Get familiar with American University‰’s very own ambient pop duo, VEDAS. Their debut EP will be independently released by the band on April 15th and their first single, “Ruin‰Û, is already out now. Their five-track endeavor is marked with spacious sounds, precise drums, and dreamy vocals that will take you to a place of catharsis. VEDAS, comprised of vocalist and songwriter Alex Lee and drummer Andrew Monborne, has been hard at work getting ready for their big debut but Lee was able to sit down and have a little chat about the band, music, and being a part of the DC music scene.

WVAU: Hi

Alex Lee: Hey.

WVAU: Introduce yourself and your band.

Alex Lee: Okay, well, I‰’m Alex Lee, I am the songwriter and lead singer for VEDAS. I‰’m a junior at American University and my favorite color is green.

(Laughs)

WVAU: Okay! So, why the name VEDAS?

Alex Lee: I guess our band revolves more, like, uh, the aesthetic of how things sounds more than like I guess actually thinking and like‰Û_I don‰’t really know, like it‰’s more about like not having an intention but more like doing it as we feel, so like VEDAS, just the way that it felt to us, we really thought that the sound of it embodied the music that we were making, the way that we felt‰Û_I don‰’t know, I hope that kind of made a little sense.

WVAU: That‰’s cool. So what pushed you to start the band?

Alex Lee: A couple of years ago, I was actually in a band called Western Affairs and we actually did a Capital Punishment here before and we were getting pretty serious with that but then we had one of our band members quit so it was just back to square one. So VEDAS was just a chance to start anew, I felt like I made a lot of mistakes with my past band, not really too proud with the music I‰’d made before, and I guess the goal of having a new project is just so I can make something and actually be proud of it, you know?

WVAU: How did you decide on the sound?

Alex Lee: Some people would tell you, “Oh yeah, we thought about it so hard and tried all these things‰Û, but honestly with us, the overall theme of VEDAS is just going with what feels rights, going with our gut feeling, what is pleasing to us. I mean, I have a pretty strong classical theory background just because I‰’ve been playing cello since 3rd grade ‰ÛÒ you know, Asian parents (interviewer‰’s note: yeah, I really do know) ‰ÛÒ but I guess when it comes to our sound, it does revolve around my classical background and Andrew ‰ÛÒ my band mate ‰ÛÒ and his interest in ethnic and avant-garde percussion so I guess we just put the two together and saw where it went and kind of liked it.

WVAU: But you didn‰’t add any cellos there [the EP]!

Alex Lee: Yeah, no, I didn‰’t, I‰’m still trying to figure how I can incorporate that into the mix. So it‰’s a work-in-progress you know.

WVAU: Did you do the Suzuki method? (interviewer‰’s note: I played the violin)

Alex Lee: Of course! The good ol‰’ days.

WVAU: Do you still play cello?

Alex Lee: Yeah, I still play cello, I have my cello here at AU, I don‰’t play as much as I did before but I actually came to AU being a music performance major in cello but I guess it didn‰’t work out that way (laughs).

WVAU: Cool. So what‰’s the songwriting process like? Do you just write it or is your band-mate involved as well?

Alex Lee: I wrote everything that‰’s melodic. Andrew only plays drums so it‰’s on me to write all the structure of the song. Actually, before when we had an interview with WVAU before when we were Western Affairs, we told them that it was more like me writing the skeleton of the song and then I would go back with Andrew and we would fill in all the missing parts, try to‰Û_I‰’m not sure if I‰’m really explaining this well. I come up with a basic foundation and then we just build on top of that. Usually, when I start writing a song, it doesn‰’t start with me playing a couple of chords and going like “Oh, I‰’m going to start with this progression‰Û, it revolves around a certain lyric that I would come up with or see somewhere or be inspired by.

WVAU: And that‰’s a good lead up to the next question! What are some of your inspirations? Musical influences?

Alex: Classical music, just because I was raised on that. My favorite band of all time, Beach House, you know, the king and queen of dream pop. Dream pop is really my thing. Some other influences, uh, Local Natives, The Antlers, uh, gosh why can‰’t I think of any right now? King Krule, I mean his new album is really good in my opinion. Not as good as the EP in my humble opinion of course but I guess that‰’s a conversation for another time. Actually very recently, I‰’ve been listening to some, like, to some Top 40s more just because I haven‰’t in such a long time, I‰’ve just been in my own little bubble but I‰’m actually starting to enjoy a lot of Lorde and stuff like that. I guess what I‰’m currently listening to is strictly classical for now so that I can up my game in music theory so I can try to get better in songwriting.

WVAU: For example?

Alex: I‰’m interested right now in the Baroque era so I‰’m listening to a lot of Bach and Corelli, I guess and some post-romantic as well like Debussy.

WVAU: What‰’s it like being a musician in DC?

Alex: It‰’s small, tight-knit, if you play a show somewhere, you‰’re gonna meet some other bands and then they‰’ll introduce you to other bands and then you guys just all become friends. I mean, to be honest, I haven‰’t played a show since Western Affairs, I just been focusing strictly focusing on writing and recording but I guess I‰’ll keep in contact with the people we‰’ve played with before like The Sea Life, they play a lot of shows in DC, they‰’re from Frederick, Maryland, but I‰’d like to know more bands in the area like Ra Ra Rasputin and GEMS, of course, those guys are amazing, hopefully I can be friends with them someday, once I get on their level, if ever.

