The Vanity Project

Flora and Rob have always been music fanatics and played in multiple bands before combining their musical talents. However, their meeting place was to be the theatre rather than the gig venue; no surprise then that performance was at the forefront of their project.

The Vanity Project sit somewhere between pop clowns and cabaret cult leaders. Using a loop pedal and far more instruments than it’s wise for two people to play, the duo incorporate monologues, costumes and the occasional dance routine into their live show. Their songs weave strange worlds of despicable dilettantes, hallucinogenic soft drinks and fascistic seaside towns. Though surreal and twitchy, their sound is laced with irresistible grooves, infectious hooks and satiric wit. Winners of the 2016 national iSessions contest, they've been written about in the Independent, played on Radio 6 and garnered praise from the likes of Marc Riley and Everything Everything frontman Jonathan Higgs.

They also dominate Manchester's airwaves, at least every Saturday from 11am-1pm, with their weekly show on MCR Live, spinning tunes from the best of Manchester's newest artists and beyond...

Having played only 4 shows, they won the national iSessions competition. Since then they've been played on BBC Radio 6, featured in the Independent and won praise from big names in the British music scene.

"The Vanity Project were overly-ambitious, which is the highest compliment I can pay...they have the courage to wear boiler suits and make-up and come out with their credibility in tact.”
- Marc Riley, BBC Radio 6

"accomplished, quirky, catchy pop...like Panda Bear meets Battles crossed with Daniel Johnston."
- Tom Baker, Organiser of Field Day

"They put on a great show... We loved them."
- Jonathan Higgs, Everything Everything frontman

"A bunch of weirdos."
- BC Camplight, standing in for Guy Garvey on BBC 6Music.

The Vanity Project are currently the architects of Manchester's most unique gig night, No Place, an intoxicatingly entertaining mix of music, comedy and the surreal.