When Guitars - And Mavis Staples - Look Right At You

"I try not to externally freak out, ever. Even if I'm around somebody that I really admire, you know, I try to keep it together as much as possible," Chris Vos says in a beautiful, low American drawl. This cool composure isn't surprising when you hear the band's sonic style, but it is still impressive to us mere mortals.

The Record Company made Rolling Stone's "Ten New Artists You Need To Know" in April last year and it's easy to hear why. Debut album Give It Back To You, released a few years after the band formed, was a chest-kicking mix of blues, rock and beyond — the result of a band with a shared love of music and very different styles and backgrounds. "I grew up on a farm in the middle of the US, a little dairy farm, and the other guys from the band are from other parts of the US as well, and we all found our way to Los Angeles, California, and we all are playing music out here. We got together bonding over early electric blues, early soul, early punk rock and rock'n'roll; so The Stones, The Stooges, The Ramones, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker — that kind of stuff," Vos explains.

Since then the band have gone on to play with some of their heroes, including spending some time with the legendary Mavis Staples. "There's no way to imitate artists like that and you shouldn't, but to use the traditions that they have inherited, and watch and learn," Vos explains. "Mavis Staples is one of my favourite artists of all time, and [her father] Pops Staples is one of my favourite artists of all time, too. When I met her they were doing their vocal warm-up — it was beautiful and I was very moved. She asked if I wanted to take a picture and I gave her a hug, and it was great. And I said, 'You know your father is one of my favourite singers of all time?' And she just looked at me and said, 'Say it again'," whispers Vos. "And I just thought that was just the coolest thing." 

"I had just started playing guitar so I just laid my guitar on my lap [to play along], because I didn't know any better, and then I found out later that's a totally legitimate way to do it ..."

Vos' contribution of a well-placed falsetto and some awesome lap steel guitar has become a major facet of The Record Company's style. The falsetto, he explains, originally stemmed from a "love of soul singing, people like Ray Charles and Al Green and Marvin Gaye", and an old-fashioned bedroom singalong. "Listening to a song called Simply Beautiful by Al Green, where the whole song is — he's whispering and it's so quiet, his voice," Vos continues. "I remember being about 18 and just trying to sing along. And I was surprised; I couldn't sing it the way he could, but I could get up to some of those notes, so I thought, 'Maybe I should try that'. Also, I loved artists like Prince — he was not afraid of that [high voice]. I've always enjoyed it and it can sometimes add a really nice change of pace to a song."

As for the lap steel, something of an unusual instrument for a new young artist to pick up, Vos explains it came out of a mixture of experimentation, luck and a moment where an instrument called out to him. "I loved this recording of Johnny Winter and Muddy Waters — I had just started playing guitar so I just laid my guitar on my lap [to play along], because I didn't know any better, and then I found out later that's a totally legitimate way to do it ... Then when I went to college, I walked into a guitar shop in the town and there was a lap steel, and I swear to god it was looking at me. It was sitting there, opposite the door, and I can remember seeing that guitar as distinctly as the day I saw my wife for the first time," he says, now in a hushed tone.

While we don't know how wise it is to compare your guitar to your spouse, Vos' story is full of love and adoration. "I took it home and I just started playing it, and eventually started finding out more about tunings and how to use them. It's just something that's always been with me, I've always enjoyed it." It's an experience he's had again, too (with guitars, not wives!). "Any musician can understand this. You can buy instruments, but sometimes - very rarely, but I swear to god a guitar will look at you. And it will go, 'You and me, this is what this is supposed to be.' Whether I could afford to or not, I've figured out a way to bring the instrument home and I've never regretted any of those purchases," he croons.