THE VACCINES X INSTAGRAM
Music · 2011 · From the Ninu Nina archive
The Vaccines made a music video out of fans' festival photos, back when Instagram was a brand-new iPhone app called Instagr.am.
The Vaccines decided to make the video for their single "Wetsuit" by crowdsourcing it, and the crowd's camera of choice was a little photo app most people hadn't heard of yet.
Here's how it worked:
- Go to a music festival this summer.
- Take photos with Instagr.am, the iPhone app that gives your pictures that faded, retro, old-Polaroid look.
- Tag your favourites #vaccinesvideo and upload them to the band's special site.
- The band picks the best and stitches them into an animated photo video.
As far as anyone could tell, they were the first band to make a music video out of Instagram photos.
Who were The Vaccines in 2011?
The London band formed in 2010: Justin Young on vocals, Freddie Cowan on guitar, Árni Árnason (credited back then as Árni Hjörvar) on bass and Pete Robertson on drums.
Their first single, "If You Wanna," came out that summer, and on August 18, 2010, Zane Lowe crowned it the "Hottest Record in the World" on BBC Radio 1. By the time their debut album, What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?, arrived in March 2011, they were on every list of the year's bands to watch, and that year they won NME's Best New Band.
Their influences, in their own words:
"'50s rock 'n' roll, '60s garage and girl groups, '70s punk, '80s American hardcore, and good pop music."
Photography by Elspeth
Listen
Then and now
In 2011 this was a clever indie-band stunt with a niche app. Fifteen years later, both sides of the story look very different.
The Vaccines
Quick answers
How was the "Wetsuit" video made?
In summer 2011 the band asked fans to photograph the festivals they went to with Instagram and tag the pictures #vaccinesvideo. Selected photos were stitched into an animated video. It was billed at the time as the first music video made from Instagram images.
Who is in The Vaccines?
They formed in London in 2010 with Justin Young (now Justin Hayward-Young), Freddie Cowan, Árni Árnason and Pete Robertson. Robertson left in 2016 and Cowan in 2023. Today's line-up is Justin Hayward-Young, Árni Árnason, Timothy Lanham and Yoann Intonti.
What was their first album?
What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? (March 2011), followed by Come of Age (2012), English Graffiti (2015), Combat Sports (2018), Back in Love City (2021) and Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations (2024).
