., which promoted the single "You and Me" somewhat disingenuously as the band's debut. The following single, "Life Is Beautiful," gained exposure through its use in episodes of the TV series Gray's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. Vega4's second album, You and Others, was released in the fall of 2006 in the U.K. and the summer of 2007 in the U.S.