There’s genuine excitement in the music scene that late 80s alt popsters Transvision Vamp have reformed. Led by the iconic Wendy James they are heading out on tour later this year in the UK, Spain and Portugal having already played Australia and New Zealand. Here she chats to Gary Trueman about why this was the moment to reform and if we’ll be hearing new music from a band loved by so many.
The one big question that all Transvision Vamp fans will be asking is that this is your first time together again since 1991, what made you choose now?
“It was chance really. I was speaking to the promoters in Australia. We’ve just come back from our first Transvision Vamp outing this February playing Australia and New Zealand sold out tour. When I was arranging the tour with the promoter over there he said let’s do it as Transvision Vamp. It hadn’t been something on my radar. I was happily going along with the release of my tenth album called ‘The Shape Of History’ as the Wendy James Band. But when the promoter said it, it just made perfect sense. I listened to the songs of Transvision Vamp and figured I could make an incredible set list out of them and so I simply said yes. So that kicked off the UK promoters wanting to book a tour, and then Spain and Portugal. And now I have Scandinavia lined up. So the whole thing is just snowballing, it’s incredible.”
There’s been huge amounts of excitement. You’ve already played Australia and New Zealand as you said. That must have been a pretty emotional experience for you?
“The music sounded fantastic and all the musicians on stage delivered and because the gigs were all sold out it was just very impressive to look out and see that after all these years you can land back in Australia on the other side of the world and have this massive audience. I was overjoyed and humbled by that. It’s not every band that can say they’ll still be around in 40 years, and also to jump generations. It wasn’t just people that were there the first time, it was people that were too young to get in the first time, and it was their kids. So Transvision Vamp has definitely been discovered by younger generations and that is really thrilling.”
Are you finding that the enthusiasm is coming from all ages all across the globe?
“Yes, and that is also the case with The Wendy James Band. I think if you look at other substantial (older) bands in the world, obviously they are bigger than us, it would be some people that had been following them forever, some people that discovered them in the 90s and some young people. I think it’s really telling when bands can do that.”
Do you think that the way music is listened to these days has played a role in keeping that music alive by keeping younger fans in touch with different decades of music, because of streaming giving them so much choice?
“Yes, and in my particular case I think it’s two things. One is that on streaming platforms you get recommendations so if you’re following say Garbage or Blondie you will have Transvision Vamp recommended to you, and indeed The Wendy James Band. So the recommendations across the streaming platforms and YouTube really help with discovering new bands. Then the other thing to my benefit is that I have been an active musician releasing albums ever since 1993 or whenever we split up. Therefore younger people have become interested in me and the older Transvision Vamp fans have come on the whole journey with me across all these years and have bought all those interim records.”
Do you think that the way that music is less genre specific these days and that Transvision Vamp never really fitted into a traditional pigeon hole has also helped? Fans used to be judged more then too if they followed a wide range of music didn’t they?
“I think you’re absolutely right. We were massive in the pop world in terms of magazines, Top Of The Pops and Radio One playlists. Alternatively when we were out on the road we were very much on the alt rock line ups because that’s how we played and that’s how we sounded. So you’re right to say we could never fit into any one category. In America we would always chart at the top of the indie charts. So I guess to some degree we were a cool indie band but on the other hand we were a successful pop band. For Transvision Vamp, we always had punk fans, we were definitely connected to the punk scene mainly by who we mixed with but also by how some of the members of Transvision Vamp had been in the punk scene. They were ten years older than me basically. So we had our punk fans, our pop fans and also our gay icon fans, male and female. So we crossed over into a lot of audiences. But you’re right, in the old days if you were a punk then you weren’t a rocker and so on. Apart from mod music which is derived from Jamaican ska. It’s always interesting to look at the genealogy of music.”
You’re playing Spain and Portugal before doing a major UK run. There are a lot of dates there. Are you getting intense with preparation for that?
“Noooo. I’ve just got off tour. We have got some rehearsal dates lined up for September. We are a bunch of musicians that knows our shit. When we go in to rehearse we do a nine or ten hour day. We don’t mess around and we get the job done. So once we come to your town you can bet we’re ready to give you a show.”
What would a 1991 Wendy James think if you told her she would be touring Transvision Vamp in 2026?
“I probably would have said ‘oh cool’. I don’t know, I mean as testified by how this reformation happened there was no planning in it happening. I’ve never been a person that’s had long term plans. In 1991 I certainly wasn’t thinking about what would happen in 35 or 40 years time. I was just eager to get onto the next thing. I’ve always been that person that lived in the moment. That’s why I’ve never played for the whole nostalgia trip. It’s not my bag. When we do deliver these set lists we deliver them in 2026. It’s not some laid back jazz version with session musicians version of what happened in 1989, it’s in the here and now. We play like motherfuckers, if you’ll excuse my language.”
You were with Transvision Vamp then after that put out ten solo albums and your voice sounds incredible to this day. Just as crisp and fresh as when you started out. What have you done to look after your voice over the years?
“Nothing. The main thing is when I’m on the road I don’t talk much after the show. I preserve my voice by not talking.”
Tickets are flying out for the tour. You have said you live in the moment but have you got any thoughts about carrying on with Transvision Vamp some more or will this be it?
“They are selling really well. I’m going to be writing songs through these summer months before I have to start rehearsing again. Next year will be some festivals and some more shows and continuous writing and recording. Then in 2028 on October 3rd which will be the 40th anniversary to the day that ‘Pop Art’ was released, I will release another Transvision Vamp album.”
A lot of fans will be excited for this.
“It is my intention to deliver an album that is competitive in the here and now and that will give Transvision Vamp further life, instead of it looking back at the past.”
You are the sole song writer. How does that work when you do everything, how do you work out the other parts like drums and bass guitar?
“Oh no, they write their parts. I give them a demo with me on guitar and voice and then they sit with it, and they come up with some ideas. They come up with various ideas, five or six options. Then we all go into the studio without preparation and we work on ideas until we’ve got something that works. Then we record it.”
How does the mindset work between The Wendy James Band and Transvision Vamp writing wise?
“It’s two different remits. The Wendy James Band is a little bit rougher, tougher and abrasive, in some songs. There are actually lovely ballads on Wendy James albums as well. And then to do a Transvision Vamp album, you know what the parameters are. If I’m setting out to write a Transvision Vamp album then that’s what I’m writing.”
You are a highly successful singer, song writer and band member. If you were approached by a young fan saying they wanted to get into writing and performing music what one piece of advice would you give them?
“Listen to yourself. Trust yourself. If you’ve got the inner talent, the taste and you’ve got the discipline, and you have the ambition, and if you have the stage presence, then trust yourself. You’ll go through all sorts of evolutions in life, like any human being does. If you look at my first Transvision Vamp album right through to ‘The Shape Of History’ which is my most recent solo album there is a consistent thread there of sound choices, instrument choices, in delivery and attitude which has remained constant. Whether it’s a journalist, a friend or a parent, if they’re saying you’re not making the right decision there, if you think you’re right then you stick to your guns.”
Tickets link: thewendyjames.com/live
Interview by Gary Trueman