The Cranberries, Frente, Laurie Anderson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Patti Griffin, Jonatha Brooke, Peter Gabriel, Jill Sobule, Michael Jackson, Talking Heads, Liz Phair, Julianna Hatfield, Lemonheads, Martin Sexton, Chet Baker, Depeche Mode, Harry Nilsson, U2...
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If there is something else you'd like to know about me or the music I play, just email me. I promise, I won't bite. I'm a fully independent artist, and not only wear all the hats... but I wear my guitar when I'm cooking. It makes waiting for the pot to boil not so bad. I also play the ukulele. I'm sponsored by KoAloha Ukuleles (Honolulu, HI). They say I have the aloha spirit. I think that's better than anything. One should have spirit in whatever they do. I was a cheerleader in gradeschool. Maybe that's where I got it.
"infectiously enjoyable" - Rock N' Reel Magazine (UK)
"arrestingly bright, ardent voice and vivacious songwriting." - Sue Wilson, the Scotsman (UK)
"Vox is a real gem... Her music is at once timeless and heartwarming." - Sam Sessa, Baltimore Sun
"Truly interesting and refreshing... In a musical landscape that sometimes struggles to produce artists with a unique and innovative vision, Victoria Vox and her ukulele are a definite breath of fresh air." - Greg Yost, Music Monthly
"In the vast, deserted wasteland of todays music, Victoria Vox is a lone flower in full bloom." - Dan Pavelich, Kenosha News
"You need to see Victoria Vox play." - Jason Genegabus, Honolulu Star Bulletin (HI)
"Victoria's bright acoustic pop songs are a fitting result of her endless energy and D.I.Y. cred." - Shepherd Express (WI)
"..one of the purest musicians touring the country today." - Matt Stroud, Pittsburgh Trib (PA)
Victoria Vox Moves The Ukulele From The Fringe Bin to the Pop Bin
New Album Chameleon - Produced By Mike Tarantino – Mixes Ukulele and Contemporary Production
Victoria Vox says that sad songs are harder to come by on the ukulele. Actually, there are a couple of heartbreak themes on her newest album, Chameleon, but surrounded by the ukulele and other contemporary sounds, the end result is a bright and enchanting pop record.
Vox graduated from The Berklee College of Music with honors and a degree in songwriting -- releasing a handful of DIY, guitar-driven albums before a friend gave her the 4-stringed instrument. It proved to be the perfect new partner for her rich voice and changed the way she wrote and arranged music.
“The ukulele doesn't interfere with my range as much as a guitar, and because it's more simplistic, I feel that I move to different melodies than I would on the guitar,” explains Vox. “The ukulele has given some of my songs more of a jazz feel, which is mostly in song form more than anything. All of a sudden there was room for solos (which I do with my trumpetless trumpet.)”
Her first ukulele driven record, Victoria Vox and Her Jumping Flea was funded by fan donations and released in 2006. The refreshing disc was well received, and featured on NPR’s “To The Best of Our Knowledge,” while songs were featured on television and in independent movies. “My Darlin’ Beau” was awarded runner-up in the International Acoustic Music Awards. She was also included in Relix Magazine’s list of artists to watch.
On Chameleon, released on her own label this spring, Vox partnered with producer Mike Tarantino (James Blunt.) The two mix the ukulele with her acoustic guitar, electric bass, percussion and other instruments to flesh out her burgeoning songwriting talent and pure vocals – moving the uke from the novelty bin to the pop genre.
Vox also employs the mouth trumpet, which she spontaneously tried when she needed a horn solo.
“I was writing the song “My Darlin’ Beau” for Jumping Flea, and being a jazzy form type song, I felt it needed some horn punctuation,” says Vox. “Now it finds it's way into any song needing a solo. I did start to play the trumpet when I was 14, and I think from my years in band, I can hear what a trumpet is supposed to sound like.”
The opening track, “Peeping Tomette,” has slightly disturbing theme, but is offset by the quirky and playful melodica and innocent sounding ukulele. "“Peeping Tomette" is from the view of a female voyeur. It’s purely fictional, but I was trying to understand a stalker I had when I was younger,” explains Vox. “It's a fun song, but has definitely creeped-out my current neighbors. I wrote it during February Album Writing Month (fawm.org) and the weekly challenge was to write a song with a street name in the title. Well, I failed at that, but I kept thinking, ‘Nobody knows my name or that I'm playin' games of hide and seek with the whole neighborhood / I live just up the street, but I've been so discreet you'd never know that I'm up to no-good / You won't see me or hear me’ -- and that was that. I felt it definitely was one of those songs that comes from someplace else and I was simply the channel.”
