Vanity Theft
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Vanity Theft

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"Non-Required Reading"

Please see link - Dave Eggers Anthology


"Meet the Band: Vanity Theft"

If there is one thing that Cincinnati’s local music scene sometimes lacks, it’s female-fronted bands. Even more so lacking is what Vanity Theft offers – an all-female alt-rock band.

Formed in 2005, the band got together after a high school community event where Brittany Hill (guitar/vox) met Alicia Grodecki (keyboard/effects/vox). The two hit it off immediately and invited friends Elyse Driskill (drums) and Staci Farfsing (bass) to begin playing with them. They originally played cover songs, but when Farfsing left the band, Lindsey Keene filled the new spot and the girls began focusing on original material. A few months later, in 2006, they played their first show, and the rest is history.

We spoke with Hill to see why being an all-girl band isn’t such a big deal, and why giraffes are awesome.

Why ‘Vanity Theft’?
Vanity Theft became our name shortly after Lindsey came along. We called ourselves Vanity Pledge before that. Vanity Theft ended up being a combination of two different ideas. To us, it's just speaking of going through things that humble you. Getting knocked down, but getting back up. Doesn't hurt that it sounds cool. [laughter]

Do you tour outside of the Cincinnati area? If so, where has been your favorite place to visit?
We mainly hit Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati for regular shows. We have toured farther though. We'd have to say we like playing in Tennessee most, so far. We've had really good times in Nashville and Chattanooga.

Probably the most memorable times we have on the road are replacing the words to our favorite songs with inappropriate words/profanities.

What would you say is a common theme in your music?
If we had to go with a single theme for our music in general, I think it would be to have fun and not take ourselves too seriously. Focus on what's important, and I guess some songs touch on the irony of getting our priorities completely wrong. That definitely doesn't mean our lyrics express a carefree or party party kind of mood, because our songs are definitely emotional at times, but if it's not something we want to tap our feet or dance around to, we probably wouldn't write it.

You probably hear all kinds of typical questions about being an all-girl band, but what are the positives and/or negatives of that fact?
We're actually pretty oblivious to that stigma until we hear the words, "Wow, I am really impressed with you girls. I thought you would suck, but you were awesome." We get that all the time. And sometimes I stop and think, "Oh yeah, we are an all girl band. I forgot." I mean to say, we just think of ourselves as any other regular band. The bad thing about being all girls is that most people assume we won't be any good – either grungy, screamy punk rock, or another version of The Donnas, which isn't us at all. The good thing is that we get to turn skeptics into fans, surprise people, and people remember us because of that.

What's your favorite girl band, and why?
We don't so much have a favorite band that is all girls, but we have favorite bands that have some, or are fronted by girls. We love Rilo Kiley, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Distillers. Also, Veruca Salt and Sleater Kinney. They are big influences.

If each of you were an animal, what would you be, and why?
Lindsey: An owl. They are intense.

Alicia: A white tiger, yo.

Elyse: A hippo. They just get to sit around and eat all day.

Brittany: A giraffe. Pretty much for the neck. - Metromix Cincinnati


"Dayton Local Band Q&A"

Vanity Theft
Style of music: Indie rock
Location: Springboro, Ohio
Members and instruments played: Alicia Grodecki (vocals, keys, guitar, effects), Brittany Hill (vocals, guitar), Lindsey Keene (bass guitar) and Elyse Driskill (drums)

Formed: 2005

Random fact: After Dayton shows we crash at Alicia's and fall asleep to a Disney movie

Web site: www.myspace.com/vanitytheft

If you could've written any famous song, what would it be and why?
Alicia: I'd probably have to say "The Archers Bows are Broken" by Brand New because it's amazing or "Idioteque" by Radiohead because it's so creative.

If you could seek musical advice from one music icon, who would it be and what would you ask?
Lindsey: Paul McCartney!! I would like to know how in the world he played such complex bass lines and sang in completely different rhythms. Oh, and how he could remember how to play "She's So Heavy" because his part changes completely every minute or so É for seven minutes.

What is the most unique characteristic of your band?
Brittany: Well the obvious thing to say is that we're all girls, but I really think what makes us stand out is our fun and quirky indie rock sound. Being experimental and breaking the mold is a priority, which might be why you'll see Alicia playing a different instrument almost every song. If nothing else, we just want to see people at our shows tapping their feet and not being able to resist their urge to dance at times.

If you could play any venue with any band ever, where would it be and what other act would be on the bill?
Everyone: We would love to play The LC Pavilion in Columbus because that's where we go most of the time to see our favorite bands and it's a really cool atmosphere. Our fantasy lineup of bands to play with would be Brand New, Deathcab for Cutie, The Stills and Radiohead.

