Images by: CJ Payne
“I’ve always loved one-word band names. I feel like coming up with a good band name is harder than writing good music nowadays.” -
Vladimir Alexeev of Tarantula
Tarantula is a rock band founded by Vladimir Alexeev out of Richmond, VA.
After being influenced by Guitar Hero and the film School Of Rock, he started playing in hardcore bands around the age of 14, which “consumed my entire life, in a good way,” he recalls.
Now playing around the world with the popular hardcore band Regulate, as well as Mid-Atlantic favorites Downfall and Killing Pace, Tarantula’s sound was a solid step away from the other bands. Releasing If You’re Sideways, I’m Upside Down in September 2024, the album’s warm, fuzzy depth creates a sound that’s reminiscent of a cloudy fall day against bright notes of foliage.
“As long as I’ve been making music and doing bands, I’ve wanted to do a rock band,” says Alexeev on starting Tarantula. “It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, and I even had a couple of attempts throughout the years that never really went anywhere. I actually recorded a song over COVID, like four years ago now, and got a friend to sing on it; but the finished product wasn’t what I envisioned, so I gave up on it. That’s when I realized that I needed to be the one singing if I wanted it to sound exactly how I wanted.”
After writing ‘here and there’ throughout the years, Alexeev felt like his writing had finally improved enough in the summer of 2023. “Once that first song was finally written, the rest came easily.”
For Tarantula, Alexeev’s songwriting had to develop its own identity from his hardcore background.
“When I was writing for Tarantula I was writing music that moved me or made me feel something, but when writing hardcore music you’re trying to write music that will make people want to literally move physically,” he notes, highlighting that there’s still some structural influence in If You’re Sideways, I’m Upside Down as well:
“All the Tarantula songs are pretty short, to the point, and have a really good structure. Good song structure can make or break a song for me personally, even if a song has a beautiful melody I think having a good flow and layout is even more important. That’s something that I learned while writing hardcore.”
Lyrically, If You’re Sideways, I’m Upside Down reflects on general themes and scenarios, often electing for catchy, short phrasing and visuals.
“When I was writing ‘Stitches’, I sang the words to the chorus ‘Stay with me, you know I’m coming back now’ and thought it was way too catchy not to use.
To me, it sounded like something someone in jail would write in a letter home to their partner, so I tried to base the remainder of the lyrics around that line/idea. It’s been interesting having people message me and ask me if a certain song has this meaning, or is about ‘this’ or ‘that’ because they’re never right.”
The album was recorded primarily by Alexeev, who claims he’s “obsessed with artists who write, record, and mix all their music. It’s sick seeing something that’s 100% someone’s vision, with no interference,” he adds. Although Alexeev wanted to record the entire album himself, he enlisted the help of Space Bomb Studios, weaving in demos he recorded on his laptop using Logic Pro. “We still used a ton of from my demo recordings in the finals, all the little sound effects…half of the guitars and even a couple of vocal parts were recorded in my bedroom.”
The feedback to If You’re Sideways, I’m Upside Down has been overwhelmingly positive, which Alexeev says “couldn’t have asked for a better response.” When the album dropped, his Instagram was flooded with friends and new fans reposting. Since then, he’s run into at least “four or five people every week” who’ve told me they listen to it daily. “I think that’s gotta be my favorite reply,” he notes.
