Interview With The Violet Exploit

I remember seeing The Violet Exploit perform at The Milestone a few months back- purple light filling a room full of people dancing and swaying along, song after song. Amidst the catchy, soft melodies of the guitar, and clear, impressive vocal performance of the band’s singer, the frontman kept the audience engaged- smiling into the crowd with a sharp grin and sparkle in his eye- teasing the audience and prompting them to dance along with each new track. The Violet Exploit was a bit of a departure from what I’ve come to know and love of the local Charlotte music scene; with it’s beloved punk, alternative, and harsh sensibilities. While sporting a sound that still incorporates alternative elements, The Violet Exploit features more melodic components and clear-sounding vocals, falling under what some would consider a more“indie” sound- while still retaining dramatic and emotional elements. Ben and Van, Exploit’s vocalist and bassist respectively- were kind enough to meet me an hour away in the town of Wadesboro, North Carolina. After a stormy drive up on a day where it seemed like it would never stop raining, we sat down and escaped the weather at Oliver’s diner.

“We first came across Ben at an open mic night at Belk 2000’s,” Exploit’s bassist, Van, tells me of how they first met the vocalist, prompting Ben to look down and shake his head, laughing, before adding: “Drunk.”

Along with the other members of The Violet Exploit-those being Brian Wendland and Sean Diesfeld on guitar, and Richard Ojeda on drums; Van Horton, Exploit’s bassist, had been playing with the group in previous incarnations of the band for about three years. Being that all members were an active part of the Cedar Pines music scene in Augusta, South Carolina; Van and Brian would be the first of the group to meet, jamming together for several years before eventually meeting Sean at a local guitar shop. After The Violet Exploit would lose their old lead singer due to them moving away, the band would eventually meeting Ben Mooring, Exploit’s current frontman and vocalist.

“Ben brings the R&B influence to the guitar influence- we’re like guitar rock meets R&B and Soul melodies. We didn’t think about it at first, but it’s nice to have a vocalist in a rock band- that’s what’s missing in a lot of Rock,"explains Van.

“Who doesn’t love punk vocals- like Courtney Love, she’s one of my favorite vocalists, but I feel like because I listen to that sort of style so much, I can’t make that jump. I didn’t want to scream just for the gist of it,” says Ben of his vocal style, “In a world where everything has a sharp sort of edge to it, I want to be a softer approach.”

Ben tells me that the musical inspirations for his vocals range from Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill, to Courtney Love of 90’s grunge band, Hole. I was surprised to learn that Ben had received no formal vocal training after seeing his last performance.

“I started with a musical theatre background- I did that for 6-7 years. [My experience with vocals] has been a combination of playing shows and getting feedback from my band members,” says the singer.

“[ We’re] still rock and roll, it’s just not hard rock or hair metal. We want to play to as many people as possible, we look up to a lot of bands like The Who, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones- bands where they have a great frontman and great musicians,” explains Van.

“Everyone’s kind of diverse and independent with what they’re inspired by”, says Ben. “We get all sorts of responses to our sound- some people are like, ‘ You’ve got a weird sort of approach to this’”, other people are like, “‘Do you listen to R&B?’”

“We did a podcast with this one girl, she described our sound as, I think ,‘Classic rock with modern sensibilities’- I think that would be a good way to put it," says Ben.

“I had a very awkward, sort of coming into [performing]” says Ben, “When I started, I was starting off each set like ‘This is this song’ and ‘This is the next song’-It [performing] was like an underdeveloped muscle I had to train.”

“This is Ben’s first band," adds Van. “I could sense that raw talent in him, though, the moment we met.”

“Sean works next door at the guitar shop at the bar [where the Open Mic was held], and I was like four margaritas in-I don’t even drink margaritas. And I had a fur coat on, and some sunglasses; drunk out of my fucking mind, singing Eta James at an open mic. Y’know, everyone’s like ‘Get off the stage, get off the stage’, and I’m just like ‘Noo.’" recalls Ben, laughing. “And (Van) was like, ‘Do you live here?’- That was like two years before we started.”

Van explains that the band had recruited Ben 24 hours before a show they had booked, one they were desperate to find an emergency vocalist to fill in for:

“The way we really came together was not really glamorous; it was like, we had to put together a gig we had booked as another band- and we’re like ‘Okay, this band doesn’t exist anymore-we need to put together a group of musicians and play this. So, we got everyone together 24 hours beforehand, and that was the first time I ever played with Ben." recalls the bassist.

“My friend Sean, who I had known for two years at that point- he had recruited me before for a musical project, that never really took off, so I had gone back to my usual schedule of working two jobs, doing my own thing”, says Ben. “ Then, one day, out of the blue, he was like: ‘So this is really last minute, but we’re doing a show.’, and I was like ‘Okay, I’d love to, when is it?’, and he was like: ‘...Tommorrow.’”

“So, we practiced that night, and then 6 hours later, we drove down to Virginia. After that first show, I think we were all like, ‘ There’s definitely something here.’" remembers Ben.

“We got along with Ben pretty instantly,” recalls Van- before Ben adds: “That’s not how I remember it”, prompting us all to laugh.

“That first day driving down, I had stage fright like a MOFO,” says Ben. “I mean, think about it- You’re driving completely out of state, to a show you spent maybe less than two hours, grand total, practicing; I’m thinking, ‘I’m gonna be in front of all those people- I am not 100 percent certain that if I get in front of all these people, I’m not gonna forget the words’. I’m white as a sheet- fucking sweating”, describes Ben. “I must’ve been great to be around.”, he adds smiling, as he turns to his fellow bandmate.

“Oh, it was great,” says Van. “We pulled it off, we had people afterward, saying: ‘You guys are amazing! How long have you all been a band?”

