Boris Williams and Jemaur Tayle: Reunited for the Age of Loneliness LP

Transmission 300: Interview with Vamberator

Jemaur Tayle and Boris Williams are architects of a specific kind of British melancholy. Their shared history stretches back to the late 1980s, a period defined by the ornate indie-pop of Shelleyan Orphan and the sprawling gloom of The Cure’s Disintegration era. After decades of collaboration in various forms, and following the 2016 passing of their longtime creative partner Caroline Crawley, the duo has reconvened as Vamberator. Their debut album, Age of Loneliness, is a record born of observation and grief, moving through the wreckage of personal loss and the broader, existential isolation of a planet in ecological decline.

Title: Age of Loneliness
Artist: Vamberator
Release Date: 2024-11-08
Genres: Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Darkwave, Gothic Rock, New Wave, Post-punk
Label: Maracash, Unifaun
Description: Interview: Jemaur Tayle on Vamberator with Boris William, Age of Loneliness, and the remix collaboration with Rolo McGinty via New Reality Records.

While the music draws from a wide well—touching on the art-rock of Bowie and the pastoral folk of Nick Drake—it remains anchored by Tayle’s introspective songwriting and Williams’ rhythmic precision. Their recent work has seen them reconnect with another figure from the Rough Trade stable, Rolo McGinty of The Woodentops, whose remixes of “I Need Contact” and “Creature in My House” recast Vamberator’s fragile piano ballads into industrial, cinematic laments. In this conversation, Tayle discusses the logistical hurdles of recording in Italy, the influence of Philip Pullman and PB Shelley, and the haunting question of whether a species in the throes of extinction truly understands its own solitude.

Featured image: Themis Mikellides

You have known each other since the late 80s and played together in Babacar. What specifically started the decision to reunite now as Vamberator?

Boris and I have known each other since The Cure’s Disintegration tour in 1989, when Shelleyan Orphan supported them. Over the years, we have played together in various Shelleyan/Babacar projects. After Caroline’s untimely and sad passing I was offered the chance to make a solo album with a label called Dark Companion in Italy. I had been writing with no direction, so this seemed a good opportunity for us to work together.

How did your shared history with Rolo in the 80s Rough Trade scene influence the decision to work together now?

Rolo was (and is still) in a band called The Woodentops. We were on the same label and shared the same manager during the mid ’80s. I hadn’t seen or heard from him for many years, although I was aware of his busy activity with the band and his famed Balearic Beats projects. He contacted me out of the blue, having heard the Vamberator album, and asked if he could do a couple of remixes. I left the choices with him, which were ‘Creature in My House’ and ‘I Need Contact’, and he didn’t disappoint.

Rolo turned ‘Creature in My House’ into a 10-minute epic. What was your first reaction to hearing such a drastic reinterpretation?

‘Creature in My House’ is indeed epic. I love the fact it is sped up and a new rhythm track created which gives it an urgency and menacing re-imagining. The song breaks down halfway through, and the journey descends into a musical abyss of weird. By the end we are building once again to a crescendo, as the creature slinks away.

The original thought for the title ‘Age of Loneliness’ came about with my musings on extinction and particularly the question: ‘does the last of its species know it’s the only one? And if so, how does it live with these feelings?

Why did you choose Age of Loneliness as the title for the album, and how does that concept tie the songs together?

The original thought for the title of the album ‘Age of Loneliness’ came about with my musings on extinction and particularly the question ‘does the last of its species know it’s the only one? And if so, how does it live with these feelings?’. This led me on to thinking about animals in Zoos, laboratories etc. From there, I thought about the various lonelinesses that humans experience, isolation, race, gender, old age. It goes on and on.

What were the main themes or events in your personal lives that influenced the lyrics on this record?

Love, loss, personal and the decline in respect for our planet and the organisms that we share it with.  A lot of love from and to those around us and those we never knew but touched our lives i.e. Jane Goodall.

The nightmarish paranoia in the ‘Creature’ video is more akin to a dark nursery rhyme, or verging on the gothic of the Shelley era.

How involved were you in defining the “wreckage of a dream” aesthetic for the new video?

I have been inspired by Donkeyhead, who has appeared in all of the Vamberator visuals, as I find it easier to portray how I feel about the subject matter. In general, I film bits and pieces I come across in my daily life, snip them up and create these collages. The nightmarish paranoia in the ‘Creature’ video is more akin to a dark nursery rhyme, or verging on the gothic of the Shelley era. 

What does a typical writing session look like for Vamberator? Who usually brings the initial seed of a song?

The writing comes from me. No particular approach. I tend to pick up my guitar or twiddle a keyboard and then pop down an idea on my phone, and go back to it if I’m lacking inspiration. Sometimes that works out. When I have worked up the piece, I’ll send it off to Boris and we take it from there.

I tend to pick up my guitar or twiddle a keyboard and then pop down an idea on my phone, and go back to it if I’m lacking inspiration… when I have worked up the piece, I’ll send it off to Boris and we take it from there.

What were the biggest technical or artistic challenges you faced while recording this album?

The majority of the album was recorded at Elfo Studios in Piacenza, Italy. I travelled by train, and Boris drove from France, so logistically we were having to make sure that we were organised with other musicians arriving for the sessions on time. 

Beyond other musicians, what works of literature, cinema, or visual art have significantly impacted your recent writing?

The main influence on the album has been the state of the planet. At times this included escapism. The daily news crowded in, and it was hard to maintain a distance. In terms of cinema and the arts, I tended to want to escape into fantasy, so I re-read the Phillip Pullman ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy and the follow ups. Murakami too, and on to more serious writers, like Noah Yuval Harari, and of course PB Shelley, who is a constant. 

Current affairs have an effect on the subject matters that I write about, even if it doesn’t seem obvious. ‘Loneliness’ as a theme is illustrated throughout the world, and not just human suffering, but the way we treat other species.

How do current global events or the political climate influence your creativity, if at all?

Current affairs have an effect on the subject matters that I write about, even if it doesn’t seem obvious. ‘Loneliness’ as a theme is illustrated throughout the world, and not just human suffering, but the way we treat other species i.e Zoos, laboratories etc. The dreadful Gaza situation, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and so on. Abuse of women, trans rights, the marginalised, the climate, it’s overwhelming! Show up in your own community.

Are you already working on new material? What are your projects for the near future?

The writing process is beginning again with a song for New Reality Records, who I have been working with recently. And then on to another album, if there is a benefactor out there to fund it! Vamberator is still raring to go, particularly in the live arena, given half a chance!

Photos courtesy of Vamberator

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others