WVAU: What has been your favorite music from 2013?

Alex: I‰’m gonna have to say, hands down, “Hummingbird‰” from Local Natives, I was saying earlier, I feel like VEDAS, when we were first writing our EP, we were like, “Yeah what do we want this to sound like?‰” and we said “Yeah, Local Natives‰Û, like the drummer is so unique in the way that he plays and we really wanted to do something different like they did.

WVAU: What is your dream music collaboration? If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive?

Alex: You‰’re really putting me on the spot for that one! My favorite music collaborative of all time would have to be that James Blake and Chance the Rapper, “Life Round Here‰Û, yeah, that was so good. If I was going to do a collaboration right now, if I had a wish and there was a genie in front of me and I had to decide right now, I would say just bring James Blake and Chance the Rapper.

WVAU: So both of them?

Alex: Yeah, if that‰’s allowed.

WVAU: That‰’s cool. Do you have advice for anyone music-wise, musician-wise, that wants to start being a musician in DC?

Alex: There‰’s really not much advice to give except write the music that you love and just keep doing what you‰’re doing. Really, like, the people who do music in DC aren‰’t in it for the money but it‰’s more like writing the music that you love and playing with the people that you love so that‰’s pretty much it.

WVAU: Do you want to move to London or New York or LA?

Alex: I actually wanted to move to Baltimore with Andrew once I‰’m all done with college, we‰’re thinking of starting to base VEDAS out of there and see where it goes.

WVAU: Any particular reason for Baltimore?

Alex: I mean, it‰’s cheap, there are a lot of bands in the area over there, their scene is way bigger over there and hopefully I can spot Beach House every once in a while (laughs) maybe Dan Deacon or something like that.

WVAU: What‰’s your fave venue in DC?

Alex: Definitely Black Cat but more specifically their backstage, it‰’s my favorite because it‰’s small but not hole-in-the-wall venue.

WVAU: What‰’s your favorite live show experience?

Alex: You mean like me playing live or going to see someone live?

WVAU: Both.

Alex: My favorite playing live experience was actually at The Black Cat Backstage, I don‰’t know how we landed the gig at Black Cat, it was amazing, the place was almost sold-out and there was so many people I didn‰’t but it made me just so happy that people wanted to come to actually see our music and it made me extremely hopeful for the future. I don‰’t know, I felt fulfilled and that‰’s what I really want out of my music, I want to please myself. And of course other people, but when it comes to doing what you love, you always have to please yourself first. So hopefully I can get more experiences like that in the future. When it comes to live shows, there‰’s this one really small Canadian band called Royal Canoe we actually opened for them but watching them play live was the most incredible thing. I would say, I know I keep dropping their name, they‰’re really similar to Local Natives in that they have a ton of members playing a ton of instruments but also just the sound, whoever was mixing, and those guys on stage, just everything about what they were doing was so in sync and honestly beautiful that you could hear everything mesh together into one unanimous wave of sound.

WVAU: How has your family and friends taken your music endeavor?

Alex: My family is actually not really too involved in this‰Û_they know I‰’m doing music and stuff and they support it but they‰’re not really like “oh what are you doing now with music‰” but they like it.

WVAU: Would you ever take them to a gig?

Alex: Yeah, they actually came to one of our shows once, we were playing at Rock and Roll Hotel when we were Western Affairs and my mom came to that. I think she was impressed but knowing my mom, she‰’s always like (indifferent) “oh, yeah, it was good‰” (laughs).

WVAU: And then your friends?

Alex: My friends have been pretty supportive. My brothers in Sigma Chi, they‰’re really supportive, surprisingly, you know, frat guys aren‰’t really known for liking that kind of music but they‰’ve been really supportive about it.

WVAU: Describe your EP in three words.

Alex: Uh‰Û_I‰’m gonna need more words than that but I‰’ll be happy to explain my EP. Like I said earlier, a lot of my songs revolve around a single lyric or something similar to that. This EP revolves around the line “caught between two different lives, a place you can‰’t call your own‰” I guess what that‰’s referencing is my transtion from Western Affairs into this completely different project. The EP is called “Exhume‰” and this is one of the few things we‰’ll actually have an explanation for in naming. “Exhume‰” is like “to dig up‰” “to bring back‰” so it‰’s like my return, revival to music. Hopefully, it‰’ll be better than my last endeavor.

WVAU: One of the tracks is called “Cairo‰Û. Is it because you‰’ve been to Cairo?

Alex: No, I‰’ve never been to Cairo, it‰’s just based on how it sounds, honestly, it just felt right, in the moment. We usually name songs immediately.

WVAU: What was the inspiration behind “Ruin‰Û?

Alex: Same thing. The names, they’re irrelevant but also relevant at the same time because when you say the word “Ruin‰” it just makes me feel like that song. Sometimes when people say things, it just brings me a feeling. Not to say I have synesthesia or anything, it‰’s not like that, it‰’s kind of like nostalgic and like, I don‰’t know.

WVAU: Did you ever have vocal training?

Alex: No, I never had any vocal training. I guess it‰’s kind of weird I‰’m singing in falsetto.

WVAU: No, I just thought it was interesting. That‰’s very cool.