“I was like, ‘A day!’ ”, recalls Ben. “I think what really helped with that, is that the band already had intrinsic chemistry. Van and Sean worked well together- they had all been playing together for a while, except for me, who had been, y’know, bussing tables and working at Office Depot.”

“ We played a’lot of house shows, we played in Raleigh- but, it was difficult to play in Raleigh because it was after COVID, which kind of derailed us. Being in a band post-covid was terrible.” says Van.

After the band’s first show in December of 2021, Mooring would jump straight into writing new material with the rest of the band.

“It was a very complimentary fit- Ben doesn’t play an instruments, but he has a real ear for melody. So, that’s where we come in: We (Sean and Brian) play the chords, rearrange them- and he writes the melody and lyrics- and it’s just a great fit.” explains Van.

“I think it’s kind of a skill you develop naturally, when you listen to something like R&B: They’re always riffing off, and listening to background and foreground.” says Ben of the musical impact the genre has had on his songwriting.

When it comes to songwriting, Ben says he aspires to build a song around a specific emotion or moment, and have that really shine through to the audience:

“I’m definitely an emotional person, and in that way, I mean everyone remembers things differently- but when I think of something, I’m gonna remember how that makes me feel,” Ben emphasizes. “When I listen to music, I know that it’s good when I can feel what you’re feeling, a little bit. You’re painting me this picture, and depending on how well you paint that picture, is when I can sort of start to feel what you feel. I have this sort of inclination towards people that are very emotional songwriters, and so when I write songs, that’s what I really try to do best- Which is just to encapsulate a single moment, and try to use broad strokes of a picture of what that memory was for me. Each lyric is just that little pocket of like, ‘Oh, this was this, 6 years ago, when it was my school dance,’” says Ben. “I look at songs like lyric cake- you have to stack it, and you just have to keep going.”

Along with their newly released single, Haunted, which debuted April 28th, Laugh and Lay Down are The Violet Exploit’s debut Ep’s. All three tracks feature rhythmic and melodic guitar and bass against a steady tempo, melancholic lyrics delivered powerfully via Ben’s clean and entrancing vocals. A driving edge against a presumably scorned lover; and its encompassing feelings of resentment, devotion, and longing, are present themes throughout all 3 songs- a welcome catharsis to anyone experiencing recent heartbreak. In Laugh, against melodious duo guitar riffs, Ben delivers an emotional vocal performance, the desperation in his vocals palpable in a rising chorus of “It’s unreasonable to say how much I’d like you to stay”. Lay Down features a more flowy sound, while still retaining a melancholic edge: arpegiated guitar melodies eventually breaking into a reverbed chorus of “Are you bleeding? I don’t believe it, I’m not your friend.”

“Laugh’s guitar part, its conception, was written by Shaun. And it sounded really different- usually, when I listen to songs, and melodies to layer over stuff, my mind immediately goes to: How does it fit emotionally? And, does it sound different? Laugh went through a lot of evolutions- we wrote that song maybe 3 or 4 times over,” explains Mooring. “We recorded it, and then I just completely re-wrote the melody from scratch. I remember thinking, something just itched, like, ‘It’s not right, It’s not right.”

“I remember at that point- we were still kinda like, ‘We’re coming together with this new guy, thinking, ‘Can he write a song?’--we still didn’t know,” Van recalls of the track, Laugh being the first new song Mooring wrote with the rest of the band.

“The night before we had recorded that first take of Laugh, I was in my room, kinda sick, and I was drinking,” says Ben."Laugh has to do with an ex that I was dating- I was kind of battling with this idea of :‘Would you be a better person if I wasn’t involved?’”

“Lay Down was last year’s birthday, where I was meeting with someone that I really cared about, and I was dealing with this really hard time. I eventually just sort of came to the realization about this person, ‘You’re always the victim.’ It was like, I love you to death- but Jesus. You just can’t catch a break with some people; it’s like ‘Everything’s out to get you’. It’s like… You’re not some sort of porcelain doll, you’re not this, y’know, character in a book- You’re a real person, who has consequences for their actions. Do bad things happen to you? Well, of course they do, they happen to everybody- But you’ve got to put your big boy pants on, and get up and do your shit.” explains Mooring. “A lot of my music, I think, is about coming into adulthood.”

Mooring and Van tell me their new album, comprised of the band’s typical set list- will be out sometime this summer. A perfectionist at heart, Mooring details how the band will re-record and mix a track until it comes out just right- recording one song can take up to a month before its released.

“Our new album, it’s a conceptual album- I really fought for that, because I’m a big stickler for an album that tells a story, y’know, the rest of the band’s just like ‘Can we release an album already?’, and I’m like ‘No!’. “, Mooring smiles. “It’s about coming into adulthood- that growing up and knowing… it’s also a bit about loving yourself. When we sat down, conceptually, we were like, a lot of these songs have that dual meaning of being written for someone else, but also to yourself. Laugh is a great example of that- when I wrote that song, it was to an ex, that I thought I was better off without- but then it’s also that self-perspective- ‘Am I better off without some of these characteristics that I find myself with?’. Everyone’s very quick to take themselves to the knife- to cut out parts of themselves that aren’t ‘marketable’. We are very quick, as a people, to cut and change, do this, do that- Change your hair; Change what you say to people- I think a’lot of that song is like: ‘Are these changes good? Am I making good changes?’. That was a question I found myself struggling with a lot.”, says Mooring.

*****

The Violet Exploit’s new single, Haunted, is out now on Spotify, along with the band’s debut music video. Be sure to give it a listen and check it out- and stay tuned for the release of the band’s new album, coming out this Summer. You can follow The Violet Exploit at @thevioletexploit on Instagram.