Review Fix Exclusive: Jane in Space’s Tom Vickers Talks ‘Gorerunner’ And More

Review Fix chats with Jane in Space’s frontman Tom Vickers, who discusses the band’s origin, goals and creative process behind their new single, “Gorerunner.”

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

Tom Vickers: Jesse and I had played together in a couple of bands previously. “Jane In Space” was born when Jesse began remixing songs by one of those bands, an indie-rock group called Jenny Haniver.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Vickers: I’ve been a singer for a lot of my life, and I also play a bit of guitar (but very primitively). Jesse and I have in common that we’re both music geeks, but Jesse is also a tech geek, which means he has so much different equipment to make music with!

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Vickers: For the majority of the songs, Jesse writes the music and then I will write the melodies and lyrics. Usually Jesse’s pieces of music start out as very basic sketches and not at all set in stone. I will come over and listen to the music and generally warble some basic melody that instinctively comes from the sketch. Then we help pull and push each other in different directions both musically and melodically. Sometimes the song will sound nothing like the original sketch.

On our newest record, “Gorerunner,” we also had the insane privilege of working with Keith Hillebrandt, a legendary “sonic alchemist” who worked on Nine Inch Nails’ masterpiece, “The Fragile.” After we pushed the songs as far as we thought we could take them, Keith came in and sprinkled his distorted pixie dust on them, which pushed them to places we didn’t know they could go.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Vickers: Trying to make music that is not easily put into a genre, or that transcends genres. We have been described as “techno” all the way to “metal”. One of my favorite bands Enter Shikari very much inspire me in the way that there are tracks of theirs that change genre halfway through the track yet it still really works. The incredible “Gandhi, Mate, Gandhi” being a prime example.

Review Fix: Why is your latest release a special track?

Vickers: The latest single, “Gorerunner,” is the title track of the new record and, I think, its quintessential song. The song is both hushed and utterly in-your-face, emotional yet also somewhat restrained. It is my favorite song on the new record.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Vickers: We would say, “The dark industrial beats of Nine Inch Nails with the pop sensibility of Depeche Mode.” But we’ve also heard some more creative descriptions–”industrial Beck,” “somewhere Radiohead might have ventured if they let loose once in a while,” or–a favorite–“sounds like the dinosaurs seducing each other than then killing each other.”

But some of the more creative things we’ve heard: “industrial Beck,”

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Vickers: Jesse is very much into the struggle between the robotic musical world and the live one. We play live with a drummer (Brian Korpalski) with a background in metal, a guitarist with more of a classic rock feel (Andrew Tell), and an amazing, funky bassist (Josh Stillman)–so we can’t help but push the songs in a way heavier, groovier direction than the records. Often the songs change completely, but we also keep the core of the backing track playing though so that the live components are fighting with the more robotic industrial elements. The results are far more interesting than if we wholly embraced either electronica or being a “rock band.”

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2018?

Vickers: We are hopefully going to release some new songs before the year is out, and also play some more shows around the New York area.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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