If you were forced to choose, which two famous acts would you say your band's sound most resembles?
Elyse: That's a tough one. We really never get compared to the same bands twice, but I'll go with The Sounds and Nightmare of You. - Active Dayton


"Dayton's Damsels: Vanity Theft"

Coming from Dayton, Ohio, a city that most people wouldn't recognize on a map unless they were familiar southwestern Ohio; many either forget or don't know that this city does have quite an important musical history. Oh, and the Wright Brothers built the first airplane here. Among the numerous bands this city has produced are The Ohio Players, Guided By Voices, Swearing At Motorists, Brainiac, The Breeders, and while he didn't actually bring much to the local music scene, Lou Barlow was born here too. In addition to these bands, that are household names in some circles, there are a plethora of equally talented, if not quite as well known, bands that call this city home.

One of those bands, is Vanity Theft. The ladies of this band are original, talented, and out on a great live show. They manage this despite the fact most of the band aren't old enough to drink in the bars they play shows in. This is normally not a great sign for a band. Young bands, have a tendency to wear their influences on their sleeves. Often times to the point of inducing thoughts of parody or even of them being a tribute band of some kind. This rarelt speaks to the overall talents, but rather the fact that the songwriters in the band are still trying to find their voice, and the musicians in the band are still learning how to make that voice speak.

In the case of Vanity Theft, the band's song and voice is fully realized. The strange thing, is that the bands influences: Radiohead, Okkervil River, and Of Montreal aren't overly noticable in their sound. They sound more like Sleater Kinney ... but only if they were jamming with Devo or an early incarnation of The Metric.

Their album, "Post Script: Pace Yourself", features songs that are mature without being cynical, well written without sounding overly processed, and intelligent while still being fun to listen to. The best songs on the album, are "In Retrospect", "Teeth and Bone", and the album's closing track "Edit, Edit, Edit". To only pick two or three songs off of this album, isn't fair though, it is a solid album from front to back. And one that can be listened to literally constantly for a week or so.

For a band this young, to have this strong of a sense of melody but also understanding how to write rock songs that don't shy away from experimentation is a rarity. Hell, there are bands that been together for over a decade that are yet to put out an album that is this solid from front to back. You can check them out on their MySpace, and if you like what you hear, hop over to their CDBaby site and pick a copy up. Music this fun and honest doesn't come around very often, regardless of the band's status.

The band put together a video for their track "Edit, Edit, Edit" that not only shows off the bands musical prowess, but also that they are good natured people who don't take themselves too seriously. To be perfectly honest, this band is reminiscent of the alternative music scene when it was just starting to blossom into the forefront of the musical mainstream. These ladies are an amazing band and if all is fair, they will be extremely succesful. But, they don't give a damn about what any musical commentator has to say about them. And that, is the beauty of it all. - Examiner: Los Angeles


"Thursday Pick: Vanity Theft"

In its bio, this Dayton-area foursome says the members are “just trying to break the stereotypes of lame girl bands and play something that doesn’t sound like everything else out there.” Mission accomplished.

Vanity Theft makes Indie Pop music that's fun, danceable and brazen. Alicia Grodecki and Brittany Hill are the band’s co-lead singers, usually singing together and concocting some mesmerizing, creative harmonies. They have that kind of harmony-mind-meld that usually only comes from siblings.

The group’s first full-length album, PostScript: Pace Yourself, was voted the No. 1 debut album released by a Dayton band in 2008 by The Dayton Daily News. Listening to it, it appears the newspaper have missed the mark — it’s one of the best debut albums by almost any new band in the past five years.

Here's a profile from DDN's weekly entertainment publication, ActiveDayton. - CityBeat


"Chic-Spotlight All-Female Band Vanity Theft"

Cincy Chic: How did Vanity Theft first get together, and what's the significance of your name?

Alicia Grodecki, singer, guitarist, and keyboardist for Vanity Theft: Well, we first got together with our original lineup back in high school. I was playing at a festival with my old band when I met Brittany [Hill, singer and guitarist for Vanity Theft]. She basically found me after the show and told me she wanted to get a band together and wondered if I'd be interested. We ended up getting together and ended up hitting it off immediately. Then when the time came that we needed a bassist, my friend Lindsey [Keene, bass guitarist] was the perfect fit and voila! So formed Vanity Theft.

Hill: And as far as the name goes, it was really a combination of ideas. But I guess if you had to assign meaning to it, it really just speaks of being humble and not taking yourself too seriously.

Cincy Chic: You say that your band is trying to break the stereotype of girl bands, so how are you working to stand out from the crowd as an all-female group?

