Where did you grow up?
I spent my early childhood out in Eastpointe, Michigan, but moved to Sterling Heights in the second grade, right on the edge of Macomb and have been around there ever since. This is all a part of the “Metro Detroit” area, but it generally felt like nothing on a grand scale was happening without going a little distance. I’d like to think that led to my imagination always floating to that grand scale.
What is one of the first songs you remember liking as a kid?
I could definitively say that Lenny Kravitz was my first big love musically. That opening riff in “Are You Gonna Go My Way” really moved me. My Dad also had a bunch of these compilation CD’s, I am sure you’re more than familiar with the type of stuff I am describing. “Retro 80’s”, “MTV Party to Go, Vol. 2”, “Ultra Mix - Dance Hits of the 80’s and 90’s”, a lot of these compilations exposed me to tracks like “To Cut A Long Story Short” by Spandau Ballet, “Sadeness Pt. 1” by Enigma,” Unbelievable” by EMF, these tracks all shaped my very early taste.
What influenced you to get into music?
I think when something moves you like say that opening riff in “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, the giant hook of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”, or later on even that impeccable sample on Daft Punk’s “One More Time”, it really puts you in the shoes of being the person making that music. It just was moment after moment of that for me, whether it was any of those tracks, maybe even the first time I heard the big choirs of “Ave Satani” after hearing them used ironically on Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, maybe even hearing the crafted lyricism of Digable Planet’s “Pacifics” placing you in a Sunday in New York without ever having to be from New York. These small things will your soul, music makes you react to them in a certain way, perhaps I reacted by wanting to do that.
At what age did you start playing/singing?
I picked up a guitar in middle school, and in high school I got into production. At first, there was one of my circles where they were into The Misfits and all of that stuff, they wanted to form a band. I just generally was not clicking with these guys, we split up quick. Then there were a lot of these wannabe rappers, I tried my hand at Hip Hop production in and out, I like it fine enough, but it honestly has never been my thing. Then there were the whole EDM boom and that was my thing, and I even began singing for a brief period. I was rough though, and my voice was practically shattering at the time, so I stuck to being a producer. I would say it was the end of first semester senior year where I became the producer that I am warping into now, and it was the summer I graduated high school that I started to become any degree of “good”.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to yourself after finishing school?
Be careful with who you associate with, read everything you sign, and don’t let what everyone tells you immediately drive you one way or the other. Spend less time freaking out and more time crafting yourself and who you truly are. What are some of your favorite songs at the moment?
Josie Pace has been a big favorite of mine recently, "Storms and Stress" kept me from losing my mind in the middle of finishing this next big single I got, and "Underestimated" is badass on a level I could only put on par with someone as amazing as Joan Jett. AGNIS' "Sol Invictus" is absolutely massive, and Corlyx's "Take Off Everything" is a ton of fun. I also am very eager to hear the new ESA album coming up, slowly becoming a massive fan and "Eat Their Young" and "I Detach" are a bit part of that. Highly recommend everyone checks the video too.
Do you listen to your own music?
I always make my music to fill a certain gap, a desire for something I wish to be heard. As a result, it’s almost a given that I would listen to my own music. I do get the other side, but I personally feel if you can’t enjoy what you have made, what is even the point? What are you bringing to the table? What is one of your favorite memories so far in your music career?
Definitely working on that remix of Incantations At Midnight by Sam Haynes & Destini Beard. You have to first realize that even before I decided I wanted to do that track, I had premiered the track on my Neon Nightmares show on Nightride FM. Sam and Destini are such amazing artists and people, to cut a long story short, it probably was bound to happen after all of that. I really wanted to give them an amazing remix that would not only stand out but be able to give them some new ground. I focused on getting that heavy groove together in order to really get that “Goth club” vibe and got inspired by Malice Mizer’s “虚無の中での遊戯” to add some Industrial percussion and dual Harpsichords. The trick of panning each of them onto one ear, but not too far, led to the final sound you hear. The rest came about naturally. I wanted to get crazier with the Industrial elements, but I learned from this remix that sometimes a track doesn’t need you to go super crazy all the time. The composition and structure were already there, it didn’t need anything that didn’t put that at the forefront. Everyone was excited about it, and even when me and Destini talk now, we still can hardly believe that happened.
Which musician would you like to collaborate with in the future?
So, in doing the EP and this next record coming, I got a lot of INSANE collaborators, so a lot of my list here would be people I reached out to who said they were a bit busy. If I had to exclude those people out to be respectful to them, I would say CZARINA, AGNIS, and Whitney Tai would the dream, but Male Tears would be interesting as well. Since I always do remixes on the singles, I will also mention that Grendel, MORIS BLAK, and Void Vision would be fantastic for remixes. Grendel's remix of Eva X's Machine and MORIS BLAK's remix of Ghostemane's Hydrochloride are incredible, and I could imagine what they would do with a VVMPYRE track, and the production on any Void Vision track would fill the dancefloor in a second.
What advice would you give to someone that is just starting to get into music?
Be yourself, own what you want to be artistically. Your biggest fans will notice the amount of passion you put into your best art, and if it isn’t there, they will turn away when you don’t have the traction. Authenticity is a valuable trait.
Vvmpyre just a released a new EP for January 2022 called "Music from the Afterlife City Club" which you can listen to below. Also, check out his profile page right here on the website.
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