Posts
Provided by the compucert In the past I reviewed one of their records, today I was able to interview the lovely and talented singer of TEN YEAR VAMP, Debbie Gabrione.
Can you give my readers a brief introduction to the band, for those who are unfamiliar with you. How did you form? 
The internet has removed many barriers that used to exist for artists. Through social networking, bands can recruit thousands of fans without even playing a show. They can distribute their music for free or sell it on places like iTunes. They can put videos and concerts on Youtube and learn about new opportunities daily through sites like Sonicbids and Taxi. Internet radio and blogs allow artists to get PR and radio play. Bands can spread like a wild fire. .jpg)
You need to be as equally invested on the business end of things as you are on the music end of things. There are TONS of great bands out there; bands with great songs, singers with amazing voices, etc.. If that's all you have, you won't "make it". You need to market yourself, promote, tour, spend hours on the computer recruiting new fans, network, come up with creative and clever ways of making money and getting new fans, and find a way to stand out from all the other bands. It's not like it used to be where all you had to do was be great and a record label would sign you and make you famous. You have to make yourself famous, and THEN a record label will sign you. If you're great and you have the fans to prove it, a record label will find you. The hard part is getting found and all that goes into it. And... once you've made yourself famous, why would you want to sign with a label?
Can you give my readers a brief introduction to the band, for those who are unfamiliar with you. How did you form? Ten Year Vamp is female fronted, high energy, pop rock. Ten Year Vamp = Pink meets the Foo Fighters with pints full of personality, charm, and sex appeal. Our music has appeared on many prime time TV programs (including MTV's the Real World, ABC's The Family Channel's Switched at Birth, etc) and have performed over 700 shows across the country (since 2004) , opening for MANY national artists like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Lifehouse and many others. We formed back in 2004. At the time, I (Debbie) was singing back up in another band. I was approached by a guy (Mark) who said he thought I had "star power" and asked if I wanted to start a project with him where I would sing lead. I said "hells yea". Mark (who plays rhythm guitar for 10YV) and I auditioned members for bass, lead guitar and drums...and here we are.
When did you first start writing music?
I actually started writing songs when I was in 2nd grade. I remember going to my "Nanny and pops" house and getting the neighborhood kids together to be in my band. My songs were about teddy bears. I didn't know what I was writing and our instruments consisted of rubber bands strung on hollowed out plastic whiffle ball bats, and beating empty paint cans for drums. Once I hit 3rd grade I (like all other kids) started playing the recorder and started officially reading music. In 4th grade I picked up the alto saxophone and played it all through high school (I actually sat first chair in New York All State). I also learned french horn, clarinet and trumpet. It wasn't until college when I started playing guitar (around age 17), that I started writing music. My first songs were pretty cheesy and simple. Not so cheesy as teddy bears, but about topics that I thought I was supposed to write about; love. That DEFINITELY wasn't me, so it didn't feel too comfortable. It took a while (I'm talking YEARS) for me to find my song writing niche and get used to my topics and how to write a song.
Did your environment while growing up have an impact on the kind of music you make today?
My dad was very much into music. Not so much rock...but music non the less. He played drums in high school (orchestra and band) and sang in chorus. He would always be singing italian music around the house.
He was into the oldies and Broadway show tunes. For every birthday I can remember growing up, the fun thing for my family to do was to go see a Broadway show. It sounds cheesy now, but my mom, sis, dad and I were always singing around the house. We were always encouraged to play instruments, join the band and chorus, try out for the high school plays, and have music in our lives. So...MUSIC was definitely encouraged as a hobby. The music I make now, however, did NOT have a place in my environment growing up. I didn't even really hear rock music until I went away to college. When I heard it, and saw it...it sucked me right in and won me over.
Which of your works would you say is your favorite, so far?
We've released 5 albums (and 1 live CD) to date. My favorites are our 2009 release Don't Act Like You Know me and our 2011 release Lust. Ten Year Vamp has been an evolution of sounds. We experimented with different genres and influences before we discovered who we are and what we need to sound like. We made that discovery with Don't Act Like You Know Me. We found our sound, we found our topics and as a result, it's our favorite because it summarizes who were are and what we want to say.
How did you come up with the name of the new album?
We were playing a show literally in a barn in the middle of a corn field. Ten Year Vamp is based out of upstate NY, so we don't overlook touring through areas that may be off the beaten path a little. This particular venue was WAAAYYY off the beaten path and is a renovated barn. It's places like these that get great crowds cause no other bands pass through. Regardless, we were sitting around back stage on our saddle stools (that's right, stools with saddles on top, complete with foot stirrups) getting ready to start our set and just brainstorming on potential album names. We were all just spitting out ideas and we were all over the place. So I said we should strip everything down and come up with the one thing that all the songs have in common and are about, and go from there. I just came out and said 'lust', and everyone agreed, and we decided to start brainstorming from there. Before anyone could start spitting out ideas, someone said "well, what about just calling it Lust". None of us had a reason why not, nor did we have any better ideas that we could all agree on, so "Lust" it was.