Hill: This isn't a conscious effort per se. We just play what we like and try to push the limits as far as complexity and instrumental experimentation goes. Too many people think that if you're an all-girl band you're going to either be punk or screamy metal. Sometimes we even forget about the fact that we're an all-girl band because, to us, it's not a gimmick.

Grodecki: Yeah, a lot of times people get the wrong ideas about us because we're an all-girl band, but like Brittany said, we don’t even think of it that way. It just so happens that we all work well together as friends and musicians, so the fact that we all happen to be girls is simply a technicality.

Cincy Chic: They say that "if you play together, you stay together." How do you interpret this for your experience as a group of women playing music together?

Hill: Well, we've definitely had our ups and downs as a band, but when you share that kind of connection and passion, it does make it easy to get through the hard times. We're all best friends, which also helps, so those energies feed off of each other. I don't think we could completely break up even if we wanted to.

Cincy Chic: After playing with each other, what insights do you have into the importance of girlfriends?

Grodecki: In all the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, I think the importance of girlfriends, and all friends in general, is way too easy for people to take for granted or overlook. But after playing in a band with these girls and having been through so much together, I realize that people need to just take a step back and appreciate these friendships that we are all so fortunate to have. I personally couldn’t imagine my life without the three of them in it. No matter what is going on in our lives, I think that the four of us really are what keep each other going.

Cincy Chic: What advice do you have for women about maintaining their friendships with girlfriends?

Hill: Just take a step back and remember what's important. And never be too stubborn to put yourself in someone else's shoes. And always keep it honest.Yeah, honesty’s a big one. Sometimes the things that you think might push you apart actually end up bringing you closer together.

Cincy Chic: When and where can Cincy Chic readers expect to see Vanity Theft?

Grodecki: We're playing at the Midpoint Music Festival this year, which we are really excited about. We're scheduled to play at the Know Theater around 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24 with some other great bands.

Cincy Chic: When you put down your instruments, how do you relax and have fun?

Grodecki: Oh, man — We somehow always find ways to entertain ourselves and have a great time, no matter how ridiculous they may be! I think we’ve done everything from going sledding on an air mattress in the middle of a snowstorm to having impromptu dance parties in the living room.

Hill: Yeah, and we're addicted to watching old episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and "My So Called Life." We also are always going to shows and, of course, getting down to our 1990s copy of Darren's Dance Grooves.

Cincy Chic: What's your favorite thing about Cincinnati?

Hill: Uh, the Bengals?

Grodecki: Um, no! Cleveland Browns all the way! But seriously, we love the music scene there. There are always new faces at shows and people seem to take a genuine interest in what we're doing, which is always refreshing. There's also a lot of talent down there that we get the chance to be around. We've met some wonderful Cincinnatians thus far, and are hoping for that list to continue growing. - Cincy Chic


"Dayton's Vanity Theft is Memorable"

The Dayton based band Vanity Theft is the only all-female act out of 277 bands selected for Cincinnati’s 2009 MidPoint Music Festival.

But five minutes before the band’s show Thursday night at the Know Theater, 1120 Jackson St. in Over-The-Rhine, the two bartenders sitting in the back of a dark room big enough for 150 people were the closest thing to an audience.

“This show is gonna be lame,” said Lindsey Keene, the band’s bassist. “Hopefully we look hot, though.”

MidPoint is a music festival in downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, which continues through Saturday. The festival's aim is to help emerging artists gain exposure.

Audio Slideshow: Behind the Scenes

Blue and red stage lights lit shiny, tuned guitars, and The Police’s “I’ll Be Watching You” played through the venue’s speakers. One minute before the show, three people wandered in.

More people trickled in in ones and twos as guitar/vocalist Brittany Bill introduced the band.

Lead singer Alicia Grodecki usually gets nervous to the point of nausea before a show. On Thursday night, she appeared calm.

“At first I thought it was going to be a waste of a 50-minute drive,” she said after the show.

At first, the band's performance had a stilted look and feel. The first song, “Symptoms,” was all pop and light-hearted melody, but their stiff stage presence contradicted the sound. About half way through the song the skinny-jean clad musicians loosened up, and the crowd expanded to include about 30 people.

Bill encouraged the audience to come closer to the stage and then commanded: “Go get your friends from downstairs and tell ‘em to get up here!”

The applause intensified after each song, and by the end of the set, about 70 people danced to the music. One man danced by the front of the stage and sang word-for-word with each song. The dancer, Dayton resident Scott Sanders, said later he has given Vanity Theft’s album, Post Script: Pace Yourself, to many of his friends.

