Del Vertigo Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist/band?
A: I have been recording and writing songs since I was around 12 years old, and I’m about to be 29. I was first inspired by Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails to make create music because I loved the idea of being an insular artist who wasn’t reliant on other musicians/engineers to influence my vision in any way. I’ve strayed slightly from that mentality over the years so that I can have other people handling some of the engineering because otherwise I would be mixing the songs forever and never get anything done. In terms of sound I am still very influenced by that post-punk/ Goth rock sound that comes from The Cure, Bauhaus and sometimes from NIN but I’m also very influenced by psych-rock and shoegaze like Deerhunter and Radiohead as well as classic prog rock like Pink Floyd and King Crimson and there’s a strong indie influence from bands like Modest Mouse, Interpol and Fleet Foxes. I have an appreciation of modern classical/ ambient music from artists like Harold Budd, Steve Reich and Nils Frahm as well.
Q: What inspired you to make Del Vertigo?
A: in the beginning Del Vertigo was created to cope with the grief and trauma surrounding the death of a friend. The early material has a lot of themes having to do with death, meaning, my place in the world, apocalypse, wanderlust and mortality.
Q: Can you talk about your themes on your release On The Day That You Come To?
A: This new e.p is about the relationship between humanity and the natural world and the emotionally heavy disconnect one feels when trying to take in the truth of that separation. The title is about waking up to this realization in a spiritual sense and though I try and stay away from a political call to action, l would hope that it inspires people to seek stillness with nature so that they may examine or heal that relationship for themselves.
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist/band?
A: I have been recording and writing songs since I was around 12 years old, and I’m about to be 29. I was first inspired by Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails to make create music because I loved the idea of being an insular artist who wasn’t reliant on other musicians/engineers to influence my vision in any way. I’ve strayed slightly from that mentality over the years so that I can have other people handling some of the engineering because otherwise I would be mixing the songs forever and never get anything done. In terms of sound I am still very influenced by that post-punk/ Goth rock sound that comes from The Cure, Bauhaus and sometimes from NIN but I’m also very influenced by psych-rock and shoegaze like Deerhunter and Radiohead as well as classic prog rock like Pink Floyd and King Crimson and there’s a strong indie influence from bands like Modest Mouse, Interpol and Fleet Foxes. I have an appreciation of modern classical/ ambient music from artists like Harold Budd, Steve Reich and Nils Frahm as well.
Q: What inspired you to make Del Vertigo?
A: in the beginning Del Vertigo was created to cope with the grief and trauma surrounding the death of a friend. The early material has a lot of themes having to do with death, meaning, my place in the world, apocalypse, wanderlust and mortality.
Q: Can you talk about your themes on your release On The Day That You Come To?
A: This new e.p is about the relationship between humanity and the natural world and the emotionally heavy disconnect one feels when trying to take in the truth of that separation. The title is about waking up to this realization in a spiritual sense and though I try and stay away from a political call to action, l would hope that it inspires people to seek stillness with nature so that they may examine or heal that relationship for themselves.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: Most of the time these days it consists of me locking myself in a room where it’s quiet and practicing a song or an idea until it becomes something real. In the past I was into road tripping and stopping at friends’ places and recording there. This last e.p I made mostly when I live in Portland Oregon in 2017. The first and last songs are recorded in studios but everything in between is home recording. The mixes and masters were done professionally in studios later on. The first tracks of “In Dreams” was actually done when I was visiting my friend Jeremy Stotter around 2015 or 2016 in the apartment I would eventually take in 2017 and live in. The original tracks were ukulele, on which I had written the tune, and Jeremy’s acoustic guitar. We nailed it in one take and we were very proud of ourselves. Later on when I was living in said apartment I recorded the bass synth on my Arturia Microbrute and at the end I was really feeling the drone of it so I spaced out and started slightly modulating the synth which turned into the second ambient section. Later when I was back in L.A in 2018 I did the background electric guitars and in 2020 I wrote lyrics and recorded the vocals followed by the trumpet playing of David Zasloff. Basically my creative process is incredibly disjointed. These were not the only songs that I was writing at the time but all these songs started to form a similar vibe and when that starts to happen I know there is a concept or theme that is reaching through to be interpreted or brought into life.
Q: What is your recording process like? And has it changed over the years?
