Wichita's Vehicles will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its third album, "This Bluebird Wants Me Dead," via a special show on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Wave.
Also on the bill that night are Breeding Brainbrow, Ferris Wheel Regulars and the Josué Estrada Band. Former band members Heather Wooldridge and UJ Pesonen are also scheduled to appear as part of Vehicles' performance.
Guitarist/vocalist Cody Cloud, who formed the band in 2006, recently visited the KMUW studios with bandmates Tony Hull (bass), Cale Gubitz (keyboards) and Isaac Pearson (guitar) to discuss the decade that has passed since "This Bluebird Wants Me Dead" arrived, and the group's approach to keeping the songs on it alive. (The band is rounded out by drummer Thayne Coleman.)
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Take me back to the writing of "This Bluebird Wants Me Dead" and where the band was at that moment in time.
Cody Cloud: Wayne Spriggs was playing bass with us at that time. He started working with Micajah Ryan at Air House [Music Academy in Wichita]. That's where we ended up recording that record. Wayne really wanted to put some time and money into recording a great recording with this band. There was a lot more emphasis on what you can do in the studio. We were all learning in that moment. That was a fun [period of growth] for the band. God bless, Wayne.
You'd done records before that, but I wonder if you'd say that much of what you were working toward was solidified with that?
CC: It was the first record we really got production guidance on. The two records before that, we were just a band that went in and recorded our songs and didn't really alter them or edit them. We just went in and [recorded them as they were]. ["Bluebird"] was unique because when Micajah was at Air House, he would very much come in and say, "That's not a good part; this needs to be better." He would re-arrange things. We were being produced for the first time.
There are lyrical themes that run through the songs. I remember speaking with you right before the record came out and talking about this idea of the bluebird of happiness. The pursuit of that, but also find out that, at certain points, that pursuit was detrimental.
CC: I've thought about that. I thought I knew what the bluebird was 10 years ago, but I think that if renamed the record now, I'd call it, "This people-pleasing's gonna kill me." The longer those songs are around that's more what they mean to me.
It's kind of amazing that you can write something, record it, live with it for a long time and still find new things about it.
Isaac Pearson: I think songs take on different meanings the longer they're around. When you write, it might be about a certain thing, but as you live it and as you perform it for years, it takes on [a significance] based on whatever's going on in your life then. It's really cool to look back and see how much we've changed. That record marks a pivotal point where we started to craft albums instead of just going in and playing our songs.
Tony Hull: I'd second that. I think honest music has room to grow just like people do. I was fortunate enough that I joined halfway through the process of making the record. It's been an interesting journey.
Cale Gubitz: I don't know how qualified I am to talk about it because I've only been a part of this band for three years. I think "Bluebird" was where the band really hit its stride in terms of what the band's identity was going to be.
There are bands that work on tunes, play them live, make an album, play the songs at a record release show and then, by the next time you see them, they're onto the next thing. It's almost like that new record didn't happen. You've kept these songs around.
IP: When you're recording, you play the songs so many times that, by the time the album comes out, you're almost sick of them. You need a break from them. We have so many songs now that we can pull from different albums and put new life into a song. We'll even go back and pick out a really early song, one written when only Cody was in the band and play it. With this lineup, those songs can gain a new strength.
CC: "Bluebird" was really the first time the band went out and toured behind a record. We played live a lot around the record. It's like the groove is more established over time.
Did the audience change after the album came out?
CC: With the two records before that, it seemed like there were a lot of friends coming to our shows. I seemed to recognize everyone who came to see us play. With ["Bluebird"] it seemed like lots of people I didn't know started showing up. There were more strangers coming to see us. That's been really sweet. That's what you want.
Cale, you mentioned having only been in the band for three years at this point. How aware of "This Bluebird Wants Me Dead" were you before you joined?
CG: Pretty aware. Thayne Coleman of The Travel Guide, who now plays drums for us, was playing guitar at the time. I'd go to see him play at Lucky's or Barleycorn's and I would hear "Projections" or "No Taxi," any of the songs from the album. I really liked the music because it was distinct from a lot of what I heard at the time. I know that a lot of other bands in town really liked "Bluebird." Logan Bush from Social Cinema and Kill Vargas has said that that record has been one of the most influential locally released records for him.
It seems like there are two approaches a band can take with an anniversary show. One is to acknowledge that it's been however many years since a record came out, play a few songs from it, and then move on to other material. The other is to play the record in question front-to-back. Which approach are you taking for this show at Wave?
CC: We're going to play it front-to-back. That's been fun. A lot of those songs changed a lot over the years. New members. Just playing them live. New arrangements. We haven't played it front-to-back since the record came out. At our [current rehearsals we can hear lots of] new things. [Then you think], "Should we re-record this record?" [Laughs.]
[Laughs.]
CC: We're not! It's interesting because [it's all] very different.
As you've been revisiting the material have there been things you've discovered that cause you to say, "I would not do that the same way today"? Not that it's a mistake or that you don't like it, it's just different somehow.
CC: Wayne and Micajah had this idea about placements [in film and TV]. We did. We had about four or five placements. I still have my day job, so whatever.
The writing for that record was a little more streamlined and more hook-based. Since then [we've learned that] all that doesn't really make you that much money. I don't know how worth it is. The older part of me [just thinks], "I would have been much more self-indulgent with that record if I could have been." The economics of a hook. That's what that record was.