How do you feel about the impact of the internet on the music business?
The internet has removed many barriers that used to exist for artists. Through social networking, bands can recruit thousands of fans without even playing a show. They can distribute their music for free or sell it on places like iTunes. They can put videos and concerts on Youtube and learn about new opportunities daily through sites like Sonicbids and Taxi. Internet radio and blogs allow artists to get PR and radio play. Bands can spread like a wild fire.I feel there are a few more barriers to success that stand in the way, but I'm sure they'll be removed in time.
Do you think major record labels are necessary any more?
I don't know. Labels just seem to be a one stop shop for all your "star making" needs. They can make anyone into a star. They can buy you a top 10 song, match you with a top 10 producer, get you on all the talk shows, dress you up in cray outfits so that everyone is talking about what you're wearing, put you on tour, have your song played every 20 minutes in a heavy rotation on every FM station in the world and have you play at the MTV music awards. The young popular radio listener seems to appreciate this. They seem to like their stars carved out for them and probably wouldn't even know what they really liked to listen to if it wasn't selected for them. So in that sense, labels have a role to play. In regards to them being NECESSARY, probably not. The only thing they legitimately control, is FM radio. FM radio is what separates the most popular artists on the plant from the not popular ones. If you have a song in heavy rotation on an FM station, you're a star. If other forms of radio (that was determined by DJ's or listeners, and was not controlled by labels) were to become equally as popular, I think labels would be out of a job. Bands can do everything for themselves that a label can do - write, record, produce, decimate music, tour, etc.. Labels can just do it on a more massive scale and more easily, because of the power and money they have.
Describe your worst night on tour, ever.
We were in Albany, NY on Friday and New York, NY on Saturday. Rather then taking the van down to NYC, we decided to do something fun and we bought a 50 seater luxury bus for the night with TVs, tables, bathroom, etc. We sold tickets to get on the bus so that we could just relax and hang out with our "fans" and friends the whole time and not have to worry about driving and parking and being all stressed out. We had a BLAST. We drank, ate, played games, watched TV, and literally had a dance party the whole 3 hour ride to NYC. We kicked ass at our NYC show and just were having the time of our lives. We boarded the bus at around 2am and were heading back to Albany, NY to drop off our fans, and about 2 hours into the return trip, the bus broke down on the side of the Thruway. It was 4am, everyone had run out of alcohol and food and was just really wanting to get home to go to bed. We had to sit on the side of the road for 2 hours while another bus came to pick us up. All in all, I guess it wasn't TOO bad a night, particularly because of all the fun we'd had up to that point. It was just a bummer that the day ended on a sour note.
What do you think the best part of touring is?
I love to tour. It takes a special person to be OK with life on the road...but I'm definitely that person. I LOVE staying in hotels (no matter how crappy) and getting to see new cities. Eating healthy on the road is challenging, but even that is kinda fun in a way; trying to find the healthy foods. I don't mind being in a van or getting "stuck" with the same 4 people for days on end. I love the guys in my band and we never seem to get bored of each other. We def. get on each other's nerves, but the second we hit the stage we get over it and we're all having fun. We love meeting new people and making friends in new cities. Because it's just the 5 of us constantly going into new places and we don't' stay put too often, we always look to have REAL conversations with people at our shows. I love getting to sit down before or after a show and have a beer with someone and get to know a little about them. We try to make the best of being away from home and being on the road. In the summer, we'll try to find a hotel with a pool and spend the day laying out in the sun. If a "fan" invites us to their house for a BBQ or to a local baseball game or something, we usually take em up on the offer. We'll take the 'long way' to a show if it means we can see some cool scenery. If there's a diner that was featured on that Cooking Network show "Diners and Drive Ins", we'll try to stop by. We just try to make sure we enjoy the positives of being on the road, and not dwell on the negatives.
Any words of wisdom for those with hopes of breaking into music?
You need to be as equally invested on the business end of things as you are on the music end of things. There are TONS of great bands out there; bands with great songs, singers with amazing voices, etc.. If that's all you have, you won't "make it". You need to market yourself, promote, tour, spend hours on the computer recruiting new fans, network, come up with creative and clever ways of making money and getting new fans, and find a way to stand out from all the other bands. It's not like it used to be where all you had to do was be great and a record label would sign you and make you famous. You have to make yourself famous, and THEN a record label will sign you. If you're great and you have the fans to prove it, a record label will find you. The hard part is getting found and all that goes into it. And... once you've made yourself famous, why would you want to sign with a label?Find TYV on the web:
0 comments:
Post a Comment