For a band from Louisville, Kentucky, VHS or Beta sound like they’ve travelled into the future from Britain in the mid-80s, writes Noah Cross.
For singer Craig Pfunder and his four co-mates, their journey has also taken them through various genres and across four studio albums. “It’s pretty simple. We started out as kids playing punk music. 
Then we fell in love with house music and realeased an EP called On and On (1998). Then we discovered DJs, disco-house and French-house. That influenced us to make the Le Funk EP (2002) the way it was. Le Funk was more or less a blatant homage to French-house, and Chicago-house and Disco-house. We weren’t trying to come out as a band and say that we’d invented any of the sounds we were making. We were very blatant, because it was something that we loved so much – we didn’t care,” explains Pfunder.
VHS Or Beta felt akin to the house producers, who were making music that was very sample-heavy and light on lyrical content. But having toured that style of music around their country, the band began to feel the itch to write more original material and develop their own sound. “It got to the point where we couldn’t ignore it any more, so we started writing songs that had a lot more vocals,” explains Pfunder.
In 2004, VHS Or Beta wrote their Night On Fire record, which was a large step toward the pop sound that they are recognised for today. “We wanted to incorporate vocals in our band honestly,” says Pfunder.
The group’s follow-up album came very naturally to them. In 2007, the group released Bring On The Comets, a bumper album of 80s, pop-rock wonder. It’s a path that has inevitably crossed with a number of Australian groups. “We know Cut Copy,” reveals Pfunder, “we know The Presets and we recently had a remix done by the Midnight Juggernauts. So we have some ties that connect us to Australia – and Modular is a great record label.”
Pfunder and his band mates have just received a preview disc of Cut Copy’s In Ghost Colours album. “We were listening to it in the van this morning. I like it so far. The first song reminds me of ELO and I’m a massive fan of them,” enthuses Pfunder.
The influence of other British pop groups, like Duran Duran, is present on VHS or Beta’s recent album. “It’s undeniable that some of the influences coming in are from my youth. A lot of that came from England, whether it was The Smiths or Echo & The Bunnymen – even The Cure. Those bands from the 80s, I felt like I could attach myself to. I was also really into INXS. Their album, The Swing, was a big record for me when I was a kid,” explains Pfunder.
Born in Seoul, Korea, the vocalist moved to Kentucky when he was adopted by an American family. “I moved to America when I was two or three – I don’t know my real birthday. I moved with them around the States, but now both my parents live in Oregon. A lot of my family live in Oregon,” says Pfunder.
Between the ages of six and eight, Pfunder started to feel like he wanted to make music, rather than just listen to it. Beginning with the piano in his home, he joined the band at his Middle school where he learned the E-Flat Alto Saxophone. In Sixth Grade, he bought his first guitar and by Eighth Grade he had become, “as good as he was going to get”.
Now Pfunder fronts a band that can comfortably slot into the current synth-pop and electro-rock movement – but they still sound very different to the current trends in American music. “There are bands that exist in our genre, but I don’t think there are bands that sound like VHS or Beta. There are groups that you could pair us up with that would make a sensible tour, but to my knowledge there are no groups that we get confused for. It would make sense for us to play shows with The Faint, and we’ve played shows with The Rapture. There’s other ‘dancey’ bands like !!! (Chk Chk Chk) too. But I can’t say that we’re all swimming in the same pond, per se. There are still a lot of differences between those bands,” says Pfunder.
Australian audiences can expect some massive shows from VHS or Beta in June, but as the singer explains, the crowd will only get out of the show what it puts in. “[Our] live show is so co-dependent on the listener and the people in the audience. We do what we do, and I feel we do it well – we do the best we can. But the best VHS or Beta shows are when the audience completely lets their guard down and has a good time. We just went down to Bogotá, Colombia, and it was completely insane. The people there really embrace music and get into it. It’s so much better for us,” enthuses Pfunder.
Bring On The Comets is a remarkably consistent album, with no particular song standing out as an obvious single. The attention to detail suggests that VHS Or Beta are perfectionists. “We wanted to make a record that felt complete and a whole body of work. I think sometimes people approach recording an album per song. But then you lose a vision of what the whole record should be like and it becomes lopsided,” says Pfunder.
VHS Or Beta should know a thing or two about crafting an album, having invested a lot of their own money in the group’s early stages. Enthusiasm has never been lacking. “When we started out, we were hungry to make it work. Collectively we felt that if we worked hard enough, things would happen. We took out [bank] loans and started our own record label, which we originally released, Le Funk, on. This was in the days when there was no Myspace – it was a lot tougher.”
Bring On The Comets is available now through EMI. Catch VHS Or Beta at the Come Together on Saturday June 7 at Sydney Luna Park’s Big Top.
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