“That’s what you dream of when you play music,” said Grodecki, “for someone to know the words to your songs. It was like ‘Field of Dreams’.”

The MidPoint performance was the last show Vanity Theft plans to play for some time. The group is recording a new album, which they said they hope to release in early 2010. But as the wide-eyed, excited musicians left the stage to mingle half-exhausted with their fans, they reveled in the experience.

“Yeah,” said Grodecki. “It was freaking awesome!” - Cincinnati.com


"Stealing the Show: Vanity Theft at the Van's Warped Tour"

The Van's Warped Tour has always been a grab bag for anyone who goes. Normally, you have two or three bands you want to see and the rest you're able to tolerate ... but ultimately could care less about. Then there are the years where you happen upon a band you'd never heard before and instantly become a fan. The best place to discover new music, at Warped Tour anyways, is the Kevin Says Stage.

This year, Dayton band Vanity Theft performed on the Kevin Says Stage just as the doors for the show opened. Being the first band to go is always a challenge, being the first band people are going to hear upon coming through the door can crank the nerves of young bands to a tipping point. However, Vanity Theft handled both of these situations with a style typically associated with a band that has been making music for more than a decade. Not letting the pressure get to them, the ladies of Vanity Theft were able to put together a great set of music. They also must have a sound that people from various musical backgrounds can get into, because there were people with t-shirts glorifying the latest trends in emo and pop-punk, people with mohawks and old school punk t-shirts, and parents accompanying their young children all stopping to catch a glimpse of this band they were hearing.

Gathering a diverse crowd at this show is always a challenge, as most people already know who they want to see. However, being an Indie Dance Pop band made entirely of girls on a tour that is generally dominated by males playing some variation of loud distorted music makes them just enough of an annomally that people will pay attention to them. The band used this to their advantage, playing to the crowd and engaging in a bit more stage banter than I'd heard from them previously. Which is what seperates them from so many of their peers, both in Dayton and at Warped Tour, these girls appear fearless to all but their closest fans. They exhibit a level of show-womanship that most bands don't pull off when they are playing to a crowd that is several times bigger than anyone they've ever seen before.

The band played almost half of their latest album Postscript: Pace Yourself, an album which they've mastered to the point of making old songs sound new again by adding flair to them they couldn't before. This is the kind of comfort, that can leave some bands treading water at live shows ... being able to overcome that though is a testament to band chemistry and musical ability. Those two things are what is going to seperate Vanity Theft from a lot the bands they share a stage with. - Examiner: Los Angeles


"Vanity Theft to play Canal Street Tavern"

For the past year Springboro’s Vanity Theft have attempted to breach the stereotypes that many have about girl rock bands. Mostly they want to prove that the girls can rock just as hard as the boys.

Brittany Hill (guitar, voice), Alicia Grodeci (keys, voice), Elise Driskill (drums), and Lindsey Keene (bass), are earning respect and fans throughout the Midwest playing upbeat, catchy, and melody driven music that borders on indie and hard rock.

The band’s most definitive characteristic is their two singers, Hill and Grodeci. Together they are able to manipulate melodies and lyrics in a way reminiscent of Taking Back Sunday or Thursday, but with female range and compassion.

Vanity Theft plans on spending the first part of 2007 performing and breaking into the Dayton rock scene. Catch the band next Saturday, February 10th at Canal Street Tavern with Shrug. Show starts at 9:30pm and is $5 at the door.

At the show pick up the band’s first 5-song ep entitled SymptomsSymptoms.

I got to chat with Brittany Hill about Vanity Theft and their up coming show at Canal Street Tavern.

KN - I hear many different styles and influences in your music, is that planned?

BH -Yea, our style is always changing and adapting. We encompass a broad spectrum and we do not like to classify ourselves. We like to write fun stuff that will make you tap your feet, but at the same time is very heartfelt lyrically.

KN - Is it difficult being an all-girl band in a normally male dominated genre?

BH - Sometimes it is hard, but it is fun at the same time. Every show people look at us and think we are going to suck. It is fun to change people’s minds and blow them away. Being a girl band makes us stand out.

KN -Why do people think you might suck when they look at you?

BH - The stereotypes about girl rock bands are that they are either the Donnas or Kittie. We are trying to be deeper than that. We want people to focus on our music not on us being girls.

KN - Are you excited about playing on Saturday at Canal Street?

BH - Yea were excited about it. We cannot wait to play with Shrug. They’re great. We hope everyone comes out, gives us a chance, and has a good time. - Dayton Daily News


Discography

Vanity Theft - Postscript: Pace Yourself
Vanity Theft - Symptoms EP

Photos