On “Jessica,” the lyric is a bitter send off to a lover’s ex-girlfriend, but the instrumentation on the chorus sounds more like a happy love song. Elsewhere, Vox’s experience as a French exchange student is conveyed in the lovely and melodic “C’est Noyé,” about being free out at sea. “This is the song that always sticks out in my mind as a magical recording process,” says Vox. “It was the one song that Mike was not sure what to do with, for fear of stepping all over the melody and rhythmic ukulele. I dug around in the closet and found a tape dispenser and some wood screws and started shaking them to the rhythm. Before long we were in the studio clapping and shaking things. I spotted Mike’s trumpet, and though I haven’t used a real trumpet in 10 years, I somehow remembered how to find the notes. When I sing my other trumpet solos, I actually mimic the motions of playing a trumpet, so it came easier than I thought.”
One song on Chameleon that does sounds more akin to the Tin Pan era of the ukulele is “The Bird Song,” which uses a toy piano as loving compliment. “It seems to have become the ‘long-distance dedication’ number. It’s such a simple song and the production just came together so naturally.” “What’s Wrong!” evokes the ukulele’s roaring twenties popularity and sounds like a concert saloon sing-along. In sharp contrast, “Alone” and “From The Outside” are more contemporary sounding pop songs that would sound at home on any radio format.
Vox, who lives in Baltimore now, has been averaging 150-200 dates for the past several years and will continue to tour vigorously with the release of Chameleon. “I'm finding that non-ukulele listeners are converted daily,” she says. “It's really fun to give people what they weren't expecting.” Not that Vox is the only current artist to slip in a little ukulele -- which seems to be on the cusp of comeback? But, the singer-songwriter is dedicated to the tiny instrument, and maybe, just maybe helping make it cool again.
www.victoriavox.com
Label: Obus Music
Chameleon is available now
Yeah, Hood River is something else..eight years of traveling and this place caught me...for the moment anyways...Baltimore?? is an interesting city..didnt know there was much of uke scene there??
Thanks for adding me.as your friend love your music sound grant so keep up the grate work Hope you are having a great week! keep in touch and god bless
Hi Victoria, I just got off the phone with Dave Eisner. He's paired us up for the Nov. 2nd IMT show in Bethesda, MD. Your tracks sound great, looking forward to meeting and hearing you in November, Best, Patty
Yeah, my outfit last year was insane. I was trying something different...really different. haha I'm not going in that direction, but it was fun putting it together. =)
I spoke with Andy from Cyclops and found out you played there tonight. I was gigging in Frederick and didn't make it back in time. Anyhoo, I wanted to find out if I could take you to lunch sometime and pick your brain a bit. Musically I'm in the place I think you were probably a few years ago and would love a "mentor".
Lemme know what day works best for you and we'll make it happen. =) Thanks!!
Hi Victoria!! =D Thank you for being a friend! If you have a chance come stop by my page and leave some feedback on my poetry, and keep checking back for new blogs, poems, and my first book of poetry which will be available for sale in just a few months!! Here's one of my poems:
IT'S JUST LOVE
As hard as I try, I can't seem to erase you from my mind. Search his eyes for a reflection of your heart. Imagination engulfing reality. His hands embrace me. I close my eyes and feel you. If only this distance weren't so prodigious. My heart longing only to be beside you. A love so inaccessible. Relying only on Faith. A love so unyielding. It will never surrender. Although I kiss you goodbye, My heart will never cease to be enraptured by you.
~Jennifer Sparrow Sparrow Poetry- http://www.sparrowpoetry.yolasite.com/ Become a Fan on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sparrow-Poetry/141242474267?ref=ts
Victoria- I've been wanting to catch you live ever since I heard you on WTMD last Spring, and tonight my wife and I were all set to see you at Metro Gallery. What a bummer that the show is cancelled! I look forward to knowing your next local show. It looks like I'll have to start following your tweets to be totally in the loop. Anyway, here's to the next chance! Dave