A: I Have always tried to record most of my stuff at home but during this e.p I went into some studios for the first and last tracks.. Later on I had engineer Mike Post mix it at Moosecat Recording, a studio in L.A I had interned/assisted at. For mastering it was done by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road in England. I am a Los Angeles Recording school graduate myself and as I’ve gotten older I’ve become much more of a stickler for sound quality. As I result I need to let other people handle the mix and master of my recordings because otherwise I overthink it and I become deadlocked.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: I absolutely need music already in the works otherwise I find it very difficult to write lyrics. Personally when I listen to music the lyrics are the last thing I understand, I almost always hear and appreciate the melody first and if the melody does nothing for me the lyrics will not mean a damn thing to me. So I like having a strong melody but I also like to have something to say within the melody. Therefore it can take a very long time for me to write lyrics and concisely express what the song is trying to say. Many times these days the only way for me to get them done is to simple pace around a room repeating the same songs until slowly something comes together. It’s rare that by a stoke of inspiration that I will churn out full lyrics to a song in a single session.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: People should know that due to the nature of my excessively long creative process that when I release something “new” it’s most likely I’ve been listening to those songs for years and that I’m always working on something. In fact I am like half done with another Del Vertigo album which will hopefully be out later this year or next. Also that I have many projects outside of this one. I’m in a band called Eternally Cowboy as a lead guitarist and have songs out under my own name. I am also working on a hip-hop album under the name Flawjik, where I make sample based beats and have some of my friends rap on them.
A: Most of the time these days it consists of me locking myself in a room where it’s quiet and practicing a song or an idea until it becomes something real. In the past I was into road tripping and stopping at friends’ places and recording there. This last e.p I made mostly when I live in Portland Oregon in 2017. The first and last songs are recorded in studios but everything in between is home recording. The mixes and masters were done professionally in studios later on. The first tracks of “In Dreams” was actually done when I was visiting my friend Jeremy Stotter around 2015 or 2016 in the apartment I would eventually take in 2017 and live in. The original tracks were ukulele, on which I had written the tune, and Jeremy’s acoustic guitar. We nailed it in one take and we were very proud of ourselves. Later on when I was living in said apartment I recorded the bass synth on my Arturia Microbrute and at the end I was really feeling the drone of it so I spaced out and started slightly modulating the synth which turned into the second ambient section. Later when I was back in L.A in 2018 I did the background electric guitars and in 2020 I wrote lyrics and recorded the vocals followed by the trumpet playing of David Zasloff. Basically my creative process is incredibly disjointed. These were not the only songs that I was writing at the time but all these songs started to form a similar vibe and when that starts to happen I know there is a concept or theme that is reaching through to be interpreted or brought into life.
Q: What is your recording process like? And has it changed over the years?
A: I Have always tried to record most of my stuff at home but during this e.p I went into some studios for the first and last tracks.. Later on I had engineer Mike Post mix it at Moosecat Recording, a studio in L.A I had interned/assisted at. For mastering it was done by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road in England. I am a Los Angeles Recording school graduate myself and as I’ve gotten older I’ve become much more of a stickler for sound quality. As I result I need to let other people handle the mix and master of my recordings because otherwise I overthink it and I become deadlocked.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: I absolutely need music already in the works otherwise I find it very difficult to write lyrics. Personally when I listen to music the lyrics are the last thing I understand, I almost always hear and appreciate the melody first and if the melody does nothing for me the lyrics will not mean a damn thing to me. So I like having a strong melody but I also like to have something to say within the melody. Therefore it can take a very long time for me to write lyrics and concisely express what the song is trying to say. Many times these days the only way for me to get them done is to simple pace around a room repeating the same songs until slowly something comes together. It’s rare that by a stoke of inspiration that I will churn out full lyrics to a song in a single session.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: People should know that due to the nature of my excessively long creative process that when I release something “new” it’s most likely I’ve been listening to those songs for years and that I’m always working on something. In fact I am like half done with another Del Vertigo album which will hopefully be out later this year or next. Also that I have many projects outside of this one. I’m in a band called Eternally Cowboy as a lead guitarist and have songs out under my own name. I am also working on a hip-hop album under the name Flawjik, where I make sample based beats and have some of my friends rap on them.