Childhood friends Stuart Ramage (singer, songwriter, guitarist) and Roan Ballantine (producer, pianist, DJ and songwriter) make up the multi-genre-bending duo of VanIves. Hailing from south-west Scotland.
They first met as ten year olds lobbying to have a skate park built in Galloway.
The songs are written in a unique manner, by sampling family VHS tapes and building soundscapes and songs around the memories attached to those moments. The music is a cathartic nod to the past and a springboard to a bright future. Sonically they’ve managed to create a seamless analogue and digital blend, glued together with impassioned soaring vocals, routed in hip-hop influenced production.
When they were seventeen years old they helped build sound systems and held bass music nights in forests. The culture of bass heavy dance music has influenced and inspired their creative direction.
Roan is a self taught producer, and Suzuki pianist, releasing bass heavy music under various alias’ currently a design student at world famous Glasgow School of Art.
Stuart is a multi instrumentalist, virtuoso guitarist specialising in songwriting with open tunings. He recently graduated from University of West of Scotland with an honours degree in Commercial Music. He has toured the world as a session musician as well as writing and producing music for other artists. Made a name for himself at songwriting camps in Nashville.
New single 'heaertstuck' is out now via Berlin label Vielen Dank.
