Willy Vlautin of The Delines Talks New Christmas Single, Hometown and More

Who is in The Delines and what do they play?

The Delines are Amy Boone – vocals, Freddy Trujillo – bass, Cory Gray – keyboards and trumpet, Sean Oldham – drums, Willy Vlautin – guitar.

You have released your new Christmas single ‘Christmas in Atlantis’. What is the story/inspiration behind the track?

In the van we always joke around about Amy and Cory’s made-up side band, Creme Brûlée. Their big hit was ‘Christmas in Atlantis’, so I went home and wrote the tune. It’s my idea of comedy. The crazy thing is some people think it’s serious which, man oh man, that means they’ve had some rough Christmas get-togethers.

What does Christmas mean to you?

A long time ago a friend of mine who was living in a weekly motel at the time, got on my case for whining about Christmas. He told me most people try to be nice during Christmas, they dress better, you get some free drinks and maybe even a free dinner, and there’s always a lot of colored lights. ‘What’s not to like?’ he said. Just be grateful for all that and be grateful if anyone likes you enough to invite you over and don’t get too drunk when they do. I took his advice so I dig Christmas.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Portland, Oregon. It’s got the greatest record stores, movie theaters, bookstores, bars and restaurants. Plus, it has two magnificent rivers running through the town.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals?

I’m an old school reverb and vibrato man.

Do you have any UK/European live dates in the pipeline for 2024?

Not sure at this point.

How do you look after your voices?

Amy just practices. The more she sings the better she gets. I’m not sure other than that. You’d have to ask her!

Photo Credit: Paolo Brillo

The Delines new single ‘Christmas In Atlantis’ is out now on Decor in 7” vinyl and Digital Formats.

Buy/Stream: https://orcd.co/delinesatlantis

Bandcamp: https://thedelines.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-in-atlantis

Official Website: https://www.thedelines.com/