Outfitted: Vance Joy
Fresh off a tour with T-Swift, this Australian artist is ready to take the world by storm.
Vance Joy fell into the music biz. The 27-year old Aussie, born James Keogh, found himself putting a halt to his promising football career and picking up a guitar instead. After discovering song-writing as the perfect form of expression, the singer-songwriter released his first EP in early 2013, which included the undeniably catchy tune, ‘Riptide.’ “I’ve found this feeling of satisfaction from writing new songs,” Vance told Maxim. “Once you do it once or twice, you just want to keep replicating that feeling, and you develop this addiction.” And he did just that.
Vance’s new addiction sparked a fire that granted him chart-topping, platinum success. With a new sense of direction, Vance picked up momentum and found himself taking more risks and putting on more shows. Following his support alongside Taylor Swift in the ‘1989 World Tour,” Vance will now be headlining his very own run in honor of his special edition new album, Dream Your Life Away. The ‘Fire and the Flood’ tour will take him across the country in the early months of 2016.
Vance joins a number of Australian artists exposing their unique styles to the States, and he is proud of what he’s bringing to the table. With everything on the market nowadays, and the speed at which music can travel, there’s really no barriers between countries anymore. “Every artist has their own style, and I think I have a unique voice and style of songwriting,” he says. “I put words together in a certain way, and play guitar in a certain way, and everything I do sounds like me, and only me.”
Vance took time to chat with Maxim about earning your scratches, his new tour, and what to do with a little downtime.
I think if I wasn’t doing this, I’d want to do be doing something else creative. As a part time job, I worked as a gardener before I was doing music for about five years, and that was a good job. I really liked working outdoors, maybe I’d be doing something similar to that.
I got a pair of shoes in Calgary, they’re brown leather, by a company called Wolverine. They’re just really solid brown shoes. They’re really sturdy, the leather’s good quality, and they look really old. I’ve only had them for about a month and a half, but they’ve gotten kind of scuffed up. They look like they’ve got a lot of character. I like to take good quality stuff and wear it in a lot. For it to look worn a bit and to be – it’s got to be proper worn, it can’t be that fake worn. You got to earn the scratches.
Photo: Wolverine.com
If I have time off I’m a fan of bike riding, I went for a bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge recently in San Francisco and that was a lot of fun. I’m also into just hanging out and watching a movie.. .blockbusters recently, like Mission Impossible, or Jurassic World. The best are predictable blockbusters where you can laugh at the lines. That’s what makes them worth the watch.
I think Michelle Williams would be great on the Maxim Hot 100. Rose Byrne is a pick for me too, and it’s a plus that she’s from Australia.
Photo by Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Louis Vuitton
I think when I was younger I was just a boy, so I liked everything colorful. I would wear orange shorts and a yellow t-shirt and a red hat, like I wouldn’t care. You know, whatever was cool. I think about three years ago I was a bit more ‘hipster-y.’ I see people doing that now, but now I’m into stuff from vintage stores. You know, like secondhand. Something with a bit of attitude. More recently, I like to look a bit more understated. Nothing too loud, and I like my clothes to fit me.
Photo by Rick Kern/WireImage
As for what’s next, I just want to work on these songs but also enjoy my time off while I can. My plan is to keep writing songs and doing more. I’ll keep doing more and see what happens.